Let`s get out of debt

Emmaaar22

I am tired of scraping through each month, Worrying about money and would like to have some freedom with my money without the worry of debt, money problems and such. Heres a little background...

February last year about three weeks before lockdown happened I decided to leave my job and become a self employed reseller. Before I decided to become a full time reseller I was depressed in my job not enjoying it anymore which is why I decided to quit. A lot of thought and process went into the decision, I was already a established reseller on selling platforms making good money and selling lots each day and so with that we decided I could leave and start this new chapter in my life. All is going well at the moment, In all aspects of life you get your ups and downs and such is the case with this job. When the lockdown hit last year my sales went through the roof and that continued on with the remaining lockdown periods. The only negative side was that I had no where to source and for a time I sourced on Ebay and then moved onto Facebook and local pick up. Alongside my job I also have different income avenues such as commission - I have a blog and a Instagram which I mainly use the commission on, It was going great for 2 years and this year it`s dipped massively and I dunno if it`s cause I`m so busy I don`t give it enough attention or the person the blog and Insta is centered on isnt very active this year. I also have a Facebook group called Discount Codes and Bargains - I started it because I was getting offers through from the affiliates on my commission and they was going to waste - So thought why not use it to my advantage and give them too people free of charge. The group currently has 83.2k subscribers so lots of money could be made, but it`s not being made. Along with the commission on FB I also use advertising slots, It all began because alot of people were asking me if they could advertise on my page. The advertising money contributes towards the paypal credit monthly payments at the moment - However it`s not generated alot of interest as well as it could, I`ve contacted companies and buisnesses offering them the service but nothing.

For a long time all these income avenues were serving me well and helping me pay bills. However the last few months it`s been a bit tight and it seems everything has dipped along with sales, commission etc despite trying my hardest to gather money.

Here comes the debt...

Paypal credit no.1 - £700. 

Paypal Credit no.2 - £500/£1000

Overdraft - £1,150

Very - £298

Argos - £300

Broadband - £25 - Would actually ideally like to change our provider, We`re currently on TalkTalk so if theres another who`s cheaper please say.

Paypal credit No.1 is mine and I used it too buy stock and then I used it too buy postage (Royal mail click and collect)

Paypal credit no.2 is my mums and I had too use it because I ran out of money

There was a time when I paid the same postage on every single parcel big or small, What I didn`t realise at the time was that half of my parcels could go for a fraction of the price because of how small they are. There was also a small period when I didn`t understand Hermes and actually paid double. These mistakes along with sourcing on Ebay for a while have led debts up on the Paypal credit and I would ideally like to get them down before it gets too big. 

Overdraft - I would like to get it down at least £600/£700. This would be to pay bills and source and to spend casually.

I have money to pay the bills and they`re coming down gradually, The overdraft comes down with the money from sales and commission - I don`t get paid commission daily into my account, It usaully takes a month or two before I get a payment and it`s cleared and it has to reach a certain threshold.

So that leaves with me with pratically no money to put towards the 2 Paypal`s, My one is bouncing around near the maxmimum limit - I`ve tried to ease off of it lately. My mums is no where near the limit but it`s gonna get bigger before I know it and I fear for the interest. I need suggestions as what I can do to get these down - I`m doing Swagbucks but it`s very lacklustre, Got bored of it and just don`t have time with it i`m very busy! I want to do matched betting but it`s very confusing to get to grips with it - I`m dyslexic in maths which doesn`t help. Also tried scanning your receipts and again I got bored and forgot. I`m up anything that`s easy and enjoyable as These Paypal credits and paying them off are my main priorities.

My income each month is about £370. I have no credit cards or mortgages either.

I don`t live at home with the luxury of not paying anything, My keep is the broadband bill which is now £25 (I think, I recently changed it), I also pay for my mobile bill which is £27, Any subscriptions such as Spotify I pay myself (I don`t wanna be getting rid of it), I contribute towards my meals and the electricity and gas. I have never come onto my parents for money - The first time was this month so I don`t wanna make this a daily habit.

So for summary I would like to get the paypal credits and overdraft down, Once these are down I will organise everything else.

Additional notes...

I was looking into applying for disability allowance, I`ve got hypomobility which basically means my joints can dislocate, sprain or break at any time. 2 years ago I tore my ankle ligaments, Last year I dislocated my thumb. These both impact my work, Infact the thumb happened whilst I was shifting boxes. Constant pain and agony and they`re constantly being damaged after damaged. I won`t get it if I apply for my ankle as all the evidence have gone. However my thumb I could, Happened in January and it`s now June and this will take longer then a year to repair, I`m currently having physio for it but I have to go back to get a longer splint as it`s not healing at all. I could apply for the allowance with it however I don`t have all the letters or the xray to back me up so if anyone could give me some advice that would be great.

Facebook marketplace - Oh the wonders of it. Theres just not much of a market for it around here. I`ve made one sale from it in the last month, Nearly 2 but someone pulled out. I`ve gone off FB massively it`s laggy and your post always goes into review and gets declined, I just don`t have much success with it as I do with other selling platforms.

