Trans girl in a financial hole looking to juggle my way out.

jimpwarsop

EmilyDiary said:

So it is payday today, so this is what is happening.

I actually got paid more than I expected, which is odd as I am salaried and it is usually the same each month. I am not complaining of course, and I wonder if it is just that tax and NI changes have sort of fallen in my favour. I usually expect £1460, this month I got paid £1489.98.

This is what has been paid today:

Pet insurance £6.03
Rent: £625.00
Bamboo loan: £69.10
Zable credit card: £17.50
Vanquis credit card: £10.00
Aqua credit card : £92.44 (this is lower than it would usually be due to excess payments I had made before the last statement reducing the required payment for this payday)
Ocean credit card: £25.32
Zopa credit card: £15.94
Paypal credit: £36.70
Water: £9.91 (the full balance on the account currently)
Tappily: £26.00

I've also paid for my medication for the month. I actually have two months worth of one of the medications (the least important one) already, so I've managed to reduce the three month supply I bought today to £104.64 which is really handy. 

This is what is still left to pay:

Internet: £30.00
Gender service subscription: £30.00
Stepchange payments: tbc - will speak to creditors directly on this but I will assume approximately £60. I'll break it down properly once I've done this.
Gas: £20.00 
Council tax: £126.00
Laser treatment: £70.00

This is the debt that is left after todays payments:

Zable credit card: £341.13
Vanquis credit card: £138.98
Bamboo loan: £967.31
Aqua credit card: £2338.72
Ocean credit card: £469.07
Zopa credit card: £383.67
Paypal credit: £874.93
Stepchange: £834.05
Post office credit card: £290.56

Total debt: £6638.42

So I've paid the minimum on all the cards, the post office one was already paid earlier in the month when Dad sent me £50, and I cancelled some direct debits. The water one shouldn't need to be set back up now for another five months. I'll have to set the electric one back up before next payday but I wanted some wiggle room this month.

So based on all that I have £115.40 to spend on food and cat stuff for the month. I'll probably have to use a little credit if I can't get through, but the good news is I won't have to add anything on to the tappily account which is high interest. 

This will be an expensive weekend though. I have a friend coming to visit and we are going to my city's pride celebration. We have already purchased the tickets but will need drink and food for the weekend. I'll try and keep a running total of how much that ends up being and try as hard as I can to get through to next pay day with minimal credit used.

The other plus point is that it is my birthday in a couple of weeks and I might get a little money from my Dad for this too. However, I'll probably also end up spending money to go do something as it's a big birthday and I didn't do anything for the last two years due to covid so I really do want to do something. 

Of course you do.

Try paying off a debt as a present to yourself, a present that will last for months, and provide an income (thats how to look at interest not paid) i.e. if you are paying £5 a month to service a debt, and you pay it off then your income is £5 a month up.

Grumpelstiltskin

Explain to your friend that you have been doing your budget going forward and things are tight for the next few months.

I'm sure they will understand and possibly will be in the same position themselves.

Brie

Enjoy your Pride celebrations - nothing does the soul better than a good party (in my opinion anyway)

Don't forget that water is free at many locations.  Take your own bottle of water to get you started and fill up as you go along.  Alcohol or even soft drinks tend to be massively overpriced at lots of events and venues.  And if you do opt for alcohol there's the inevitable expensive munchies that follow - don't ask me how I know!!!

Re the debts - you have a few really tiddly ones.  Now everyone will say pay off the ones with the most interest (& that's def Tappily which is just a variation on a rolling payday loan) but it will be a real boost to get rid of one or two of these.  DONT use Tappily to do so as that is counter productive but when you have even an extra £1 sling it on the littlest to push it closer to oblivion.  

And cats - no way would I ever say live without them!  But - check if the food bank can help with the food and litter.  You may be fine with not using a FB for your food but you may be happy to do it for the kittens!!! They also may be able to help with those other household essentials like dish cloths etc.  

EmilyDiary

Thank you for all the advice! We plan to buy our alcohol outside of the event and we have what WE think is a good way to sneak it in. I also agree re the smaller debts and that was absolutely my plan once I have anything spare to overpay.

EmilyDiary

Have been to the shops, spent £34.86. This is most of my food for the next two weeks (still need some small bits I’ll pick up tomorrow) and some cat litter and a couple weeks worth of cat food. I’ll be going back out tomorrow to get some drinks for pride and get the last couple of bits of food (shouldn’t be more than

EmilyDiary

cont…

maybe £4 worth) and then I’ll calculate what’s left over 

Elisheba

Hi Emily,
Hope you enjoyed Pride and your birthday!  Hopefully they came in on budget, but don't panic if they didn't  From personal experience, the main thing is to keep track of spending and keep posting on here.  It stops the constant anxiety when you don't know what the damage is, and helps keep you on track.
Good luck with it all,
Elisheba 

cinnamon123

Hi EmilyDiary - wishing you the best of luck on your journey. Will be cheering you on.