I feel like such an idiot....

krayzechick

I feel like such an idiot. I think I've posted 3 SOA now and had so many 'light bulb moments' but I always end up having to fork out money for something and get into a spiral again. I'm back to where I was 6 months ago, only with a 7k loan!!

SOA

Monthly Incoming:
Wages £1113.42


Monthly Outgoing:
MBNA Loan £191.85
A+L Loan £309.56 in parents name.
Rent £200 (I live with my parents. This covers internet, food, leccy, etc etc)
Mobile £25 a month contract. 8 months to go.
Gym £25 a month. Use very regulary.
Petrol £80 per month. Average of 1000 miles.
Lloyds CC £70
Capital One CC £20
Overdraft £20
[STRIKE] Lovefilm £3.99 (going to cancel this me thinks and get the bf to get them instead ;p)[/STRIKE] cancelled!
Pressie pot £20
Spendies £40 (food, drinks, entertainment, toiletries)

total outgoings is: £1005.40


Debts
MBNA Loan £11k left I think.
A+L Loan £4,641.99 inc interest
Lloyds CC £3500 @ 16.9%
Capital One CC £350 @ 19.9%
Overdraft £800 @19.9%
Choice £232 @29.9% *dispute see below

total: £20,500 (!!!!!!!!??)



I should have money coming from Halifax (£100) but they're disputing the fact I used their switching over service back in March!! I also have a fraud dispute open with them too which subjected me to £120 worth of charges I need to apply for tax back from April too, dunno how much that'll be. I had a car crash back last month so hoping so much my insurance company rule that it was the other guys fault. That'll give me £350 back. I have £140 pending in Quidco, and our pay deal is due at the end of the month so that's back dated to August. Lots of money in different pots basically!

*Choice dispute. I bought £200 ish of goods last September on 12 months Buy Now Pay Later. Only things i've ever bought from there. One of those items was Guitar Hero. A week after I bought it they released GH2! ...so I phoned and asked if I could return it. I did, along with some clothes (£15) that didnt fit. Requested a return online, the guys came a week later and picked them up. Gave me 2 of those little label things. I waited a few months and checked my statement online to discover that the returned goods had not been removed from my account. I phoned and queried this and they told me that it'd be because they are BNPL items. I shrugged it off and waited until September. September's bill never came but I had so much going on I completely forgot to query it =/ Thought maybe it was October it was due and i's gotten mixed up. Receive a letter TODAY telling me I have arrears of £50 and need to pay a minimum payment of £92 by 5th November. I HAVE NO MONEY TO PAY THIS!!! Looking at my online statement those items still have not been removed from my account!!! ...I dont have any evidence anymore of the labels they gave to me... We're talking about £75 worth of goods =/

I need to look into reclaiming PPI and credit card charges, along with bank charges. But that looks like it could be expensive with court costs! =/ Plus with all my uni work I dont know where to start with getting everything together!

I've just started a 2 year course at Uni (paid for by work) so have no spare time to get an evening job ..and weekends are spend with my boyfriend who lives 200 miles away.

I just dont know what to do! :'( ...I dont have a plan for savings for car insurance, tax, emergencies etc etc. I impulse buy too... just buy crap basically! I need someone to give me a massive slap round the face and shake me up. Is there anything I can do with my current debts?

Rach

Broken_hearted

You are not an idiot we all fall off the wagon from time to time.

redpete

krayzechick wrote: »

I impulse buy too... just buy crap basically! I need someone to give me a massive slap round the face and shake me up.

gets a little slap

bit harsh! :undecided

not really.

Sorry though, only suggestion for the debts would be cut back on the present and spends funds for 2 months and clear the Cap 1 debt - it's high interest and the lowest amount and should feel good when you can cross it off the list.

Oh, and stop buying crap

krayzechick

albertross wrote: »

Make your mind up, that was your virtual slap.

Car costs aren't just petrol, if you need a car during work hours, your employer should be paying for it.

If you use the £20 quid you are putting into a pressy pot, into the od, you won't be maxed out, and you will save interest, wont be much, but will be something.

The bottom line, if you are living at home, is that you either have to cut the cloth to suit (mobile/car/gym), get a better job, or head towards bankruptcy, there aren't any easy answers unfortunately.

Do you have anything to sell?

Can your parents help in the short term?

My employer does pay essential car useage. that's inc in my income! only amounts to £40 a month though.

