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scattahbrain1

Reddit URLhttps://www.reddit.com/user/scattahbrain1
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  • >I use ADHD direct for my care. There’s been a bit of controversy around them recently wit Thanks both for your advice. I really appreciate it x by scattahbrain1 (Sun 26th Jun 2022 3:15am)
  • Thank you so much for helping with the advice. by scattahbrain1 (Sun 26th Jun 2022 3:14am)
  • Thank you for sharing mate. Appreciated by scattahbrain1 (Sun 26th Jun 2022 3:13am)
  • Work wise i was lucky as fuck due to Covid. I'm an elearning developer/instructional designer and due to WFH demand for digital learning materials to be made, learning management systems implemented from companies who used tradional l&d (Classroom based, seiminars, courses etc) now all being done through elearning meant demand/salary sky rocketed by scattahbrain1 (Thu 18th Aug 2022 1:56pm)
  • Thanks fo the tip. What im looking to do is start paying off some debts, while putting money n the CU as savings. I also want to have it available as an emergency fund in case I run into an unexpected expense. From my calculation of £600 approx left each month I was thinking of putting in £200, £300 to an ISA and £100 to my debts. Im in the process of trying to consolidate my debts into one. I might even just pay £300 the first few months towards the debts to bring them down a bit. I also want to explore watys of improving my credit score. I know i wont be accepted for a crdit card etc but id been looking at they prepaid credit cards where you essentially just pay to boost your credit score by using a credit card ths just loaded with your own money. Any thoughts on that? by scattahbrain1 (Thu 18th Aug 2022 7:33pm)
  • Cheers for the advice nonetheless of course sir by scattahbrain1 (Thu 18th Aug 2022 7:36pm)
  • Unfortunately I cant do that mate. I'm a softwaer developer, i WFH but my work is officially based in hertfordshire. by scattahbrain1 (Thu 18th Aug 2022 7:36pm)
  • Hi mate, im going to copy part of my response to another user as its reevannt to your tips. With that info in mind, whats your thoughts. Heres the info: Im in the process of trying to consolidate my debts into one. I might even just pay £300 the first few months towards the debts to bring them down a bit. I also want to explore watys of improving my credit score. I know i wont be accepted for a credit card etc due to horrific credit card spending early 20s to get through uni living, but id been looking at they prepaid credit cards where you essentially just pay to boost your credit score by using a credit card ths just loaded with your own money. Any thoughts on that? by scattahbrain1 (Thu 18th Aug 2022 7:35pm)
  • Hi mate, I accept your points. The honest answer is; I don't know the best method of paying it off, so I just came up with some form of plan, rather than what I currently had, which was no plan at all. Extra info llike this allows me to tweak that plan accordingly, so, the suggestions you mention are things I can do to better my approach. I'm quite clueless on this shit, but I had read/misread somewhere that it is better to pay them off slowly than wipe them straight away, and the reason for the consolidation is some have been sold so many times I receive letters from multiple companies about the same debt and im worried I pay X company only for Y company to say they own it. So I just wanted one single place it sits that I can guarantee is legit, and know if I pay that off, some random letter claiming I owe Z company doesnt come through. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 9:13am)
  • Cheers mate, this is really helpful. A lot to take in there so I'll need to take some time after work to fully absorb it. Essentially, these are debts I picked up 23-26yrs and its only now at 29 I finally have a decent job and an aspiration to mature and rectify this stuff. I'm now financiallly in the position to fix them, but as I say, I had no idea where to start so I appreciate the tip (and bluntness lol!) by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 9:56am)
  • Cheers sir. Yeah you're absolutely right. You've been pretty bloody helpful, so perhaps I can pick you brain on a final thought. Once I clear this 2k, say I do it over 4 months, my aspirations are to begin saving to buy a property (which seems like a total pipe dream as I watch my salary deflate with inflation with each news article). So, that of course requires a) the money b) a decent credit score. So on the money front, Ive spent years totally skint so im used to getting by on little so I reckon I can, as you say, be a cheap bastard and im quite happy to knuckle down and just start getting a pot together. However the more challenging issue is gettiing my credit score near something a mortgage lender would touch. I'd mentioned one of the credit builder cards but didn't seem to keen on them..with that in mind, what do you think are goood ways of getting that up once I clear the 2k. Essentially, once im in a position of £0 debt, I want to address a) and b). I'm going to get some further ideas from that reddit thread but its also quite good to get some tips from folks who live in the area, as there might be some info in terms of what I should realistically expect to need saved for getting a property in this market. I foolishly missed out on that government scheme which matches your deposit or something to that effect. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 10:51am)
