Digging myself out of my twenties Debt Hole

JayRitchie

Just to confirm - as it completely changes the advice i was going to write - you are a junior doctor? How many years post graduation? Are you contributing to the pension fund?

[Deleted User]

I am a junior doctor, 6 years post qualification, and yes I pay into an NHS pension. looking forward to hearing your advice JayRitchie!

Merry Christmas all!! :rudolf: :xmastree: :xmassmile

ceb1995

I d seriously consider getting pet insurance sorted we have a 7 year old cat and its less than £7 a month for very comprehensive cover. you could definitely get your food bill down, two of us eat for that much and we're not missing out on anything, living in manchester there should be a lidl or aldi nearby you can use.

StartingAgainAt29

Hi debtfree, while my circumstances are different to you we're of a similar age so I'll be following your diary with interest. I would definitely recommend getting insurance for your cat, she's important to you so why not give yourself a bit more peace of mind and have her covered? I have two cats and live on £25 a week for groceries, so you should have some wriggle room to get that down.

onwards&upwards

Have you considered moving to Warrington instead of Liverpool? Rent/house prices are cheaper than the city centres (and much more likely to have free parking) but you’re only half an hour on the train to either Manchester or Liverpool. Right on the M62 for car travel too.

Dragonfly1

debtfreefrom2020 wrote: »

I am a junior doctor, 6 years post qualification, and yes I pay into an NHS pension. looking forward to hearing your advice JayRitchie!

Merry Christmas all!! :rudolf: :xmastree: :xmassmile

Have you definitely claimed all of the membership fees? Can be easy to miss one or two.

BMA Membership
GMC Membership
MRCP & MRCS Part A/B Fees
Royal College Membership (& Exam) Fees
MDU/MPS Membership Fees
Replacement Stethoscopes (Easily lost for some )

Have you claimed them for every year? (And 1x replacement stethoscope probably!) You can back-date 6 years I believe.

Work parking sounds extortionate - mine is only £20/month at our hospital car park around Greater London. However it might become cheaper sooner if you are working nights. The details are still a bit vague from the government. Due to come into effect April 2020.

You are presumably LTFT training? I'm more junior than you but on a similar FT income.

Have you got a 27-30 Railcard? To save 1/3 of your train fares. It may be cheaper than buying season/weekly tickets especially if you are Less than Full Time.

I'm also unclear why you are registering for Lionbridge? The locum rates for a shift at your hospital should be [considerably] higher.

kangoora

For cheap holidays the all-inclusive coach holidays can't be beaten for price (Shearings/National etc). Food/accom can be a bit hit and miss but if you've had student accomodation (and food) then can be endured if you get a bad one.

Just be prepared to be the youngest person on the coach by about 30-40 years You can pretty much just keep to yourself in terms of entertainment if you like.

It might be an experience............

JayRitchie

Hi OP

Happy new year!

Just wondering if you are still using this forum?

tlc678910

Hi OP,
A little later in the year (maybe August/Sept) you could advertise at the hospital (staff room?) for a room to rent. If you could get all in inc bills and maybe even car parking for £500 odd you might be able to clear your debt in less than a year (assuming that you have already made a dent in it before then). You could then move on from a debt free position or if it working out well stay to save up your house deposit.

I realise you have a cat but assuming you can say "with one well trained house cat" you might find a cat lover that is happy to accommodate.

I noticed you said you paid all your savings off your debt. Moving can be expensive of course so you might need to try to keep something aside before the end of your lease.

Good luck.

[Deleted User]

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Have you considered moving to Warrington instead of Liverpool? Rent/house prices are cheaper than the city centres (and much more likely to have free parking) but you’re only half an hour on the train to either Manchester or Liverpool. Right on the M62 for car travel too.

A colleague did actually mention moving to Warrington - the rent is on average £150/month cheaper. I'd have to pay my way out of my existing tenancy, the terms of which are rather vaguely worded in my rental contract (The Tenant is responsible for all Tenant obligations under this agreement until the end of the Term, subject to the correct notice being provided. Should the Tenant wish to terminate the Lease prematurely the Landlord may, at their absolute discretion, allow the property to be re-marketed, subject to the Tenant making payment for the Landlords reasonable costs to remarket the property. The option to re-market the property will not be offered in every situation and is subject to additional terms). What do you think to that? It is a bit vague isn't it?

A return train ticket is only about £1 cheaper from Warrington as it is from Piccadilly! All things considered, I think I'd probably rather pay a bit more and move directly to Liverpool, to save on commuting time and to not give up too much on my youth just yet (still enjoying the buzz of being in a big city!). Also, I have already invested £1000 in up-front parking costs in my current accommodation in Manchester and it seems stupid to walk away from that. I have looked into selling off the car parking spot and entrance fob to another resident, but the fob is non-transferable and I have seen parking attendants down there checking vehicle registrations to make sure all the cars parked there have been registered with the office. :sad: I haven't ever seen any vehicles being towed but I'd hate to land someone else in hot water.

However, in terms of somewhere to buy (..when that day finally comes...) the areas around Warrington are definitely of interest due those reasons you've listed.

Dragonfly1 wrote: »

Have you definitely claimed all of the membership fees? Can be easy to miss one or two.

BMA Membership
GMC Membership
MRCP & MRCS Part A/B Fees
Royal College Membership (& Exam) Fees
MDU/MPS Membership Fees
Replacement Stethoscopes (Easily lost for some )

Have you claimed them for every year? (And 1x replacement stethoscope probably!) You can back-date 6 years I believe.

Work parking sounds extortionate - mine is only £20/month at our hospital car park around Greater London. However it might become cheaper sooner if you are working nights. The details are still a bit vague from the government. Due to come into effect April 2020.

You are presumably LTFT training? I'm more junior than you but on a similar FT income.

Have you got a 27-30 Railcard? To save 1/3 of your train fares. It may be cheaper than buying season/weekly tickets especially if you are Less than Full Time.

I'm also unclear why you are registering for Lionbridge? The locum rates for a shift at your hospital should be [considerably] higher.

Hi Dragonfly1, I've claimed tax back on all of those fees aside from the stethoscope, which I haven't picked up for 3.5 years since I took up an academic post (hence the lower income - I'm not on an on call rota and boy I do not miss it!!!!) Work parking is expensive yes, because I have to use a public car park, my office unfortunately does not have parking. I have been good this month though and pre-booked all my train tickets in advance (yes I have a railcard, expires in March though :mad:) which has likely saved me lots of money, kept the mileage off my car, and means that I absolutely have to leave the office at 5pm otherwise I'll miss my return train, instead of getting carried away by working late more often than I ought to be doing.

I have enquired with Medacs about picking up a few shifts but I'm right at the bottom of the pecking order given that I am out of touch with clinical practice (also from a patient safety point of view..!) I left clinical medicine for a reason and although I do miss it at times, these times are extremely infrequent..! Thankfully, I much much prefer my current job to my earlier life

JayRitchie wrote: »

Hi OP

Happy new year!

Just wondering if you are still using this forum?

Happy new year to you too!

:embarasse Apologies for lying low over Christmas, I gave myself a much needed break from the laptop as I am a slave to emails at work. Feeling lovely and refreshed now and ready to take on 2020! So yes I am still using the forum and most grateful for all the advice offered so far. :T