Is anyone else just stuck in debt and fed up?

Hi OP,
Not too much to add. Only I am a single home owner too. And completely understand what it feels like.

I am by no means underpaid. Excluding pension, I am paid about e3000. But no matter how hard I try plan, I am usually broke by pay day.

It's the 19th (paid on the 27th) and I've e62 in my current account. Which is mainly for food.

My car is in the garage. Next month, an elec bill will be due. There is always something "unforeseen" and no other person to pass onto. A blessing and a curse.

I started pre-planning in Jan this year and set up a sub account called "Bills Due" and so, I have a look at what is due and put the money in there, and try have the mind set that "it's not mine".

I don't have an extravagant lifestyle. Everything I have, I usually save up for. For example, I needed a good rain proof jacket as am outdoors alot with my hobby/sport, and I saved up for 6 months for a top of the range Columbia jacket (e200!).

My friends wanted to go see Bridget Jones this week and I had to put them off until next Thurs, when I get paid. I just couldn't afford cine tickets on e62 left for petrol and food, and the car in the garage.

Always a balancing act! And it does get tiring. But give yourself a break and do do nice things for yourself.

Do you have a spare room you could rent out on a short term let or airbnb? Spare rooms where I am go for £600/month, presumably airbnb is more and you could stick it on approvals so you pick who it is staying.

I have an annual spreadsheet spilt into each month and and write down absolutely everything I spend
I have never paid for boiler cover
My mobile contract is £7 a month
I have the £5/6 netflix package
I'm not a cat person so wouldnt pay to insure one but I do undestand that they can bring people a lot of joy

If your boiler is relatively new (like under 5ish years old) as long as you get an annual service then I’d say this is probably the best thing to drop from your outgoings.

I pay £8.70 for my sim only contract. Do not buy another new phone.
Give up the gym and Netflex contracts - you can't afford them.

Mine gives me £1000 towards a new boiler should mine be unrepairable. I pay around £21 per month and that includes a service every year plus no call out fee and all labour and parts included. I've used it twice in 2 years for repairs that would have cost me more overall

Personally the last thing I'd stop paying for is you tube and Netflix. Your you tube subscription comes with so much more than just you tube videos. You get the extra Gmail storage, extra Google photos storage, unlimited music downloads on yt music - so essentially free albums. Every month you get "play points" too which you can use to buy films for free on Google TV.

Most people saying why pay for you tube probably don't know that's what you get and think you're paying for something that should be free.

You need Dave Ramsey’s baby steps in your life.

How much is your cat food per week? I have two cats and their food cost £120pcm but I now feed them raw and they’re healthier, and it costs me £30 pcm.

Keep the cat insurance! We paid £10 pcm for our boy and he was hit by a car - that bill was over £4,500. He was only 18 months old. The following year he had a bill for £1,500 (can't even remember what that was for!)

He's 7 now and his monthly insurance has increased to £20 ish.

A friend had an indoor cat and decided not to insure but was then hit with a huge bill because of the urine problem cats can have. That was thousands too (lots of in surgery treatments with IVs etc).

Our other cat is much cheaper to insure but she too has had insurance claims - once she came home with a bleeding paw and that needed stitches. Her insurance is £15ish

Inflation is part of the price rise for the cat insurance. Not just the claims.

Consolidating your debt, speak to your bank for guidance or if you have the mobile app you can get a quote. Add up the total debt across your 2 credit cards and existing loan. Do you know the total? Also what are the interest rates on each of these?
Once you have a total if using mobile app you want to select that it’s debt consolidation out the total amount, you can then either choose how many years you want the loan over and it will work out your monthly payment or you can work out a monthly repayment amount you are comfortable with and then it will work out the period instead then it will let you know if you can have it or not depending on your credit rating ( hence why speaking to your bank may be better) but gives you an idea?

Cut youtube & netflix, YouTube is free. Call your utility company incl phone and see if you can get better deals. Move all the debt to 0%.

You realise you don't get the full netflix catalogue though when you pay for the with ads plan?

If you watch a lot don't go for the with ads plan - it doesn't offer the full catalogue! I tried it and lots of the films say "not available with ads"
£22 for netflix and you tube isn't bad and you need some fun in your life!

We have Netflix with ads and it’s really not that bad or intrusive. I forget about it and it surprises me when there is an ad.

of all the things with ads this is the least worst!

if I’m watching a series I might get an ad once every 3 episodes. They don’t last that long either. 30 seconds to 1 minute

Worst case scenario if you needed a new boiler, Boxt come next day / day after and can fit a new boiler and you can pay with a payment plan.
You should still get it serviced every year though.

I would get rid of youtube(I watch it for free?!) & boiler cover. There’s 100% no way I would ever cancel pet insurance. I treat this like other essential bills like CT & electric/gas. You’ll be in a far worse financial situation if your cat needs ongoing treatment.

I'd get cheaper Netflix £6pm, cancel boiler cover. That's roughly £1300

So I'd aim-
Food 300
Petrol 200
Save/misc 200

Then when the debt is cleared put the £300 to n savings

Have you heard of the Debt Snowball method? If you’re trying to pay off everything all at once and feeling defeated, it might be helpful to check it out?

We had boiler care for years. Waste of money. I asked in Facebook local page for recommendations and found someone who will do an annual safety check and is really prompt when I’ve needed him a couple of times. I’ve definitely saved money ditching boiler care.

You can buy a new gas combi for £650

Can't really see anything except what people have already mentioned, which could save a bit but not huge amounts (cancel boiler cover, reduce mobile costs) but the things you list, including council tax only come to around £1200 leaving £800 for food, public transport and clothes, socialising etc, which should be reasonable. Plus it will feel a lot more comfortable once your debts are paid off.

Have you gone through your spending to see where your money goes? What did the debt go on if your income covers your outgoings. Can you transfer your debt to a 0% deal?

I wouldn't cancel the pet insurance unless you're prepared to make the hard decision if she gets seriously ill or injured.

you need to try and give every single £ a job…this is what I do
In -2750
CB-280
Benefits-177

Total: 3,207

Rent 1400
Electricity 120
Life insurance 40
Internet/tv/2 phones 86
Bin charge 23
Apple 20
Disney 10
DS club 25

Total 1,724
that means I have Leftover 1,483 pm

This 1483 goes to
300 food
240 fuel
200 savings
50 kids clubs/school trips etc
100 treats/coffees/takeaways
100 clothes/shoes
50 birthdays/gifts
50 prescriptions/medicines
150 holidays/trips (either as a payment off a booking or as savings)

I know this essentially leaves over 243 but it gets eaten up somewhere with unexpected things usually and if not it’s put into savings.

like this month I have 353 left for now and I’ll get 41 on Thursday. I get paid on the 24th. BUT it’s half term and my dc are off this Thursday and Friday so I’ll want to bring them bowling/cinema etc and I’ve had an unexpected bill of 50 for something, so i may not have as much leftover as I thought. I need to rethink a bit of my budget too but the bones are there.

Shop around for boiler cover OP - mine is with a long standing local family owned business and its £8.50pm.

British Gas are rip off merchants.