To ask how people afford plumbers or new fridges?

Why is TV double mine I pay £15/month?
What sort of blockage is it? I can strip out most plumbing in our house and have never in 45 years of home ownership called out a plumber.
Fridge, I can get one secondhand of Marketplace for £20-50 to tide me over,

We got a fridge from fb marketplace for £50 recently.

I think it depends on what you insure.
We have 'new for old' and also contents up to around £75K. That includes some listed items of higher value.
It's a large 3 bed house and we pay around £700pa for contents and buildings.
This was the cheapest of 3 quotes.
TBH I think a lot of people under-insure because if you had to replace everything (ie fire or water damage) you're looking at kitchens, carpets, furniture, books, electricals, all clothes etc etc.

Have you tried a decent Plunger?

I think that's a lot, too. I have a 2-bed semi in Sussex and my buildings and contents insurance combined was £125 and a few pence.

I use one of the comparison sites as soon as I get the renewal notice from the current insurer, and always manage to get a cheaper quote by switching, rather than accept the renewal premium offered.

On a couple of occasions, the existing insurer has offered a lower premium than quoted by the new one when I've rung them to cancel the renewal. I think insurers take the piss and rely on people just accepting inflated premiums because they can't be arsed to shop around.

Do people really believe this?

OP is living month to month. Don’t you think it possible the credit card has been used to pay for emergency items in the past?

I once sold a fridge for £30 to someone. There was nothing wrong with it, I just didn’t want it anymore. There’s no need to spend that much.

A handyman might be able to unblock it for you and be cheaper than a plumber.
You can replace your fridge for £100 give or take, not sure why you need a £500+ one.

£400 a month for food and toiletries even with a dog is huge, you could halve this and start building up some savings

Are you buying cheaper fuel, can you work from home, carpool, any other car parking options at work?

£20 a month at the dentist, surely you only go every 6 months?

Cancel the TV license also

I've never heard of a wage guarantee before, are you expecting to suddenly lose your job or something? Confused by this

Counselling, can the NHS support you with this?

AO online cheapest fridge freezer including delivery is £209. You cant have a posh all singing one if you no spare money. Sort yourself out first

Does you home insurance include emergency repairs? A blocked drain may be cover especially if it’s backing up into the house. Where exactly is the blockage.

I hope that fridge cooks your dinner and does a waltz across your kitchen upon demand for that sort of money. Lots of free or cheap fridges on gumtree and in charity shops. If scratched, you can do them up with vinyl stickers or appliance paint. Home insurance sometimes has add-on packages such as home repairs. Ours does and I have called them out a few times. However, your drain blockage maybe further down the pipe and causing back up to the first port of entry to your home (which could be the bathroom). The dreaded fat blocks or baby wipes drain disasters can be easily remedied. You need to find the drain lid in the garden or around your home outside and lift it. Check there is no blockage in there first. Then do the old bicarbonate soda and vinegar trick to foam the pipe from your bathroom. If you use enough, the chemical reaction is so violent it can shift fats and hair stuck. There is a gel drain clearance product on amazon which also shifts minor blockages. Just use in a well ventilated room. Lots of youtube videos on how to sort out plumbing jobs, and that way will cost you little more than some basic tools. I am a property developer and run holiday lets. If I called a professional every time something went wrong, I would be bankrupt.

Oh and have you tried rodding the drain? Mine used to block a lot at my old house and so I cot used to doing this every so often I don’t think a set is expensive

I anm in similar situation and dread needing tradesmen but for larger purchases I buy second hand or use pay in three with PayPal to spread the cost as I don’t have a credit card. There is a local project that resells quality second hand furniture and I bought my sofa and a tv and a washing machine there. The electric items are serviced. The machine looked like new cost me £65 plus a share in £10 delivery charge with sofa and touchwood has been ok for nearly 8 years. £530 seems a lot for a fridge to me

I bought some online only a few weeks ago without any problem.

According to my bank statement, I got it from a company called Flow Express and it was under a tenner.

A fridge for your situation is £200. Plumbers can be expensive but if you can find a local ‘handyman’ who does odd jobs they can be pretty cheap. Also, for a blocked drain, B&Q will sell you a liquid to pour down there that fixes most blockages (depending where the blockage is). If it’s hair then it can unblocked no problem.

Hi. Have you swapped credit card balance to 0% balance transfer that can save a lot. Also Amazon and John Lewis do 0% interest over 5 or 12 months for fridge freezers. Perhaps get diesel car for better fuel economy?

I've bought more than one second hand white good in the past. Fridge. Fridge freezer. Washing machine. There is no need to spend big on a fridge. I paid around 120 pounds for a small fridge around five years ago (new).

What are your thoughts on all the wonderful advice you've received @coldinside?

The problem with pet insurance is that unless it’s a really well-known, established company that charges a lot in premiums (won’t name names, but pet owners will probably guess which one I mean), you just can’t rely on or trust them.
The cheaper insurers usually have very low annual coverage, endless exclusions, and will do absolutely anything to avoid paying out.
Vet bills are insane (££££) these days, even simple blood work is around £500. I know this all too well from recent experience…
Unless you’re on benefits and can use the PDSA (or similar), or you’re paying a high premium to a reputable insurer, or you’re genuinely loaded, getting a sick pet can easily lead to heartbreak and losing your beloved animal.

But anyway, that’s beside the main point of the discussion here.

Premiums can vary hugely though - no matter how many quotes you get. I'm guessing that your Dorset village isn't exactly crime central?!

And then, of course, the more your premium, the harder it is to afford to pay the annual cost in one go - so you end up paying even more on top of that high price for having to pay it monthly.

In your situation the only reason I'd buy a £530 fridge is if it had at least £200 inside it; there's just no need to spend that much. Aside from that it's pretty clear you're not profligate; sure you might be able to trim a few quid here and there but there's no obvious big immediate savings to be had other than maybe with the credit card if the £200 is a lot more than the minimum payment. I'm guessing not as you would have thought of that yourself.

...and sorry but I have to ask (well I don't but I will): Why oh why do people with low incomes get dogs? It's no secret they can cost a fair bit, especially should they need a vet. I know the answer is basically 'because it's nice/I want one', but I could say the same about all sorts of stuff I want but don't get because I can't really afford it. I know that not at all helpful so apologies - but I just don't get it.

second hand or dented ones from discount place

Well it’s life 🤷‍♀️
I paid £600 to rent a one bedroom flat in 2009, and nowadays you’d pay £750 for a bloody room in the house share.
Ideal scenario (I heard) is to pay about 10% of income on the housing costs, but I don’t know anyone this category..

I did finance on AO (mine broke on Christmas Eve last year)
paid £240 for a fridge freezer and it’s been great

ps op I think you’re actually doing really well. You’re a home owner and you are responsible with investing in mental health and insurance. I think you should get pet insurance though in case dog gets ill!