  • Sorry, I seem to have picked up this 'sir' patter from a guy in work ha ha. Everyones getting called it, including the cat at the moment! This is really blloody helpful. I had seen the LISA thing but wasnt sure how it worked in laymans terms, that's so useful. I like the idea you have of saving it elsewhere THEN moving it..this suits me purely because I can still access it in case of a super emergency. If i managed to get to the end of line for transferring to the LISA, then thats pretty useful as I have it on hand if needed but if im putting it in at the end of the cut-off, the changes are I have not had to use it for anything else and can confidently commit to it that pot, without worrying I might need it. So, regarding the cards, I think this is again naivety on my part. I had seen ones which acted like a credit card, but were actally your own money, but you essentially just get less for your £1. The small upside being it reports to credit agencies. The reason I thought of maybe doing that as in the meantime im not likely to get any sort of credit card (nor do I want one), just thinking of ways to make some positive movements on my credit score. However, now you explain the mortgage lending process, I see this may not be necessary. I probably should have understoood that, but your explanation has really helped. Basically, them being able to just repossess the place meaning the credit score isn't AS important. I'm still in the very early stages of working all this out as I only just started my new job with a salary that could actuallly allow me to entertain this prospect, so I'd set myself a target of probably 3-5 years to save up to allow me the money for deposit, the potential upset of the additional charges like you mention can crop up and some scope for the other charges. Ideally i'd like to be going into this process with £20,000, which im basing on the expectation of my salary increasing over the next two years as well. The £20,000 divided by three would have me looking at saving around £7000 each year however id probably be saving less the first year, and then gradually increasing what I commit to it, if (hopefully) my salary grows. There's a lot in terms of rewiring my approach to money involved here as well, as I, and this is just being honest to myself, has historically been very poor so im trying to really change my entire view on money, budgeting etc. Fortunately I'm all partied out, so I don't nor want to spend my weekends out for three days waxing my income on a sore heed anymore. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 11:43am)
  • I was shocked to learn a friend of mine whos now been a lawyer for 4/5 years is on a lower salary than mine by quite a bit and his gf is a lawyer too, 2 years in and on 20k. Shocking as she works hard as fuck and could just bounce to a call centre and make that. I think my other friend said he is on 25k and hes been 5 years in. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:09pm)
  • I''ve just hit a salary which should with correct decisions allow me to end the month with money, but for many years was living pay to pay. It's becoming increasingly difficult to get by on a salary under 2k with a good standard of living. Sure you can have a decent living, but it's difficult to live well - things like holidays etc aren't feasible if you need to focus on using your left-over money to build up some savings or get out of the rent-rut. I've had some useful advice regarding LISA etc off another rdditor in another thread. It's really depressing seeing constant news articles at the moment showing the inflation going up, and not all sectors have the strength of a union to combat this with a salary increase. This being said, I was very fortunate that the sector I work in actually benefited from WFH so ive enjoyed quite a fair rise in salary but only because its am emerging job role and not many people possess the current skill set. Im an instructional designer/elearning developer and the move to WFH has meant that so many more companies now desire a 'me' as they've canned traditional learning and development by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:05pm)
  • Ah, right. Great explanation, the card idea is canned then. Zero-based budgeting i had not heard before, but oddly enough, I actually seem to have been doing this by accident. I use Monzo's pot feature and name weekly ones, a food one and a rent one. The unfortunate thing I have to be honest and add is, exactly as you said, I literally do just end up lifting rom the the other pot when I max one out. Generally speaking I was basically fine until the final week and then im totallly skint, so its a case of looking at what I was actually spendig the £50 I was taking out the following weeks budget etc. The annoying thing is, in the past I could attribute this solely to just being a rocket and spending too much in the pub etc but more recently its actually been on bills etc. I remember when I was younger I could rent a very decent property for (225 my share). I lived in a lovely 2 bedroom flat in motherwell and our rent was £500, bills £50 each, ctax about the same. I just brought myself out of temporarily homelessness due to a volatile personal situation and had to take the first place that would take me, which ended up being essentially a bedsit in the southside for £500, shared with four other dudes, on a prepayment meter which is getting eaten up to fuck constantly. I genuinely was better off when I was a student with £1100 coming in between p/t job and student loan. Thinking back to that can be quite depressing. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:28pm)
