To ask how people afford plumbers or new fridges?

We are very well off and we’ve still bought several white goods from Facebook marketplace over the years- one lady was selling a fridge that was only a year old because it didn’t match her new kitchen! We also bought a brand new dishwasher from a guy who had just moved into a new build and, again, wanted something more to his taste.

I can't get a plumber to come out to me (I'm rural and they all give me 'might get to you in six months' even when there's water pissing all over) and I sort my bathroom blockages with a drain snake and drain rods. Might it be worth investing in some of these for next time? I think they were about £20 apiece.

I'm suggesting she watches her TV and doesn't pay a TV licence like the millions of other people who have stopped paying.
If anyone ever does come to her house to check (which is very unlikely because they are now millions of people they need to 'check on') she can tell them they aren't coming in. They have no rights and all they can do is send letters.

£530 for a fridge?! We bought a Beko fridge freezer for £200, it’s still going strong with no issues.

If you’re getting an American style double door fridge freezer, that’s a want, not a need.

Came here to recommend this for drains as it was the only thing that ever worked but just noticed that due to new laws they now only sell it to businesses.

Your car commuting costs look very high to me, £150 petrol and £80 parking. Is there anywhere to park for free with a short walk? Public transport options? Move closer to work, or move job so it’s closer to your house? Even when I was commuting 30 miles each way I wasn’t paying more than £100 per month and that was on a much higher salary.

I personally don’t think you can afford to be paying that in commuting costs. Sorting this alone would allow you to save a small amount each month.

Please look up Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, he is American and can be a bit loud, but is very good at helping people get out of debt and sort their budgets out. First thing he wants you to do is save £/$1000 for emergency purchases. You need to suspend all ‘nice’ spending until you have it.

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps

Yanbu. Big unexpected bills are really shit when you're basically living pay cheque to pay cheque. I can't see anything obvious in your outgoings thay you can immediately cut to be honest, except maybe the income insurance. Assuming the counselling is essential to you. How much is the credit card debt in total? I'd definitely look for a cheaper fridge, we got a Logik one from curries for about £200 and it's still going strong after 8 years.

@coldinside if you’ve tried to clear the blockage yourself to no avail, are you sure it’s on the private side of your drainage and your responsibility to clear? A possible option would be to call out your waste water service provider and see if they can locate the blockage - it may be on a shared public pipe in which case they’d clear for free. Even if it’s on the private side they might clear while investigating or even as a goodwill gesture.

I dont pay for ANY subs. No TV licence, nothing. I watch stuff on U tube and on catch up on ITV Channel 4 and 5 etc. Also JustWatch is good. All free

Capita, masquerading as the BBC, charges you double for the first 6 months when you start paying for a TV licence monthly so perhaps it’s that - in which case at some point it’ll reduce.

£100 a month is a LOT. Most counselling is around £50 an hour. Most clients go once a month.

OP may well be able to reduce it to once a month.

The OPs post was about affording monthly outgoings and additional expenses. When someone else jumped in with misinformation about UC I corrected it, particularly because that poster jumped on the one they were responding to about "not giving advice when not knowing what they were talking about". And I did that because its my professional field. I also added another comment about when SMI on UC is paid, in relation to mortgages, which is a clarification and again as the OP wasn't asking about going on benefits, I clarified because there was a comment about UC and mortgages. The other post I made regarding credit unions was my offering of practical advice regarding the OPs original question. Hope that clarifies things for you.

How can you say that?
Op surely needs a car for work if she's spending a huge amount on fuel.

If you are self employed I would agree. If OP is employed, somewhere with reasonable sickness pay, then it may not be worth it for her. I’d need to be off work for a year before it made sense for me, and in that situation I’d retire.

It would pay out if she lost her job (assuming we are talking about income protection and not critical illness cover - they are different) but whether that is worth the monthly cost is debatable, when she has no savings whatsoever.

I am not saying it is never worth having for anyone. I am asking whether it is worth having for OP.

Andi too have used counselling extensively after my husband died, but I didn’t want to wait for the NHS to see me. The quality and availability of mental health services provided by the NHS vary massively around the county unfortunately. Luckily for me the cost was irrelevant, but even if it hadn’t been then I’d have prioritised it over most things at the time.

I know the OP mentioned it in her post, but I am concerned that the many posters saying ‘counselling? Cancel it’ are going to either make the OP feel she has to justify it, which she absolutely doesn’t on a public forum, or possibly more damaging actually cancel it.

It's not necessarily cheaper to pay for subscriptions to other services.
We just have the BBC TV licence.

I'd say forgo the car before stopping counselling.

Why does a fridge cost so much? I've been looking at a new fridge for £300. Also you could look on Marketplace and get a second hand fridge

You could ask your neighbours if any of them are 'handy' with DIY. They could take a look at your drains. You might not need to pay for a plumber

Definitely get rid of your TV licence. I don't have one and I don't miss it. And why is your TV licence more than £15/month?

Edit - I pay £4.90 a month for my sim only with Lebara

Spend a day comparing all your utilities and insurance. If the credit card is gathering interest then find a 0% balance transfer deal. You might even find one with 0% purchases to buy the fridge with. Do some bank account switching for some extra cash.

i got things from freecycle etc and learnt to do plastering and plumbing etc. YouTube is your friend for most DIY tasks.

Are you suggesting she watches nothing?
Or are you suggesting she spends on Sky and Netflix etc?

Her TV licence can't cost that, as it's £174.50 a year which is not the monthly amount she quotes.

TV licence £29.08

A BBC TV licence is £14.50 a month.

What else are you watching?

Are you paying for other types of TV?
That's a luxury if you're adding on Sky etc.

Agree to get rid of TV licence, biggest scam ever, millions don't pay it. I unfortunately still have to because you can see right into my living room with the tele so they can check if they ever came to the door.
If your TV is out of sight from the front door and anyone ever came to check tell them they aren't coming in, end of.

I would also say and argos or currys card for the fridge and pay monthly.

Can you walk to work or take a train or bus OP? Your car costs you £200+ a month?

Or, assuming it's helping her get by, she can't not afford counselling.