{"id":463,"date":"2025-05-13T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/?p=463"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:43:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:43:50","slug":"my-credit-score-was-so-bad-i-couldnt-get-a-phone-now-im-a-homeowner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/my-credit-score-was-so-bad-i-couldnt-get-a-phone-now-im-a-homeowner\/","title":{"rendered":"My credit score was so bad I couldn\u2019t get a phone \u2014 now I\u2019m a homeowner"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"402\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23068941 lazyload\" alt=\"Charles Thompson, 31, is an IT service desk manager living in Greater Manchester. Me And My Money\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_248634832-7e67-e1747044115372.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Charles Thompson shares how he turned his finances around (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player\" data-vars-type=\"article-audio-player\">\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-button\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<title>Listen to article<\/title>\t\t\t\t\t<span>Listen to article<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sponsor-image lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Powered by\" data-rewritten=\"false\" data-src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro\/includes\/site-blocks\/article-audio\/assets\/powered-by.png\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"audio-controls hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t<audio class=\"audio-element\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ElevenLabs_2025-05-12T11_25_50_Axell-British-YouTube-Personality-_pvc_sp100_s50_sb75_se30_b_m2-1-e3a8.mp3\" controls id=\"audio-68275c1dd9880\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tYour browser does not support the audio element.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/audio>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Welcome to <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/me-and-my-money\/\">Me and My Money<\/a>, <strong>Metro\u2019s<\/strong> new series taking a peek into the nation\u2019s wallets, with tell-all reader diaries on managing your finances. <\/p>\n<p>This week, we meet Charles Thompson, a 31-year-old IT service desk manager living in Greater <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/manchester\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\">Manchester<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Charles says he was never really taught how to handle his <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/12\/28\/7-simple-money-saving-hacks-will-boost-finances-2025-22260595\/\">finances<\/a> and for many years, he relied on his overdraft and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/credit-cards\/page\/2\/\">credit cards<\/a> to get by. But two years ago he decided to turn things around, <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/11\/map-reveals-uk-loan-hotspots-people-borrow-money-23056045\/\">get out of debt<\/a> and save for his first home.<\/p>\n<p>Here, he explains what he does with his money.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tell us about your early relationship with money<\/h2>\n<p>I went to university but made a bit of a hash of it. I went abroad to <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/cyprus\/\">Cyprus<\/a> to study economics, business and accountancy through an offshoot of the University of <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/lancashire\/\">Lancashire<\/a>. But I was probably a bit too young to go that far away and I enjoyed myself too much without doing much studying. So aged 19 I left and went to work instead. I had various financial services jobs until a couple of years ago when I moved into IT.<\/p>\n<p>My approach to money management was not the best. I used to spend quite a lot on just nonsense sort of stuff,<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/11\/22\/ive-gambled-away-750-000-lenders-keep-giving-money-21804315\/\"> including gambling<\/a>. But about two years ago I decided to turn things around and save for my own place<\/p>\n<p>The problem I initially had was getting any sort of credit because I\u2019d had gambling transactions coming out of my bank accounts and lenders don\u2019t like to see this. <\/p>\n<p>My parents used to pay for my mobile phone and I couldn\u2019t even get my own contract until I went with Boshhh Mobile, a network for people with a poor credit score that also helps you build a healthy credit profile so it\u2019s easier to get approved for other loans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, when did things turn around?<\/h2>\n<p>After slowly improving my credit score, I was able to be approved for a mortgage last year and I bought my first home in November 2024 with my brother, who\u2019s 27. It\u2019s a two bedroom flat about eight miles from central Manchester. We were able to put down a 10% deposit, putting down around \u00a36,000 each. The flat cost \u00a3110,000.