Aged 37, No savings or Mortgage or Job

Turmoilat37

datlex wrote: »

Don't be embarrassed OP. I was in a similar position 8 years ago. I was out of work and had no savings- I actually had debts. Today I am out of debt, I have built up savings and am working. I still rent but am hoping in the relatively near future to be able to buy.

Thank you for the reassurance - and well done on turning your life around.
Much hinges on my health, but I will see what I can do.

Turmoilat37

Charlton_King wrote: »

As someone should have already mentioned on the thread, your best route out of this is through education, education, education... and qualifications. It appears you need a game-changing transformation in your 'skills set', to use ghastly newspeak,

I think you may need to do the following two things.

1. Assess very realistically what you are able to do physically and mentally. Assume, if anything, a 'worst case' situation.

2. Assess which areas of work you might like to do. Think hard about this and rank them in order of desirability. You may need to research this both online and via things like phone calls and face-to-face conversations - you may have wrong ideas about what certain areas of work involve, you may be surprised at what is involved etc. Be receptive, during your research, to new and unexpected possibilities - things which might suit you which you simply had not considered before. Be certain to assess whether there is actually an employment demand for the things you are considering... lots of people leave education/training these days with what amounts to junk qualifications. You need something solid.

Put 1 and 2 together and produce a plan to involve yourself in the studies/apprenticeship etc necessary to make yourself employable within the limits imposed by your condition - part-time, from home etc. This is the hardest part and will entail a lot of effort to get to the end point which you are targeting. Be as ruthlessly focussed on this as your condition permits. This will repay itself many times over.

I wish you good luck. Remember that very little of any worth comes without effort.

This is brilliant advice. I have very little in my favour with AWOL health...but what I do have in abundance is time. I know I should be utilising this to try to improve my lot.
The only potential sticking point is benefits. If you can pick up a pen or use your brain the DWP will make a leap and argue you can work in an office 20 hours a week -which as any sensible person will tell you is very different (good luck to them providing transport for me and my wheel chair and a bed for the daily debilitating dizzy spells!).

But it is something to explore. If I can find a way to support myself financially, now or some time further down the line (autonomic nervous system disorders frequently improve over time which is something I'm hoping for)..then everybody is a winner.

Thank you for the proactive and positive talk.

Turmoilat37

I have been looking at rent prices around the country. The north has always seemed far away but we forget that England is a small, small country.

Tabbytabitha

Forget about repaying your student loan, it'll be wiped eventually. One less thing to worry about.

Tahlullah

I don't have anything else to contribute other than to support what other have said. I just wanted to say good luck with this new part of your journey. Try to enjoy it.

enthusiasticsaver

I would forget about your student loan as repayments are based on income so as a non earner you should be paying nothing. I am guessing you are on a fairly old scheme unless you studied as a mature student?

What was your degree and did you finish this? Does your health now rule you out of working in this field?

For now I would focus on the things you can sort out which is the credit card and savings. Do a budget and challenge yourself to stick to it. Realistically buying in the south east is very difficult without a high paying job or a lot of help from family. Most lenders won't take benefits as income either so you would need to be working.

Turmoilat37

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I would forget about your student loan as repayments are based on income so as a non earner you should be paying nothing. I am guessing you are on a fairly old scheme unless you studied as a mature student?

What was your degree and did you finish this? Does your health now rule you out of working in this field?

For now I would focus on the things you can sort out which is the credit card and savings. Do a budget and challenge yourself to stick to it. Realistically buying in the south east is very difficult without a high paying job or a lot of help from family. Most lenders won't take benefits as income either so you would need to be working.

I'm 37, graduated in 2003. I believe the debt is written off either after 25 years from graduating, or when you turn 50, whichever is first. If I cannot pay it back within the next 8 years it should be written off - although I've heard it can be more complicated than this. But I'm trying to not worry about that debt as it's out of my control.

The £2400 credit card would be more manageable and I'll work towards that this year.

My degree was in German (and European studies)...I never pursued a career using either. My German is useless (but with a lot of time and effort could be resurrected; how much call there is for German-speaking Brits there is though, I'm not sure).
Currently my only options for work are a limited number of hours online. I struggle to stand up for longer periods without risk of passing out which is a right bloody pain! I'm seeing a specialist at Kings Hospital next month so perhaps there'll be able to medicate me to manage or alleviate my symptoms somewhat.

Plan is: tighten my budget. Pay credit card. Focus on my health and doing all I can to recover/manage my illness. Investigate possibilities to earn money working from home/computer. Save every penny I can into ISAs (there is a limit I can do on this but with my benefit income it's unlikely I will ever get near that limit). Consider starting a new life in a cheaper part of the UK.

Thanks.

Tabbytabitha

Turmoilat37 wrote: »

I'm 37, graduated in 2003. I believe the debt is written off either after 25 years from graduating, or when you turn 50, whichever is first. If I cannot pay it back within the next 8 years it should be written off - although I've heard it can be more complicated than this. But I'm trying to not worry about that debt as it's out of my control.

The £2400 credit card would be more manageable and I'll work towards that this year.

My degree was in German (and European studies)...I never pursued a career using either. My German is useless (but with a lot of time and effort could be resurrected; how much call there is for German-speaking Brits there is though, I'm not sure).
Currently my only options for work are a limited number of hours online. I struggle to stand up for longer periods without risk of passing out which is a right bloody pain! I'm seeing a specialist at Kings Hospital next month so perhaps there'll be able to medicate me to manage or alleviate my symptoms somewhat.

Plan is: tighten my budget. Pay credit card. Focus on my health and doing all I can to recover/manage my illness. Investigate possibilities to earn money working from home/computer. Save every penny I can into ISAs (there is a limit I can do on this but with my benefit income it's unlikely I will ever get near that limit). Consider starting a new life in a cheaper part of the UK.

Thanks.

It shouldn't be. I just wrote reminding them of my age when I received my annual deferment letter - they wrote back to confirm and that was the end of it.