Finance and credit cards making uni impossible

n-1

I have previously purchased quite a few things via finance and I am still paying them off. It was fine before University because I could afford to pay them. Now I have to pay for rent and everything else I'm already finding it really hard. Family don't know my financial situation, I messed up before and spent ages paying off a credit card and I'd be too ashamed to tell them I've done it again.

Due to a little bit of overspending, I will have £1200 in the bank on the 1st of November and a £700 student overdraft. There are very few direct debits I can cancel or change, due to being tied into a contract. For example, I have a year left on my phone contract. The only things I can cancel are netflix which costs £7.50 and Spotify which costs £4.99, both things which I use more than enough to justify their cost.

Just to add another problem to my already large financial mess, I have a credit card on a 12 month 0% balance transfer, with £2700 on it. I am paying this off £75 a month and have included it as a direct debit below.

I've got a breakdown of my outgoings each month
Direct Debits £480 (including x3 more payments of £140 to a family member)
Food £150
Rent £707 (x7 instalments)
Travel £40
(total out £1337)
Money in
Wages around £400 a month

any advice would be a huge help, based on my outgoings I'll be in the upper end of my overdaft limit, maybe even higher than that before I get my next student finance payment on the 8th of jan

DigForVictory

Owch.
Do a full statement of affairs (SOA) and let the experts here get at it.

Me, I'd be suggesting wearing knees out appealing to relatives, applying for bursaries and consulting the uni for advice too.

I'd also be taking up OS cooking in a big way aiming to gouge that food bill down, too, but I'll let those who know more, say more.

n-1

My SOA is misleading because student finance pay me in 3 installments and if I was to divide this amount by 12 it'd look like i had more money than I do. I'm not really sure if this is right as I've never made one before.

The missing payments from Student Finance are 08 Jan £3600 and 06 May £4600

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 400

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 135
Rent.................................... 707
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 75
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1167


Assets
Cash.................................... 1200
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
finance3.......................350......(30).......0<
finance 2......................600......(55).......0<
finance1.......................600......(50).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 1550......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................2750......75........0
Total unsecured debts..........2750......75........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 400
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,167
Available for debt repayments........... -767
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 75
Amount short for making debt repayments. -842

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -1,550
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,750
Net Assets.............................. -3,100

Created using the SOA calculator at
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

WibblyGirly

If you meal plan carefully and eat cheap, you could get your food bill down to £20 a week. I'd cancel spotify/netflix anyway as thats an extra £12 a month. Could your family member allow you pay back over 6 months instead of 3? Any chance of extra hours at your job?
Does your uni have a finance drop in session? I know mine did for students who were struggling with budgets.

n-1

I might cancel netflix, spotify is a life saver to me, I use it at least 30 hours a week, for example when studying or commuting to work. I can't get extra hours I'm already doing about 26 hours over 3 days, if I work much more in a day i can't focus on studing afterwards - I will be doing more during Christmas holidays, but I think that'l be too little too late.

I could ask the family member about paying over 6 months instead of 3, that'd help take the edge off.

I forgot to say my birthday is in 3 weeks so there is a small chance I may get money from people, as it's my 21st. The uni does have a finance department, I will contact them on Monday and find out what they can offer, I know I do not qualify for any bursaries. I was a bit unsure how good the finance department is, as I'd imagine most students are just complaining because all the moneys gone on new clothes and not rent.

Thank you for your help

Dobbibill

As a start, give your mobile phone provider a ring and see if they can change you to a cheaper tariff. Even if you are mid contract, it's still worth an ask - that bill is huge every month.

Change your haircuts to every 6 weeks, try using a local college. Hairdressing students are always looking for volunteers to get a haircut at a fraction of the standard cost (they are obviously supervised).

Make sure you shop at @ldi or lid1 and batch cook and freeze into portions. That should help shave a little off the food budget.

I agree Netflix & Spotify need to go. Stretch the family loan over 6 instead of 3 months if they will allow it.

Is the £75 payment on the 0% CC the minimum or is it the amount you have chosen to pay?

Can you get extra shifts in your job?

Elliesmum

I agree with the above and would like to add that you can get Spotify for free for a while to save that £5 - every little counts.

Food bill can be reduced, I spend only £300 a month for a family of 6 - do you have a flat mate that you can share bulk buy items with such as rice/pasta etc.

Hair cuts as said can be done at the local college and what about online surveys - they can add up little and often.

Good luck.

EM x

n-1

Thank you both for the advice,

I have cancelled netflix, will find out how to get spotify for free. I will phone my mobile provider tomorrow to ask what they can do. I can't get extra shifts while studying but my wage goes up when I'm 21. Is it worth getting a second student account so i have a second overdraft if I *need* it?

I will be going shopping later on in the week where I will be trying to follow the "student challenge' where you manage on £10 a week, and batch cook. My flat mates are quite young so don't understand the concept of budgeting, one walked into the kitchen holding two 5p bags full of food and proudly announced that he got "all this" for £40.

I will take onboard the stuff about haircuts too.

n-1

On the credit card I've chosen to pay £75 as a direct debit

Dobbibill

n-1 wrote: »

On the credit card I've chosen to pay £75 as a direct debit

I would reduce that to the minimum payment for the moment until things change. It's not going to be cleared within the 0% period anyway and while you should pay as much as possible when you have a promotional offer to clear it within that time, at the moment you can't afford to.

If you get more hours in your job then reassess things but for now you need to pay rent and eat - they are your priorities.