  • Cheers pal. Im southside so perhaps not eligble for that one? by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:49pm)
  • Yes - to be totally honest with you, this was advice provided to me, as I had made a post needing some help and advice about savings etc so it might be worthwhile me pasting what the poster told me, rather than try and paraphrase it and give you the wrong info? happy to private dm you what they said? by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:53pm)
  • A lot of people have been really helpful so im still working through it all, to understand it. I'm still not 100% sure if the money I wish to save each month is better going into a) a savings acconunt or b) a credit union. My limited knowledge led me to a CU, due to the potential for getting a loan in the offchance something goes major tits up and I lose my job and havent yet saved up a safety pot of enough to tide me over. Sickness, mental health, bereavement, redundancy...all potential giving my own health, age of parents, current potential for my company to 'restructure'. by scattahbrain1 (Fri 19th Aug 2022 12:51pm)
  • >one now because it's absolutely not my style anymore. Some of my furniture contributed, but not much - it's only IKEA stuff, nothing fancy! So the rest of it was, basically, takeaways, drinks, other disposable/temporary things. But there's nothing I can do to change that now. I was a dipshit and that's just the reality of it. I've been on an apprenticeship since 2018 and I'm about to qualify as an accountant later this year, so I'll be hopefully getting to £40k, and what's left of my debt will be gone shortly after that. It pisses me off to think that if I'd been saving instead of paying down that debt, I could have already been in a house, but it is what it is. Gotta just keep going forward. You'll be okay. Hey pal - your timeline is eerily similiar to mine, but its encouraging to see you managed to bring it back. Your real life examples really allow me to properly visualise the issue. In particular, you mentioned you went out, had a few bevs and then rather than cook from your food at home got a takeaway..I do that, and when I think about it, that's potentially £10 right there. To my credit, the one thing im not too bad with, is material buying. I dont buy expensive phones, rather acquire families hand me-downs, and most of clothes are from charity shops, my only guilty pleasure in this regard being my doc marten shoes. I think when I really break it down, its mostly from going out too much and spending more than I really needed too, during the early parts of the month. For example, say week 1 of payday, I'll go out for a drink with friends and end up spending 50/60quid as i just buy whatever I want. But fast forward to week 3 and I only have £25 to spend..I can go out and have exactly the same amount of fun. I have the ability to adjust my expectations and work with what ive got, so i believe the big thing i need to address is stop living like a king on week 1. From this discussion, it's given me time to think and try and really pinpoint what's going wrong and I think its esssentially rather than spend consistently across the month, lets say just for easiness I take £1000 and put it as £250 per week, rather than spend £250 per week, what i end up doing is spending £400 week 1, £300 week 2 £200 week 3 £100 week 4 - these are just hypothetical numbrers of course but the point being I need to stabilise my spending more. I've been long aware I have a real issue with instant gratification and bore quite easily so I find it quite hard to just relax with a film leading me to want to socialise a lot...im not a particuarly heavy drinker or anything but find myself wanting to go out a lot. To try and combat this, something im actively purusuing right now is signing up to a few weekday evening college courses. I dont need the qualifications - currently possess a Masters and I am employed - but there are hobbies ive always wanted to learn but never pursued and I think having some actitivies to do during the evenings could really cut down my going out to the pub. The course price is £150 however its 12 weeks long. I think this is a good idea as once its paid for, I have something I can do after work which is effectively costing me £0 after the initial payment of the course, and also, as I wont be drinking, the inevitable takeaway wont follow. Another thing i'm interested in is meeting some new people, because, as much as I love my friends, they never want to do anything with me besides drinking so as a single guy, if i want to socialise this is alll im left with. I've tried endlesssly to try and suggest a coffee/the gym/a munro but this always falls on deaf ears. As i've alluded to, in my younger years I partied A LOT so naturally gathered a group of friends who also enjoy this, but as I approach 30 this is isnt me anymore but I don't want to just cut them off as I get pretty lonely. So - its a case of finding less expensive hobbies/things to occupy my time, perhaps meet some new friends who are interested in ther stuff and reallly laser focus on my money management. I have read in a few places that once you get over the initial hurdle of saving, it can almost become fun, as you start see the pot build. Suddenly, your thinking changes to, 'if i stay in tonight', I could transfer that £50 to my savings accunt. by scattahbrain1 (Sat 20th Aug 2022 2:33pm)
  • Hey mate, I have a band that would be really interested in this proposition. If you haven't already found someone, id love to discuss this with you. by scattahbrain1 (Sat 20th Aug 2022 11:07pm)