<\/p>\n<p>I used to rent in central Manchester, paying \u00a31,300 a month in rent, but for the past year before buying my place I moved back home with my parents to save on rent. It\u2019s nice to know I\u2019m paying off my own place and not someone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>I now take an organised approach to my finances because I had to get everything sorted for lenders to see I am sensible with my money. <\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t pay for things on a credit card unless I can pay it off in full the next month and I\u2019m mostly out of my overdraft now.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where are your finances at now?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tCharles&#8217; money diarySalary \u00a338,000 (\u00a32,550 per month)\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"744\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22863952 lazyload\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Charles-Thompson-5277-e1744021578695.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>(Picture: supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monthly breakdown of spending<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mortgage payments: \u00a3755<\/p>\n<p>Water: \u00a335<\/p>\n<p>Electricity: \u00a385 (no gas)<\/p>\n<p>Council tax: \u00a391<\/p>\n<p>TOTAL \u00a3966<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other direct debits<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Phone: \u00a342<\/p>\n<p>Gym: \u00a335<\/p>\n<p>TV licence: \u00a314<\/p>\n<p>Netflix \/ Amazon: \u00a322<\/p>\n<p>TOTAL \u00a3113<\/p>\n<p><strong>Essentials<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Groceries \u00a3280<\/p>\n<p>Transport (Trains, trams, taxis) \u00a3120<\/p>\n<p>TOTAL \u00a3400<\/p>\n<p><strong>Extra\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Eating out \u00a3125<\/p>\n<p>Drinks \u00a3280<\/p>\n<p>Vaping \u00a385<\/p>\n<p>Events \u00a370<\/p>\n<p>Clothes \u00a370<\/p>\n<p>TOTAL \u00a3630<\/p>\n<p><strong>Savings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ISA \u00a3300<\/p>\n<p>Holiday fund \u00a3100<\/p>\n<p>TOTAL \u00a3400<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pension:<\/strong>\u00a014% of salary<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>My savings have taken a hit with <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/04\/this-much-money-left-bank-buying-a-home-23003128\/\">recently buying the flat<\/a>, which has also needed a bit of redecorating, including new flooring, and obviously furnishing. I\u2019m also currently paying most of the mortgage and bills as my brother\u2019s currently not working.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m now working on building my savings back up, putting \u00a3300 in a stocks and shares<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/isa\/\"> ISA each month<\/a>. This is invested in a low risk investment fund. I used to have a Help to Buy ISA, which closed when I bought the flat. My bank then gave me the choice of opening an investment ISA, which is how I got started.<\/p>\n<p>I also put aside \u00a3100 a month for holidays. I don\u2019t have anything planned for this year yet but hope to go to<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/02\/08\/visited-this-lesser-known-european-gem-spent-just-300-a-week-3-22517732\/\"> Seville in Spain<\/a> in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>I do like to socialise quite a bit and this is probably where a lot of my money is spent. I like to pick up coffees and pop to the shops daily, so this is also where I could cut back if needed. My total food spend is around \u00a3280 a month, which could be cut back if I got more organised and planned ahead with meals. I\u2019m still with Bossh, paying \u00a342 a month for a phone contract for an iPhone 14.<\/p>\n<p>Vaping is something I should probably cut back on, spending \u00a385 a month. But it\u2019s cheaper than smoking, which I quit late last year and used to cost me about \u00a3170 a month.<\/p>\n<p>I commute to work on the bus which costs me \u00a380 a month, and I also get a few taxis throughout the month. I currently don\u2019t have a car because public transport is really good round here. I worked from home for a while but I didn\u2019t like it so now I go in the office every day. I couldn\u2019t stand working from home, to be honest with you. It\u2019s just not for me. I like being around people.<\/p>\n<p>Long term, my aim is to live in the flat for a couple of years and build up equity and some more savings. I\u2019d then like to move to a bigger place, likely with my girlfriend. We\u2019d probably stay in the Manchester area although I find the idea of living abroad for a bit quite tempting. I\u2019ve got a friend currently living in Barcelona who works remotely for a UK-based company.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I feel quite comfortable with my financial situation now but it did take me quite a while to get to this point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Thompson shares how he turned his finances around (Picture: Supplied) Listen to article Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio element. Welcome to Me and My Money, Metro\u2019s new series taking a peek into the nation\u2019s wallets, with tell-all reader diaries on managing your finances. This week, we meet Charles Thompson, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalholdum.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}