Ebay - The last 2 months have been dire, Had sales but it`s been quiet and bad. I`ve recently stepped up and started to post 10 items a day and it`s working! Albeit it`s not always 10 items but it`s working and we`re making progress. I have just transitioned to a business account mainly to get more listings as the more listings the more interest, However it`s a £25 fee each month and i`ve already hit my listing limit. So I have to now consider that too.

Depop - Any money I make on Depop goes into my Paypal account, It can be transferred to my bank account however because Paypal is so defunct I have issues with them not recognising my bank account, So I can`t add it. I have to transfer money to my mums Paypal, for which she transfers it to my BA...But I lose money in the process. Because of that issue any money I make from Depop contribute towards the paypal credits. However Depop has been on a bit of a decline recently and sales haven`t been like they used too be, it`s one every month where it used to be 6/7. Again trying my best to upload and get active on that site but it`s much harder then the others.

Schpock and Gumtree - Waste of time

For my sourcing, I take advantage of current trends or at least try too. I`ve also tried to take advantage of summer this year as in people holidaying in the UK camping etc Infact I sold a sleeping bag! What i`ve been finding lately is that a lot of parents have been buying bundles of clothes to use on holidays or at nursery - I source at CS mainly now picking up kids clothing knowing theres a mum out their waiting to put it into her bundle - Bundles have helped massively recently. Would love to go to a carboot but I would like to have a nice bed of money before I do because I know I would spend alot as it`s so cheap. I follow resellers videos and have also picked up a few tips and have started moving into other genres such as toys, homeware etc. If anyone else has more tips would be much appreciated.

Also, regarding the broadband with TalkTalk. For over a year now every Sunday night from midnight to 1am our internet cuts out for a hour without fail. We dunno why or how but we`re pretty sure it`s not us because we found other people were experiencing the same thing just at different times. I`ve contacted TalkTalk in regards to this on several occassions and all they say is that it`s a fault on our part - They would like to send out an engineer but we know they will charge a lot for him just to say I dunno. I`m pretty certain it`s not us as it just happened out the blue and has happened ever since. I pay the bill outright every month so i`m entitled to a decent service. Now I`m not sure if I would be able to get compensation because of this? They told me one time I had to contact someone else in order to put a complaint in about the service but it never saw the light or day nothing happened. We`re beyond frustrated with the service we`re getting. We had faster fibre however nothing changed, We have also been experiencing some cuts outs as of late. Can anyone advise me on this please? I get too inpatient with the customer service agent called jdhfjzxhdzkjfk who wants to do multiple speed tests everytime I ask now.

So i`m looking for any other additional income avenues if anyone could help me that would be much appreciated.

Sorry if this post doesn`t make sense.

TheAble

The obvious point is that you really need a job, I would say. Office-based or similar given your disabilities. The reselling thing you clearly have a knack for but anyone's going to struggle on your income. Ultimately you're going to want to move out and buy your own place and you need more income and a deposit saved for that. Every month where you're only earning £370 is one lost where you could have been earning a multiple of that.

TalkTalk btw you can pay £20/month if you pay 12 months upfront, which may or may not be an option.

Emmaaar22

TheAble said:

The obvious point is that you really need a job, I would say. Office-based or similar given your disabilities. The reselling thing you clearly have a knack for but anyone's going to struggle on your income. Ultimately you're going to want to move out and buy your own place and you need more income and a deposit saved for that. Every month where you're only earning £370 is one lost where you could have been earning a multiple of that.

TalkTalk btw you can pay £20/month if you pay 12 months upfront, which may or may not be an option.

My income from sales and commission alone have steadily gone up over the last few years, At the moment it`s a bit of a stalemate but I think that`s because I`m not putting enough effort in.

When I was low on money a few months ago and needed some extra pennies I tried drop shopping, I looked on FB marketplace saw a few items and put them up and they sold! So I`ve continued on with this and it has deffinitely helped. Once something starts rolling it will get going and that`s something I`ve heard within the reseller community - The consistency and patience is key as well as learning customers behaviours.


Had a bit of trouble with Ebay today - Sold something for £7ish and then add on the fees and all I got through was £1.25. So I`ve decided to change back to a private account because all I wanted to do was promote, I can`t promote with buy it now listings and i`ve found that auction is more popular with my costumers. The other thing was I ran out of listings and I thought buying the buisness package would`ve supplied me with more listings which it didn`t. Luckilly I`ve found how that works now and it doesn`t require a business account. Also haven`t been charged.

I`ve sold something for £50 today which will be going into my bank account when Ebay stop faffing around, Got £38 going in tomorrow hopefully been waiting more then 4 days. Someone confirmed their parcel had arrived on Vinted so that`s £4.25 in the bank account too. 2 local people dropped items off so I can send them off. Someone wants to place a ad on FB.I need to take photos of items so may do that tonight.

