To ask for help with paying off debt?

[IcyPlumCrab]

I have a credit card with a £2,300 limit and have about £30 left on it. I have got it up to a couple of hundred but the interest rates are high and I've found myself needing to dip into it due to cost of living.

Other than that I don't have much, I have a £400 overdraft but I'm not worried about that, and a credit card with a £200 limit but it's 0.
However the first credit card keeps me awake at night. I know people have much worse but it honestly makes me feel ashamed and fret. Currently have no savings as I recently bought a flat, so anything I did have went into that.

I've cancelled my pension contributions and waiting on a refund (civil service), but it's just taking forever to hear anything. However when I get that back it'll be around £1000 which will really help.
Without my pension I take home around £2060 net per month and I'm currently looking for a second job.

My mortgage is £440 a month.
Just cancelled my tv licence and gym membership which in total will save me £60.
Electricity is only about £35 a month.
Gas £35 a month atm.
Water haven't been billed yet but hopefully no more than £25 a month.
Council tax is £189 a month until March :(
Internet £24 a month.
Phone including handset £34 a month.
Pet insurance and monthly vet health care plan £32 (i have a cat)
As of March will be paying £120 service charge/ground rent a month.

There always seems to be something coming up like the dentist, household things etc. I think it's the credit card that's killing me, even if I pay £100, £50 is charged in interest.
I have a holiday planned to see a relative this month and in total that's set me back around £400, but that's not something I do very often.
Everything left good on food, transport (public transport, don't have a car), pet food, toiletries etc.
All my clothes and shoes are second hand.

I think it was very unwise to cancel your pension contributions. It was a bad choice as was the holiday. Are you a spendthrift given to squandering money. If you are not then I apologise.

Personally, I do not think the holiday was a bad decision. If you can’t go on flipping holiday once a year literally what is the point?
However, you need to cut the card up.

You need some kind of envelope budgeting system like YNAB, it's brilliant, totally changes your way of thinking about money. I don't know about starting with YNAB now because it's expensive though it definitely saves me more than it costs, there are some other free or lower cost alternatives now.

I don't understand where it's going, but my bank statement is all little things. I don't buy anything expensive, I don't think 29.5k is even a decent salary for a single person any more, it's probably the bare minimum.

I didn't have holidays, even to visit a relative, for about 10 years after I first bought a house. I picked up all my furniture (except the bed) from handouts/freegle etc. I cycled rather than catching the bus. Once you start living outside of your budget, things spiral out of control. You need to be really strict with the little things!

Please don't cancel your pension for a small debt like this. You will lose far more by cancelling the pension.

You just need a few frugal months to start reducing the debt and then you will probably be eligible for a 0% transfer.

January is a rubbish month anyway, few people go out. Aim to spend as little as possible and use your time to do a full audit of your finances, cancel any unnecessary subscriptions, transfer to cheaper providers for stuff you need. Sell some stuff online and do some surveys etc. All with a view to paying off a good chunk at the end of January to start the year. The changes should help you to pay more than the minimum each month without cancelling your pension.

It will go down eventually, just keep chipping away at it.

No shame in a £2k debt at and expensive time of life.

Honestly, if you have a credit card debt that is causing you to lose sleep, can't you be honest with family and friends and cut back on Christmas? (too late for this year I know)

I am sure that it is very expensive to live alone, you have to pay all the bills etc. You absolutely need to try and get that high interest card debt down though. Have you spoken to your bank about a loan to consolidate all the debts into one with a lower interest rate? Or if your bank won't do it talk to another one? If you make a spreadsheet with all your costs you can work out what you could repay each month. I had credit card debt and an overdraft after uni end ended up swapping banks to one who could help me out with a loan and repayment plan....still with them now.

In terms of the money to last you for food and cat supplies for the rest of December that sounds doabke too. Just plan meals on a budget (throw in some jacket potatoes and beans type meals) and make use of your freezer. You could pop to the supermarket tomorrow afternoon and pick up some bargains.

I think it's a mistake to be cancelling your pension. Think carefully about what additional costs your holiday is going to incur and plan ahead. E.g. Airport food and drink, take a packed lunch and empty water bottle to refill. Food and drink while you are there? Go to a supermarket and buy cheap lunches to reduce costs. Days out, attractions? Research what's there, decide on one or two you can afford...or look for free things and explain to relative you can only do those ones. Have a budget and stick to it. You said 'it's not something I do all the time' about your holiday and that's a really common mindset for people in debt...the it's just a one off mentality. The thing is its all these one offs that tip you over your monthly budget.

Thanks, I shouldn't feel shame but I do. I think it's because my ex used to berate me for having any credit card debt, and would make me feel bad for it. That didn't help.

Not an attack just confused. We seem to be in a similar boat and yes I do live month to month. I am alone too.

I take home 2k my bills are more than what you listed, mortgage alone by another £100 and I am managing to save £200 a month and clearing a credit card albeit interest free as was for my carpets and has £800 on it.

don’t get me wrong when things come up I’m like fuck but I do have my savings. I don’t know where you hole is but it’s quite a big one. Maybe travel expenses? Or where you’re shopping ?

Honestly don't go out much.
I was invited out with friends yesterday but I cancelled because the place they want to go to is expensive, as is the train fare.

I'd look into the possibility of a much lower cost personal loan, First Direct tends to be good. To get the lowest rate you may have to borrow more than you need and pay it back straight away, then you'll have spread out regular payments.

