In debt, unemployed and need help

DrStep

Whoa this discussion has got quite heated.

Priority is to get earning - get that job and get the money comming in.

I say get rid of the car for now. Its not a necessity - just a luxury really in all honesty. I see it as, only doctors and travelling salesmen need cars! Everyone else can walk! Seriously, some of the factory work actually provide a minus-bus to pick up workers for free. Check this out. You can always buy another car in furture - they are not going anywhere. I worked out running a car needs somewhere around £2000 a year to comfortably run one - I think someone else worked out the real cost is £1 per mile!

You say factory work is not good long term - what about working at a supermarket checkout? There must be one locally.- Its pay is nt too bad, and there are plenty of opportunites to work overtime and or get time and a half on sundays. I m not saying you are there for life - its just a stepping stone. The longer you are out of work - the harder it is to get work it seems.

Dont forget cycling is a great way to commute as well. Just dont forget to lock it.

Mobile does cost too much. Terminate it once it runs out. Get a prepay phone for £40 instead and use it for emergencies only.

I would say to replace clothes that are worn. The cheapest clothes are from saturday markets (good for underwear/socks) charity shops and Primark, in that order. You'd be surprised actually what you find in charity shops - some are near new items which have been given to them because they are the wrong size etc... I bought a Blazer and tie and used it for an interview - I got the job! Just remember go for neutral colours and styles. The cheapest shoes are from Shoezone or Shoefayer (£10-20)- remarkably they are comfortable and wear well.

Socialising - think of other ways to have fun. We have a football match between the 8 of us every other week- fun and doenst cost a load.

nearlyrich

BG Note: OP, sometimes people say things you don't want to hear, please don't take it personally most people are trying to help you.

Everyone, Please be nice to all moneysavers it's the rules.....:)

roversbabe

DrStep wrote:

Mobile does cost too much. Terminate it once it runs out. Get a prepay phone for £40 instead and use it for emergencies only.

Or ask your current network for a prepay SIM card when your contract runs out, use your existing phone as you don't really need a new one unless the one you have is broken - you may get the SIM for free as your service provider will want to keep you as a customer.

HTH

Kimberley

I bought the 02 PAYG online after i terminated my monthly contract. I don't have a car, i never ever go out anymore except go to London with the kids to places that are free..I take a packed lunch and only pay for our Family travel card which is £4 for me and my 3 kids..I buy my clothes second hand..I don't like being skint, and i'd love to walk in Blackpool every week, but i can't afford to go out at all..my first priority is the kids and getting out of debt and if it means going without for a while, then it's something i have to do.

The kids are young and they understand that they can't have what their friends have, they can't go to the pictures because that £20 or so pounds can pay of a little more of my debt. They understand this..at the end of this struggle because the kids have been so good about this, i intend to treat the kids to a little holiday. A holiday they have never had..

If you have made sacrificies and those sacrificies have helped you get out of debt, then you deserve a treat and can go out and buy another car, go on expensive walks in Blackpool etc...but don't you think working your way to being debt free is the biggest present you can get?

Turning_into_scrooge

IhateDebt wrote:

Its called misfortune.

I didnt go on a 20k spending spree or buy luxury cars and holidays like allot of people of here.

I actually have allot more debt than you which will take me 5 years to pay off by budgeting and cutting back drastically, i have managed to get that figure down from 10 years. My debt did NOT aquire by luxury holiday or cars etc but by buying debt to pay debt due to being in a car accident that i nearly lost my life in which has led me to be severley dissabled and losing my business. 6 years later i am just getting my life back together. Not everyone is is debt due to luxury and i think you will find 99.9% of posters on here did not buy luxury!!!

Turning_into_scrooge

nelly wrote:

Ihatedebt, persoanlly 25 quid a week is not THAT much on socialising when its the only thing you have going for you at present, however any cut backs at all are helpfull, and thats what the previous posters were trying to say, thats all.

.