Emmaaar22

Emmaaar22 said:

TheAble said:

The obvious point is that you really need a job, I would say. Office-based or similar given your disabilities. The reselling thing you clearly have a knack for but anyone's going to struggle on your income. Ultimately you're going to want to move out and buy your own place and you need more income and a deposit saved for that. Every month where you're only earning £370 is one lost where you could have been earning a multiple of that.

TalkTalk btw you can pay £20/month if you pay 12 months upfront, which may or may not be an option.

My income from sales and commission alone have steadily gone up over the last few years, At the moment it`s a bit of a stalemate but I think that`s because I`m not putting enough effort in.

When I was low on money a few months ago and needed some extra pennies I tried drop shopping, I looked on FB marketplace saw a few items and put them up and they sold! So I`ve continued on with this and it has deffinitely helped. Once something starts rolling it will get going and that`s something I`ve heard within the reseller community - The consistency and patience is key as well as learning customers behaviours.


Had a bit of trouble with Ebay today - Sold something for £7ish and then add on the fees and all I got through was £1.25. So I`ve decided to change back to a private account because all I wanted to do was promote, I can`t promote with buy it now listings and i`ve found that auction is more popular with my costumers. The other thing was I ran out of listings and I thought buying the buisness package would`ve supplied me with more listings which it didn`t. Luckilly I`ve found how that works now and it doesn`t require a business account. Also haven`t been charged.

I`ve sold something for £50 today which will be going into my bank account when Ebay stop faffing around, Got £38 going in tomorrow hopefully been waiting more then 4 days. Someone confirmed their parcel had arrived on Vinted so that`s £4.25 in the bank account too. 2 local people dropped items off so I can send them off. Someone wants to place a ad on FB.I need to take photos of items so may do that tonight.

Said person has now paid for the advertising slot, It`s not the usaul £5 but it`s £10 to be advertised on the huge banner at the top. So that will go towards my Paypal Credit - However holding out because I had spare money leftover yesterday I paid £8.70 + 80p into it thinking my paypal credit would go down as it has done before however it hasn`t yet but I`ll give it a few days.

Just dropped some prices on Depop, and now have a enquiry on Vinted 

Is it usaully this busy? Yes it is

Oh and I have a post to upload to my Instagram, Involves a affiliate link too

Emmaaar22

Been a couple of days...

Still having trouble with Ebay . Fees are making me reluctant to list which is hard because I`m on a roll at the moment over their.

Sales - 1 on Ebay, 2 on Vinted. Have to go and collect something later to post it on. 


Advertising space - Got £10 more, Have someone else interested in putting a ad up and I`ve put out a ad out for more customers.

Managed to pay 1 of the PC off already this month.

However it`s going to be a mad scramble to get the money together for the other bills - As I currently won`t have enough so i`m pushing sales, discounts right now even considering doing a carboot.

Emmaaar22

Emmaaar22 said:

Been a couple of days...

Still having trouble with Ebay . Fees are making me reluctant to list which is hard because I`m on a roll at the moment over their.

Sales - 1 on Ebay, 2 on Vinted. Have to go and collect something later to post it on. 


Advertising space - Got £10 more, Have someone else interested in putting a ad up and I`ve put out a ad out for more customers.

Managed to pay 1 of the PC off already this month.

However it`s going to be a mad scramble to get the money together for the other bills - As I currently won`t have enough so i`m pushing sales, discounts right now even considering doing a carboot.

£10 more of advertising space gained from a customer

katsu

If you are selling for a living, don't you have to register for a business account on eBay?  I believe HMRC do know/get information so it's worth finding out what you need to do if you don't have that set up - I'm saying that because you said about selling on a private account. The eBay board posters here seem really helpful so I'm sure they can help if you need any advice.

I don't think there is a magic solution that gives a good top up and is exciting, but if you try the small things daily thread in this form you might get som new ideas.

Good luck!

Emmaaar22

katsu said:

If you are selling for a living, don't you have to register for a business account on eBay?  I believe HMRC do know/get information so it's worth finding out what you need to do if you don't have that set up - I'm saying that because you said about selling on a private account. The eBay board posters here seem really helpful so I'm sure they can help if you need any advice.

I don't think there is a magic solution that gives a good top up and is exciting, but if you try the small things daily thread in this form you might get som new ideas.

Good luck!

I am registered as a business, Just not on Ebay. I`ve tried multiple times before to become a business account - One of the times I tried is when I asked the chat operator and she said I didn`t need to worry and don`t need to be one. The main reason why I couldn`t convert to a business account before is because when you go to fill in the form they have a `What you trade as` drop down form or something like that and apparently sole trader is one of them but I just didn`t have it, Even after numerous attempts all they had was 2 other options infact I couldn`t even click the thing it was greyed out. It`s a glitch on their part.

Where would I find the small things daily forum?

Andyjflet

Are you really at a level to be a legitimate business? You got into camping gear and sold 1 sleeping bag? Whats your annual income?