Is anyone else just stuck in debt and fed up?

[Catsarekings123]

I am actually owed a refund of £1500 from something which will be wonderful, but it's just a waiting game and could be another 2 months yet, however I know I will be getting it.

I'm not the worst with money but I'm not the best either. Every month before my wage comes in I calculate everything that's going out that month, and what ill have left.

I live alone. To give a rundown:
Mortgage- £440, boiler cover- £31.50, gas- £35, electric- £35, water not yet been billed as moved in last few months, ongoing orthodontic treatment- £54, petplan and insurance- £43, phone contract and handset- £32, gym- £14, YouTube/netflix- £22, wifi- £24, £300 on clearing debt atm across x2 credit cards and one loan.
Student loan- £30, then it's food, public transport etc.

I know i could cancel the gym but it's working out at around £3.50 a week and benefits me hugely. I don't have any Sky or anything like that and only have netflix so watch a lot of films etc on it.

If anyone sees any areas I could cut back on I'd be willing to take suggestions..I paid £300 alone on my credit card this month but then had an unexpected £190 repair bill.
It's living alone with a mortgage which is stressful as you have to plan for these unexpected emergencies.

I don't get expensive clothes, make up, hair etc. Everything is as cheap as I can make it.
I'm changing jobs next week and will be on 28k base salary and have got an evening job which will be £300 extra a month.
I don't drive, mainly use public transport but occasionally take an Uber, as waiting outside in blistering wind and rain is depressing a lot of the time.
I don't buy expensive food either, do what I can in terms of cheap or free hobbies. Used to do a dance class but now I just do one on YouTube. Will restart running once it warms up next week.

Do you have to pay so much for Netflix? Ours is going up to £5.99. We have adverts but aren't bothered.

Tbh you're right i might just have to deal with the ads and get it

Also your insurance for your cat seems quite high. How old is your cat? I would have a look on Gocompare and see if you can get it cheaper. It says Petplan and insurance, why is that? We pay £21 for our 3 cats who are 3.

@Catsarekings123

The thing that cheered me most was that you got an evening job! For most of our life when we were struggling a bit we both got second jobs. It was somewhat easier then ["cash in hand"] but it was there if we wanted a holiday for example.

My cat is 7, the insurance is 15 and then I'm with 'pet health club ' with my vets which covers all consultations, flea and worm treatment, vacconations, claw trimming and so on.
Ill have a proper look into it..

The insurance I've got for her also covers dental treatment which apparently not all of them do.

How much do you typically spend on food per week/month? Is there room to cut down there?

I try to as little as possible, don't buy any alcohol etc. Try to budget £40 a week for food.

Keep the pet stuff. I have a cat and the last thing you want is a huge vets bill. If it covers dental (mine does too with pet plan) that’s really good.

We’ve never had boiler cover. Just get someone local who is well recommended to service it once a year (£65 ish). Obviously the risk to this is that it needs something doing to it which you’ll have to cover yourself, or worst case scenario you’d need a new one - Boxt offer monthly payment schemes that would be less than the boiler cover you pay now.

You could consolidate your two credit card loans - look at MSE website for information on how to do this - balance transfer or something like that, it's called.

I've never had boiler cover and certainly wouldn't have it from British Gas as they are expensive for everything, including boiler installation. However as your boiler is ten years old, have it serviced once a year. I've just had to replace mine at 14 years old but you're not there yet. I'd take a chance on saving on the cover for the next year or two till you get on your feet.

You don't need pet insurance or even a pet. Look at your other electronic bills to see if you are getting the best available deals.

It's difficult living on your own and coping with everything but you are doing well and will come through this tough time.

Shop around for boiler cover OP - mine is with a long standing local family owned business and its £8.50pm.