Nelly may i just say here that no £25 doesnt sound allot a week for entertainment but that is my full monthly allownace given to me and my son for a full month by CCCS

Ember999

I have just read this entire thread after coming in and deciding to have a cuppa before I went to bed. I find it all very sad. Also it got me thinking, I suppose about how lucky I am now , and I use the word now because in the past (long time ago, granted....almost 5 years) my life came crashing down on me in the most dramatic way. Redundancy. Shook our world to the core, it really did. I remember the day we got the phone call, a nice May afternoon, sat at the kitchen table chatting about mindless rubbish when the call came in that ended our world. It took his firm's representative less than 3 minutes to pass on the news and in that 3 minutes we lost everything. Well, we thought we had. £30,000+ income gone! Unemployment beckoning, the dole queue. My husband almost had a breakdown, think I did for sure, thinking of all the events that followed. The worst bit was the effect it had on my husband. He went from being a proud man who achieved everything for his family, to feeling like a 'nothing' a worthless nobody. To see him crumble like that broke my heart. I couldn't help him, his ego was too trashed by it all. Unemployment for anybody is damn hard. I can't imagine anybody finds life on the 'dole' fun. What pride can be found in having to almost beg for money you are entitled to by paying into the system for many, many years? In our opinion the 'system' is designed to demoralise you and make you feel like you are begging, when in fact you are not.
It's hard thinking of taking a lower-paid job than you are used to and that is demoralising in itself. I can understand the original posters stress at the thought of working at minimum wage and appearing to be no better off than he effectively is on the dole. The minimun wage did not alleviate poverty in this country and unless it is raised to a realistic level, it never will be.
But and this is the big but, to get out of the trap of poverty caused by whatever circumstances got you in that mess, to clear debt run up by whatever circumstances caused you to run it up, there is only one solution. Get off the Dole. Even working minimum wage will give you pride in the fact that you earn your own money, you are not paid for by the state (and lets face it, the state do a damn good job of making you jump through the goddamn hoops just to get the barest minimum!) and from small things can grow big things. Like another poster said...get a job, any job, as its easier to find a good job from a job. Get your pride back. Then set about re-building your life. Pay the debts just £1 a week to get them off your back. They aren't going to take you to court as it is not worth their while to do so. You haven't got anything to give them! Concentrate on getting a job, then work on getting a better job than you have. The most important thing you must do is stop yourself sinking into depression and losing hope. Once you lose hope, you stop trying and you are finished!
We are lucky, my husband found a new job, a better job, paying even more than he earned and it was a miracle that this happened as it didn't seem likely at all. But there again, with a little faith, miracles do happen!
Almost 5 years later, we have no debt, (only had £5,000 back then but that was enough as far as we were concerned) and our lifestyle is amazing. We live well, I save a lot and we will never let ourselves take anything for granted again. Redundancy can happen to anyone, at anytime. The survivors are like my husband, they kick themselves up the !!!!!!, stand back up tall and proud and start again. At the bottom if necessary, but they never, ever give up!
I said to my husband a few weeks ago that we were 'lucky' you know what he said to me?
"Funny that, the harder we work, the luckier we get!' I think that is a good comment to remember. Luck isn't magic, it's achieved by damn hard work and determination. Anyone can do it, if you have the courage.
I know I have rambled a bit, but had to get my thoughts down. My cuppa is well cold now, too busy typing to drink it, but I hope my post has given you something to think about.
There is only one way to go from the bottom and that is up.
Good Luck, hope you find a job, hope you find a way to clear your debts and in my opinion, any little walks you can take your other half on that keep you both sane at this bad time are good for you. I hope you make it.

bargainqueen_2

Ember that is a beautiful post. Hat off to you and your spiritedness.

DrStep

Ember thats a great post.

"Redundancy can happen to anyone, at anytime"

How true. I think people are more likely to get made redundant than get hit by a bus - the excuse for "live for now"

What we can learn is that no job is for life. I certainly believe out of this, that saving money for the future rather than borrowing, will be the new renaissance accepted by the masses.

Ember999

Thank You to Bargainqueen and DrStep.
Ember