I love my job so there is no way i'm leaving. I'm on £17k a year which is good for only 22. there are massive oppertunities available to me here. Plus they're spending £6000 on sending me to University!

I hear what you're saying but I just think that's all a bit too harsh and uncalled for. Cutting mobile/car/gym cuts out everything to do with work, my life, and my social life! I dont smoke or drink or go out clubbing Am I being too defensive here?

My parents have already helped by lending me £7000.

Sy1

Hey krayzechick!

I just wanted to say that I know what it's like, I'm a similar age to you at 23 and still live at home and managed to build up debt to approx £18k at the worst point about 18 months ago. I'm now on target to be debt free by the end of this year so I just wanted to give you a bit of hope and say that with a big focus on paying off your debts and making extra money, it can be done!

I've managed to pay off big chunks of my debt by reclaiming bank and credit card charges and claiming for PPI mis-selling.

You mentioned this in your post and I can't stress enough how easy it is to do this and you could stand to get a lot of money back. Firstly, bank charge reclaiming is on hold right now pending the outcome of the court case, but this does not affect credit card charges or PPI reclaiming - but I would get in there quick before the banks request the courts to look into this.

I reclaimed almost £1000 in credit card charges and £1000 in PPI so set aside some time to initiate the reclaim process and check out how to set the ball in motion using the articles on this site. Both reclaims took me a few months but I only had to write 2 letters for each to get my money back, so if you're lucky too it can be easy money for little work!

I would also set time aside to write to Choice about the dispute over the returned goods. State precisely and clearly what happened and hopefully they will crdit your account and take your word for it if they haven't correctly updated their records.

Sounds like you will have bits of money hopefully coming from other places too so hang in there, maybe chase these up if you can to try and hurry things along - sounds like you need to take a day out to write some letters and make some calls - which I know is difficult when you're working and travelling to see your boyfriend but it needs doing to begin to sort this stuff.

As far as your SOA goes, people will say cancel the gym - but your 'spendies' aren't much at £10 a week, so this is probably your one 'luxury' right now. Can you see if your parents will cut back your rent for now? When I told my mum & dad how much debt I was in and what repayments I was having to make each month they were really supportive and allowed me not to pay rent until I've sorted my finances out and paid everything off - may be worth a try! I know you might feel guilty, but like my mum said, they can't afford to pay stuff off for me but they could help by not charging rent (or charging less) and it will only be temporary until you've sorted this out a bit to give you some breathing space.

As far as the other outgoings are concerned, hopefully you can wipe out some of the repayments on loans or CCs with the money you stand to get back from CC and PPI reclaiming - so motivation to start the process!

Good luck with everything and stick with this site to keep you motivated! You can do it!

Sy

JillyOJolly

I think your honesty is commendable krayzechick. It takes a little courage to put your worries and truths on "paper".

However you are only a young person with a whole life ahead of you and one full of debt if you carry on. You can always contact CCCS or Payplan for advice of how to get out of this mess, but you must be committed. I am not entirely convinced you have your lightbulb moment yet, it hits you with a BANG I can tell you. Once it really does sink in you can read back on your post and see the obvious small changes you can make and possibly understand some of the comments made, although harsh and very in your face, they are only stating the obvious. Your virtual support and/or advice is always readily available on this site, but please dont think that as some people are worse off than you that you can ignore this any longer. You are the only one that can change the course of the next few years and I sympathise wholeheartedly.

It might be worth getting your free credit report and it is a scary moment when you see just what creditors will see. Think about your future and whatever dreams you see for yourself are always there for the taking if you prepare for them now. I would hate for you to reach 40 and not sleeping and not happy because of money.

There is a big world out there and it is yours for the taking, unfortunately my friend there is almost always a price tag that goes along with it and you have to choose your path very carefully.

I hope you find comfort from this, but please seek help immediately. Changes are not easy, and it will take time, but it will be one of the best decisions you will have made.

Good luck, Krayzechick.

krayzechick

Thanks Sy

I defo need to sort out the PPI and Credit Card claims. I dont know where to start but I shall read into it. I have 3 uni assignments due in 2 weeks so once those are out the way I will spend one Sunday doing these letters. I hold no details of the loan or credit card charges though

I have written to Choice a few times in the past and heard nothing back I think a phone call is required there.