However you also need to get out of the habit of using your overdraft and other debt facilities, use one credit card for day to day spending to benefit from any cashback or insurance cover they offer, and give yourself a limit you know you can pay off, say £400 a month and once it reaches that limit you pay it off regardless if it's the end of the month, and, at the end of the month pay the whole thing off. If it starts mounting up you need to go low or no spend.

You need to look at your spending habits, if topping up every few days is costing you (and nipping to the shop for bread and milk can easily turn into a tenner or more) then you need to meal plan better. Batch cooking etc or frozen veg rather than fresh, bread and a small milk in the freezer etc

No one's saying you shouldn't go on holiday, but if your debt is keeping you up, for any future little trips you need to say "No" until everything else is paid off and you aren't having sleepless nights.

Thanks for all the advice, it's been very helpful.

Rather than focus on cutting costs, could you increase income?
lodger? Second job?side hustle?

You need to prioritise clearing the debt, which means only buying essentials.

Download the MSE budget planner and look at all your bank statements and credit cards, and record everything onto the budget planner.

You can't afford to save anything at the moment, so don't think about that until you have cleared the debt.

You can't afford a holiday, or to go to the cinema, or takeaways etc. It is the only way, to literally just spend the money that you have and buy the things that you need, not the things that you want.

It won't always be like this. I understand that you have had extra costs due to moving and that is different to frivolous spending.

Once the debt is cleared, you need to cut up the credit card so that you don't do it again. I have seen too many people borrow money and just run the debt up again and then owe twice as much.

Don’t feel too bad on yourself, you’ve just moved into a flat and obviously needed to spend a lot of money on essential furniture. You can see where you need to be, by paying credit card balance, as much as you can each month. It’s going to be tough for a few months yet, can you try and contact credit card company and ask for a payment plan, so you don’t keep adding more interest. No point worrying about the holiday, it’s booked now, but try and do a budget plan for all your money. I do agree going out at night can get really expensive, so you may need to stay in a while, just until you’ve cleared the credit card and re start your pension payments when you can.

HRFT- OP your income is £2060 and your outgoings are £934 so you should have left is £1126- I don’t think you need a new job you need to budget x

find a free hobby
or cheaper
i wouldnt go to cinema

It's not good I know but I find it hard to be in a relationship and not spend anything. I've only been with my boyfriend for around 5 months and I have explained to him I'm trying to save, but it wouldn't be fun staying in every time and living off batch cooking. I know that doesn't help but it's not easy.

Hi OP, I am frugal by nature. I was chatting to a lovely cab driver recently he grew up poor outside the UK and I grew up fairly poor in the UK we agreed that there were just less things when we were younger to want.
In my life I've met two types of person, frugal even wealthy people can be frugal, and the others. People like yourself who have a can't do without this holiday/watch/diamond earrings mindset.
I'm a cut my coat according to my cloth sort of person rather than I have to have a coat so this prada one is therefore a bargain.
I'm not wanting to be mean and I don't want to hurt your feelings but if you want to be debt free and have a pension you need to deal with your mindset first.
With your income you can budget properly and have enough food and no debt but you need to shake that "I'm bored, I deserve to go out" mindset. And I grew up in the countryside before the Internet and TV had 3 channels and my nearest city was Cambridge, which has only two things of interest Colleges and churches! So don't tell me about bored.

What hobbies do you have? It sounds like some times you are spending money because you are bored? You can have friends over to your house and take turns cooking for each other or have a film night or board games? Or you can do a hobby which can earn you/ save you money like learning to sew or do DIY?

You need to go through 3-6 months of bank statements and look at where your money is going - coffee/lunch/quick shops really add up. I know my budget goes out of wack when I'm popping to the shops for mid week milk shops etc.
Go through your statements and look at where your money is going rather than where you think it's going (could be very different) then use money saving expert website for a budget creator, it's free (Don't pay for one!!), it will make you think about your yearly expenses so that you can include them in your monthly budget.
Things like birthdays, Christmas, insurances etc so there aren't any surprises.
Spend time over Christmas looking through some of the websites, sell what you can, use cashback sites where you can etc.
Don't feel like you're failing, we've all been there and once you have all the information you will feel in control as you'll have a plan to pay off your card.

take up card games or board games, scrabble with friends

You need the Debt Payoff Planner app (the free version) it has a light blue background and a dove carrying dollar bills and put all and any debt on there. It gives a great visual representation of what you own and also calculates which debt to pay off first related to Apr and gives you the date that it will be paid off.

Has your lifestyle creep increased in the last 5 months? And has this debt increased in that time? Who suggests going out and are your incomes similar or are you trying to keep up with someone with more disposable income?

It may be that having a boyfriend right now isn't the right time, or having a boyfriend who is a spender. Or it might be that you need to plan better and take advantage of Meerkat Movies or other discounts you are eligible for.

I'm not having a go, I've been a single parent for 15 years so I know it's rubbish to say no to things, but your mental health will improve massively and you'll be more fun to be around with the debt gone.

5 months in, staying in should be fun and easy. Movie nights, board games etc. The debt isn’t that bad but you are living beyond your means. You are a single adult and you’ve just bought a home, booked a holiday, are trying to go out on dates, pay for a pet too. It’s too much. It’s time to be responsible until that modest debt is paid off and get into good financial habits. Do a budget and stick to it, that doesn’t mean no fun money at all, but if you’ve budgeted for it and are overpaying the debt then itl feel better anyway.