AIBU to see a debt advisor...

[lvginBXL]

although I am not in debt (yet)?!

I have namechanged for this. I am currently considering to see a debt advisor about my excessive spending. As soon as I get paid I spend it within a few days and then I'm "broke" until the next paycheck comes. I don't have any savings although it would be very easy for me to save money. I have a well-paid job and little expenses (No mortgage) just utility bills.

I'm worried that I will have problems in the future (jobloss etc.) but I have never learned to handle money (come from a family where money doesn't matter) and saving money is easier said as done.

So AIBU to waste a debt advisor's time?

surely you will be wasting there time, you have no debt, they deal in debt.

Your spending is a personality trait, perhaps some counselling will help you better.

i'd think that you would either be better off speaking to someone about how to manage your finances better or if you feel theres some compulsive element to your spending a counsellor or therapist

but are you in debt? do you just mean that you are not in arrears with your payments? is it because you have credit cards and loans to repay that you have nothing left after payday, and are you having to use cards etc to cover shopping etc, leading to even more repayments next month? If this is the case then you would benefit from seeing a debt adviser.

If you are not using credit and are not behind on any priority payments (such as rent/mortgage, utilities, council tax etc) then a debt adviser won't be able to do much for you. They could possibly still help you draw up a realistic budget to help you manage money, but if you are not in debt at all the budget would only really enable you either to see that you are doing ok based on the income you have, which you probably are if you are in no debt, or encourage you to save.

Either way I would warn against seeing the kind of 'debt adviser' that you might find on google, companies that charge fees and could even give you bad advice and suggest that you might need their help even if you don't. Try your local CAB/Advice Centre/Law Centre, they are all free of charge and will help you if they can or signpost you to other help if it is just budgeting and saving advice that you need. Or they might just reassure you that you are doing well on a limited income without getting into debt.

You could also try the Moneysavingexpert website for advice and self help on how to economise and get cheaper deals.