Being broke and even sometimes being in debt is the biggest wake up call ever, especially when you get that sinking feeling when your bank account goes into overdraft, and nothing you do seems to be working. It's a very disheartening situation, but trust me, you CAN get your way out of it if you just take some forward steps and start thinking positively.
My first encounter with debt was when I was 20 years old and about to start my second year of Uni. I was approached by a rep from Clothes Show Live to sell at a stall in the Christmas event, and to my delight, I said yes! But then what they didn't tell me was all the costs and things that would later come into it
(£5,000 just to have a frigging stall for 3 days! I would have better luck in selling for Camden Lock Market every day for a year!) and I obviously couldn't afford to fund myself whilst being away from home and only just started my business the year before, as well as the fact that I had no money apart from my student loan, so I told them that I no longer commit to this, so they said I had to pay 1/2 the amount of money to break the contract, and so I did, but I was £2,500 in debt, I barely had enough student loan to pay my rent and I was only really left with £200 a term to live on, and it was very uncomfortable living on that, my budget on food was £7.50 a week- how I actually survived on that was beyond belief.
It was saddening that I spent my 21st birthday in so much debt that I could even barely afford my birthday meal, as well as travelling from Farnham to South London for it.
So after that, I said to myself that I had to get myself out of this pit that I was in, even if it takes years and years.
The steps I took towards clearing this debt involved:
- joining a job agency (ones that involve catering work are often easiest to get work for). I joined 2 agencies to make sure I had some kind of consistent work.
- starting my own side business- maybe you want to sell things on eBay, have a cake sale or like me, you would like to upcycle clothing and re-sell them?
- setting and sticking to a budget, but allowing a little bit extra room for emergencies, so you are not overspending massively.
- batch buying/cooking- I would buy a months worth of food and cook it and then freeze them all.
- asked my landlord to pay the rent quarterly rather than monthly to avoid being unable to pay it later on.
It DOES take some committing, especially when you are a student, but when you are someone that studied a creative course that always requires money, you HAVE to grow up and do things you don't want to do.
Luckily, my Uni had surprised me and gave me a £700 bursary, and then shortly after, Student Finance gave me an extra £1,000 to live on for the rest of the year, which paid off all my debt so as you can imagine, it is the biggest relief when you stop seeing that dreadful minus sign when you check your balance!
Currently, I'm not exactly rich right now as I'm saving any extra money towards my baby girl's arrival and for mine and my other half's new home, but I'm happy that I'm taking positive steps towards a more comfortable life whilst on Maternity Leave, which would prove a new challenge, but everyone that knows me knows I like a bit of a challenge, and although I may cry and panic at times, I always come out doing the victory dance ;)
Ify Katherine xo
P.S- if you are struggling with debt, and I mean really struggling- there are other websites that can also help you, like
Citizen's Advice Bureau and
Money Advice Service . I hope this helps!
