Going Bankrupt - 26 & Scared

Humdinger1

Hannah

You seem to be putting yourself last in all of this. Yksi and many others above have said some very wise things - what comes across to me (and for many years I had similar attitudes; a positive mental attitude can sometimes, though not always, be a curse because it encourages you to think that you can make utterly unsustainable situations work if you only believe enough) is that you seem to find it hard to treat yourself with anything like the care you give everyone else. Apologies if this is too personal or just plain wrong, but you don't exist just to keep everyone else and impossible situations afloat.

I've fought my way back from 100k of debt without bankruptcy; now have savings but far more importantly, a realistic attitude where I count as much as other people; and I'm not trying to persuade myself that in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, there will be a magical breakthrough and all will come good.

All of us on here Hannah want the best for you. I hope this isn't coming across as a patronising nag, but I know for me the key thing was embracing reality.

Am subscribing and do please keep us posted. You can do this and have a voice; please just start to find it. A few quiet notes a day and you can work up to solos with full orchestral backing in time, if you want to. Humdinger

AFF8879

Jonathan_Kelvin wrote: »

Edited to add, do you think that you would be capable of joining the civil service fast stream? Starting salary is £27,000, moving up to £45-55,000 once qualified.

Hi Hannah, I would seriously look into this if you haven’t already. It sounds like you’re a young high-performer at work, which is exactly the type of person they’re trying to attract with these schemes.

It may mean a longer commute or even moving out, but the material rise in salary could make you better off even then.

luvchocolate

Hi... some really helpful comments on this thread from many new posters on this board.
Please do read them carefully and take on board the advice .
I have no more to add

Jonathan_Kelvin

Bexta140790 wrote: »

Hi Hannah,

You really need to reduce your income.

How would that help?

Bexta140790

I meant outgoings, I must have been half asleep :rotfl:

prodigalson

Hannah232 wrote: »

Income -1,400

Monthly Outgoings
Car Finance £230
Car Insurance £38
Car Tax £12
Petrol £260 £65 a week
Maintenance for car £70 ( I put £70 because of the £400 car service and £75 windscreen and also oils etc.)
Rent to parents £400
Food £230 Includes meals at work, however I make bulk meals where I can(I pay for all my food and will continue)
Toiletries £25 (I buy my own makeup, shampoo conditioner, body wash, I put towards toilet rolls and cleaning products)
Hairdressing £15 ( I need to keep a professional image for work) this is for 4 haircuts a year and box dye for my hair not professional colour).
Dental £10
Perscriptions £10
Clothes/Footwear £40
Phone £47 (tied into contract)

Luxuries/living
Socialising £30
Gifts £40 (Christmas, birthday, weddings, christenings, etc.)
Gym £34 (tied into contract
Holidays £20
Vape £20
Savings for emergencies £100

Sorry if messy, I have copied from my own spreadsheet.

I have put £100 for emergencies because if I go BR I will need to have money spare to save for a car as I will need one for work. That will still take me a very long time to save for a car though.

I find I am spending on my credit card to get through the month, therefore it just keeps snowballing.

Believe me when I say I have tried everything.
I have worked two jobs but got so stressed because I was working my normal part time job plus staying late and then working weekends at my second job and some evenings, I stopped because I felt so tired and it was effecting my normal job.

I don't mean to sound harsh or rude or even mean. But whats the point of staying at home if your paying your parents rent and for food and everything. I could understand you just going put and buying groceries for the whole family, but why are you paying rent. You could better use that money to pay off you. Also get rid of the car and use public transport. And get a part time job as a waiter, bartender something in the hospitality sector and work there 2-3 nights a week, You should be out of debt in a maximum of 18months if you follow my ideas listed above

MissMollyJ

I’m really surprised everyone is slating Hannah’s pay... Where are all these jobs paying tonnes of money please? £21,000 is nothing to sneeze at and only just below the average wage for ALL people of ALL ages in this country.

I’m a full time secondary teacher, am 43 years old and I only earn about 4K more than that!! Lol. And it’s the most I’ve ever been paid in my life. (Retrained a couple of years ago)

Hannah I agree with the others, ditch the car ASAP and get the train and make it work like hundreds of thousands of other people do. If work need you to get about in a car they will provide a vehicle, you doing it to go above and beyond won’t be noticed by anybody or have any bearing on promotion.

All you need to do is get rid of the car and go on the train and literally all your problems are sorted. It’s a no brainer.

Good luck

prodigalson

Also cancel the gym membership and sell some of your possessions, also get a payment plan for your debts or maybe even apply for a 18/24 month BT card, should give you some time

MissMollyJ

prodigalson wrote: »

£21k at 26 years old is really bad. Out of university I was making over £60k, and I went to a uni that ranked around 50th place on the UK university rankings. Shes need to increase her income if that means working extra part time jobs she should do it. Also after this debt is paid of in the next 18 months, she should set some goals on how to increase her income from her main job weather that is gaining extra qualifications or looking for a change.

Also I am a year younger than her and been through huge amounts of debt as well and am experienced, which you can find out by looking at my previous posts

What did you do at uni to walk out with a 60k job?

Like I said - look at the average wages in the UK and she won’t be far off.

MaxiRobriguez

The salary isn't the sole problem. If it was, almost half the country would be asking the same "should I go bankrupt" question.

I agree with most of the comments already that the major factors are the car, the excessive food bill and the high stay-at-home rent. Those are the things you need to tackle now, and the gym and phone bills need to be thought through more carefully when they come to renewal.

The final thing I would say is whilst most have focused on the mathematics of avoiding bankruptcy, you should also consider the personal impact it would have on you. You want to move out, but even if you had the means to do so after bankruptcy you may find it incredibly hard to do so as you fail credit check after credit check. The car that you lost in your bankruptcy... if you thought you were in a position to get another one a couple of years down the line on credit... you won't get it.

You have a choice between 2-3 years worth of hard cutting expenses to break even so you can move on with your life, or take bankruptcy and not be able to move on with your life for ten years. Also consider what impact it has on your morale. You may not care, but some people would feel like a failure if they lived every day for a decade in the knowledge they'd declared bankruptcy.

Wish you luck, your situation certainly feels recoverable to me, if you want it enough.