British Gas are rip off merchants.

you need to try and give every single £ a job…this is what I do
In -2750
CB-280
Benefits-177

Total: 3,207

Rent 1400
Electricity 120
Life insurance 40
Internet/tv/2 phones 86
Bin charge 23
Apple 20
Disney 10
DS club 25

Total 1,724
that means I have Leftover 1,483 pm

This 1483 goes to
300 food
240 fuel
200 savings
50 kids clubs/school trips etc
100 treats/coffees/takeaways
100 clothes/shoes
50 birthdays/gifts
50 prescriptions/medicines
150 holidays/trips (either as a payment off a booking or as savings)

I know this essentially leaves over 243 but it gets eaten up somewhere with unexpected things usually and if not it’s put into savings.

like this month I have 353 left for now and I’ll get 41 on Thursday. I get paid on the 24th. BUT it’s half term and my dc are off this Thursday and Friday so I’ll want to bring them bowling/cinema etc and I’ve had an unexpected bill of 50 for something, so i may not have as much leftover as I thought. I need to rethink a bit of my budget too but the bones are there.

Can't really see anything except what people have already mentioned, which could save a bit but not huge amounts (cancel boiler cover, reduce mobile costs) but the things you list, including council tax only come to around £1200 leaving £800 for food, public transport and clothes, socialising etc, which should be reasonable. Plus it will feel a lot more comfortable once your debts are paid off.

Have you gone through your spending to see where your money goes? What did the debt go on if your income covers your outgoings. Can you transfer your debt to a 0% deal?

I wouldn't cancel the pet insurance unless you're prepared to make the hard decision if she gets seriously ill or injured.

You can buy a new gas combi for £650

We had boiler care for years. Waste of money. I asked in Facebook local page for recommendations and found someone who will do an annual safety check and is really prompt when I’ve needed him a couple of times. I’ve definitely saved money ditching boiler care.

Have you heard of the Debt Snowball method? If you’re trying to pay off everything all at once and feeling defeated, it might be helpful to check it out?

I'd get cheaper Netflix £6pm, cancel boiler cover. That's roughly £1300

So I'd aim-
Food 300
Petrol 200
Save/misc 200

Then when the debt is cleared put the £300 to n savings

I would get rid of youtube(I watch it for free?!) & boiler cover. There’s 100% no way I would ever cancel pet insurance. I treat this like other essential bills like CT & electric/gas. You’ll be in a far worse financial situation if your cat needs ongoing treatment.

Worst case scenario if you needed a new boiler, Boxt come next day / day after and can fit a new boiler and you can pay with a payment plan.
You should still get it serviced every year though.

We have Netflix with ads and it’s really not that bad or intrusive. I forget about it and it surprises me when there is an ad.

of all the things with ads this is the least worst!

if I’m watching a series I might get an ad once every 3 episodes. They don’t last that long either. 30 seconds to 1 minute

If you watch a lot don't go for the with ads plan - it doesn't offer the full catalogue! I tried it and lots of the films say "not available with ads"
£22 for netflix and you tube isn't bad and you need some fun in your life!

You realise you don't get the full netflix catalogue though when you pay for the with ads plan?

Cut youtube & netflix, YouTube is free. Call your utility company incl phone and see if you can get better deals. Move all the debt to 0%.

Consolidating your debt, speak to your bank for guidance or if you have the mobile app you can get a quote. Add up the total debt across your 2 credit cards and existing loan. Do you know the total? Also what are the interest rates on each of these?
Once you have a total if using mobile app you want to select that it’s debt consolidation out the total amount, you can then either choose how many years you want the loan over and it will work out your monthly payment or you can work out a monthly repayment amount you are comfortable with and then it will work out the period instead then it will let you know if you can have it or not depending on your credit rating ( hence why speaking to your bank may be better) but gives you an idea?

Keep the cat insurance! We paid £10 pcm for our boy and he was hit by a car - that bill was over £4,500. He was only 18 months old. The following year he had a bill for £1,500 (can't even remember what that was for!)

He's 7 now and his monthly insurance has increased to £20 ish.

A friend had an indoor cat and decided not to insure but was then hit with a huge bill because of the urine problem cats can have. That was thousands too (lots of in surgery treatments with IVs etc).

Our other cat is much cheaper to insure but she too has had insurance claims - once she came home with a bleeding paw and that needed stitches. Her insurance is £15ish

Inflation is part of the price rise for the cat insurance. Not just the claims.