Rate my financial situation

I own a house worth roughly £220k with around £45k mortgage left to pay
Excellent
Around £14k in debt on 0% credit cards and a low interest loan all due to be paid off in around 2 years
not great but okay
Income around £42k a year
not great but okay
Almost no money in savings, currently trying to build up an emergency fund of a couple of months pay
Bad
£0 retirement
Bad

if your place is more than 1 bed I’d consider a lodger. As long as you screen correctly it’s easy money….
the money is excellent and tax free in the main.
i was sniffy about it but bought a place (my name) then broke up with my boyfriend so was mortgaged up to the tits and needed the cash… I did it for 8 years way longer than I “needed” to. Company was cool and the money was about £8k pa

3-4 maybe. Not having a pension and having so much short term debt, no emergency fund or other savings- it’s very precarious. You have a decent amount of equity in your home but that’s obviously illiquid so can’t actually help much if anything goes wrong and won’t grow in value as much as shares in a pension or ISA would.

You know the lack of emergency fund is an issue because it has caused you problems before.

https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/

You might find this flowchart helpful.You are at step 2- getting a basic emergency fund in place should
be your priority now, then joining the pension.

Please do make sure you’re not distracted from that goal. Remember the power of compounding in investment, so the earlier you start the better.

it’s just like steering a super tanker, the further away from the obstacle you are, the less effort it takes to steer round it. The closer you are, the harder it is.

Hi op,

anything happen to your income and you are on the street 😳 so I will say 0.

You are 33 and don’t talk about your retirement which is really something you need to do something about.

‘Unfortunately, the way you are going, you will have paid the bank all your life so that they can take your house in your old age to cover your care needs. You can do better! Speak to a financial advisor.

Start paying into a pension OP, and delay the debt repayment if you can flip it to another 0% card

I'd say you're doing well really you have a lot of equity which is a good start.
The sooner you can get rid of 14k debt the better. A few years ago I was in a similar situation and for 2 years I prioritised paying off 11k over 2 years to be debt free apart from mortgage. During that 2 years I had no holidays, outings or treats, also I didn't buy any clothes or shoes. I was shocked at how much I could get away without buying but achieved my objective. After that I overpaid my mortgage and knocked 3 years off that. Then I concentrated on topping up pension funds.
It's achievable but all in the planning.

I'd say very good for your age, that's a lot of equity for 33yrs wondering if you had help with the deposit.

Your retirement savings are a complete and utter disaster. You need to start contributing to a pension as soon as possible. If you are 33 and want to retire in 30 years time for 20 years where do you think you'll be the money from?

I’d rate you 5/10 just for that.

I live in a semi detached house with 2 other people full time and a third person part time (uni student) our dual fuel amount is £130 pcm.

In your shoes I’d be looking at cutting that bill down. Economising slightly on your food bill and slicing £20-£50 quid off savings to find a way to pay for pension.

Please also check the details of your actual contribution. It might not be as much as you think. Plus if you pay 7% how much does that “release” from your employer?

depending on the way your company pension is set up it might actually reduce taxable and NI-able pay. I did some thinking (thanks chat!) and you could pay 7% into your salary with only a monthly drop of £169 in take home.

if that released an equivalent 7% or more from your employer it’s really worth it. Plus your pension scheme might have other benefits associated with it.

How much would you need to pay into your pension for your employer to contribute? It is just that if it were say £100 it would be easier to find the savings in your budget, but £500 less so.

Seen a lot worse! I’d try to start putting something into your pension even if it’s just a little bit, as your missing out on the growth and compound interest.

I would probably save £200 and put the other £100 into a work pension. Personally I feel more comfortable.knowing i am saving something so I can retire at 62, I don't want to work till I drop.

It is personal.choice though, its all saving just a different way of doing it.

I’d also put any left over money into paying down debt, you’ll be paying directly off the capital amount, and it’ll be gone much quicker.

Because generally secured debt is cheaper to service, so if you are intending to pay it back it makes more sense. I missed the bit where it was 0% interest.

I would say £350 for groceries for 1 person could be reduced if you really wanted to especially as it doesn’t include cat food or eating out.

Noone can afford to pay into a pension if they think too hard about it, you just have to bite the bullet and do it. You need £300k in a pension just to get £12k a year roughly, I would start now.

Good news about the State Pension!

I had to top up my NI contributions a tiny bit before my pension kicked in this year. But I was thrilled and proud to get it, and over £900 a month with a paid off mortgage certainly helps.

But like peeps say, get yourself onto a workplace pension ASAP.