Sy1

You will probs find it quite straightforward once you've read through the articles on MSE but if you need any help PM me and I'll talk you through it as I've helped a few friends and work colleagues with reclaiming so I've got a bit of experience!

No worries about not having details of loan or CC charges as they are obliged to provide them once you request them.

And yep I'd call Choice when you get a chance. I always seem to end up with stuff like this like you've mentioned above about waiting on money back from insurance and Halifax etc and tend to find chasing them up with phone calls gets them to hurry it along a bit. Maybe I'm just impatient but I hate waiting for stuff to happen and want it all done yesterday!

Hopefully start happening for you soon and you'll feel much better knowing stuff's getting sorted and you've got it under control.

Let us know how you get on

krayzechick

albertross wrote: »

It was meant to be a reality check, not to cause offense, you already said you've posted 3 times, and nothing has changed, needed a slap, buying crap etc.. The crap isn't mentioned in your budget, so it is impossible for us to guess how much (if any) is currently being spent on crap.

The same (or similar) suggestions have been made before, with the same rejection, the money went somewhere, so there must be some spending either now or in the past that isn't mentioned in the SOA. If you have addressed that, and things aren't getting worse, then fine, but in the meantime, you have got to balance your budget somehow, and then start to pay it off.

My buying crap is £4000 in the past 8 months. Its always on credit cards because in my head it isnt my money. now i'm maxed out again. when my parents paid it off before with the loan I could only just afford the repayments, then things went wrong with my car and I had to pay out money. The only thing that was available at the time was credit card... so it crept into my wallet once again. I'd spend money on sweets and food, on petrol, on cinema, on gym clothes, on going out to gigs. I'd buy for friends - they'd give the money to me and I'd waste it instead of paying off my card. tbh I cant pink point what I spend the money on! ...I dont have a lot of clothes, my DVD/CD collection is good but thats from pressies and from pre debt/early debt times. Last dvd I bought was 5 months ago! and that was £3 from HMV sale.




I need some tips on getting extra income in my limited free time. On what to do with my current debts (action plan?). My SOA is what i'm doing now, I dont have any more cards, only my mum has them.. I get out £10 a week and that's all I spend. If I dont take lunch with me then I starve. Is there anything else I can do? I'm not giving up my car or dumping my bf, my only 'me' time thing is my gym time, and my mobile is essential for work and contacting my bf. I'm going to look into reducing this tariff though as I only use about 200 of my 500 mins.

krayzechick

Sy1 wrote: »

You will probs find it quite straightforward once you've read through the articles on MSE but if you need any help PM me and I'll talk you through it as I've helped a few friends and work colleagues with reclaiming so I've got a bit of experience!

No worries about not having details of loan or CC charges as they are obliged to provide them once you request them.

And yep I'd call Choice when you get a chance. I always seem to end up with stuff like this like you've mentioned above about waiting on money back from insurance and Halifax etc and tend to find chasing them up with phone calls gets them to hurry it along a bit. Maybe I'm just impatient but I hate waiting for stuff to happen and want it all done yesterday!

Hopefully start happening for you soon and you'll feel much better knowing stuff's getting sorted and you've got it under control.

Let us know how you get on

Halifax is being dealt with through the staff at my branch.. Already sent one letter off asking why I hadnt received the £100 incentive and they just replied with a list of what I had to do to qualify - all of which I did! another letter went to them stating that I had complied and to detail in writing just where my shortfall was.

I only had my accident a month ago so i'm not expecting miracles just yet. Forms were only sent back a week ago.


I dont think I can reclaim PPI now as I applied on the Internet.

krayzechick

albertross wrote: »

Do you in reality have £100/month left over to throw at your debts, or is that an on paper estimate? How much is in the pressy pot currently?

A spending diary might be a good idea.

Do you get the cheapest petrol? www.petrolprices.com

always get the cheapest petrol... between where I work and home there are 9 petrol stations! ...I usually got to Tesco or Sainsburys are theyre always cheaper and I get points. Or I fill up in Lincoln where its 5p a litre cheaper!

pressie pot currently has £2 I just bought £50 worth of xmas pressies.

On paper yes I have £100 to throw at debts.. but i've not spent a month yet living on my new budget. to set myself up to throw all my 'spare' money at my debts might be the railroad to disaster and i'll end up taking out credit to live the way I have been. Spending diary for a month would help.