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.

How much is your cat food per week? I have two cats and their food cost £120pcm but I now feed them raw and they’re healthier, and it costs me £30 pcm.

You need Dave Ramsey’s baby steps in your life.

Personally the last thing I'd stop paying for is you tube and Netflix. Your you tube subscription comes with so much more than just you tube videos. You get the extra Gmail storage, extra Google photos storage, unlimited music downloads on yt music - so essentially free albums. Every month you get "play points" too which you can use to buy films for free on Google TV.

Most people saying why pay for you tube probably don't know that's what you get and think you're paying for something that should be free.

Mine gives me £1000 towards a new boiler should mine be unrepairable. I pay around £21 per month and that includes a service every year plus no call out fee and all labour and parts included. I've used it twice in 2 years for repairs that would have cost me more overall

I pay £8.70 for my sim only contract. Do not buy another new phone.
Give up the gym and Netflex contracts - you can't afford them.

If your boiler is relatively new (like under 5ish years old) as long as you get an annual service then I’d say this is probably the best thing to drop from your outgoings.

I have an annual spreadsheet spilt into each month and and write down absolutely everything I spend
I have never paid for boiler cover
My mobile contract is £7 a month
I have the £5/6 netflix package
I'm not a cat person so wouldnt pay to insure one but I do undestand that they can bring people a lot of joy

Do you have a spare room you could rent out on a short term let or airbnb? Spare rooms where I am go for £600/month, presumably airbnb is more and you could stick it on approvals so you pick who it is staying.

Hi OP,
Not too much to add. Only I am a single home owner too. And completely understand what it feels like.

I am by no means underpaid. Excluding pension, I am paid about e3000. But no matter how hard I try plan, I am usually broke by pay day.

It's the 19th (paid on the 27th) and I've e62 in my current account. Which is mainly for food.

My car is in the garage. Next month, an elec bill will be due. There is always something "unforeseen" and no other person to pass onto. A blessing and a curse.

I started pre-planning in Jan this year and set up a sub account called "Bills Due" and so, I have a look at what is due and put the money in there, and try have the mind set that "it's not mine".

I don't have an extravagant lifestyle. Everything I have, I usually save up for. For example, I needed a good rain proof jacket as am outdoors alot with my hobby/sport, and I saved up for 6 months for a top of the range Columbia jacket (e200!).

My friends wanted to go see Bridget Jones this week and I had to put them off until next Thurs, when I get paid. I just couldn't afford cine tickets on e62 left for petrol and food, and the car in the garage.

Always a balancing act! And it does get tiring. But give yourself a break and do do nice things for yourself.

I have a very small 1 bed flat with 1 bathroom, which is an en suite so sadly wouldn't be possible to have a lodger.
I am going to cancel the boiler cover today

We cancelled our boiler cover as well and just have a list of recommended people in case the situation arises. We also cancelled our pet insurance for our car because anything that he ever needed done wasn't covered so it was pointless. I personally would cancel YouTube and Netflix and get someone to load a fire stick, usually it's only 40ish pound for a years subscription and you can watch hundreds of series and movies! Also maybe look at how it would work having a phone with unlimited internet, hotspotting form your phone would mean you could cancel your WiFi. As for if a situation arises with the boiler or cat, keep the credit card for emergencies like that only once it's paid off! You sound like you're doing well op don't be so hard on yourself x

There's cheaper boiler cover - if you have home insurance, they often have cheap bolt on emergency cover than covers the boiler. You need to look at the small print too - most do not offer replacement if they can't fix the boiler if over a certain age.

We have the boiler cover and have British Gas out a few times a year. All parts and labour are included. We wouldn’t be without it and our combo boiler is around 13 years old. It’s an insurane. It gives peace of mind knowing if it goes wrong they sort it without any extra costs takes away the uncertainty of an unexpected bill. It’s the only appliance cover I do have though. Maybe have a shop around at the next renewal to see if you can get it a bit cheaper.
An alternative to the boiler cover on the other hand though is save what you are paying out into a separate savings pot that you use just for boiler emergencies. You can pay for your annual service out of it and hopefully any repairs that may need doing further down the line. Personally I wouldn’t cancel just because a few people have never had it. You don’t know their financial circumstances and they won’t be the same as yours. Have a back up plan if you do cancel though.
I also have cat insurance. We used it several times for my previous cat and it meant we didn’t have to make any heartbreaking decisions due to financial reasons.
Insurance is expensive and can be a rip off especially if you don’t need it but it’s there as a reassurance if the worse does happen. It would be amazing to live in a world where it isn’t needed as you could afford to pay for everything replacing / fixing!

You mention phone and handset as one bill? Are you paying for a landline? Or is handset meaning your mobile phone itself?

You have a mortgage! You are doing the right thing! Lots of people are in the same financial position, only they rent and you will own a property. How many bedrooms? Move a lodger in? Depending on where you live, you can get a Mon-Fri lodger? I used to do it ages ago, I mean, I used to rent Mon-Fri when I had to work in a particular city up North. I would cancel Pet Plan - never helped us when the dog needed real treatment - yours is £500+ pa. We don't have pets now, but our neighbours do, they don't have insurance and if they need any treatment, they go to an animal charity and they help them.

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.

£100 service cost
£100 council tax
£440 mortgage
£31.50 Boiler cover
£35 electric
£35 gas
£35 water
£54 Orthodentist
£43 pet cover
£32 phone and contract
£14 gym
£22 netfkix/youtube
£24 wifi
£300 debt
£30 student loan

total £1295.5

your basic salary will be £28000 which is £1973.45 after tax

leaves you with £677.95

your additional £300 I guess will be taxed at basic rate, leaves you with £225

So a total of £902.95 left to spend

Is it worth while putting this money away and drawing £200 per week to live on for food and transport?

@Catsarekings123 The thing about the boiler is that boiler cover won't pay for the cost of replacing it when it finally does need to be replaced. I pay about £60 a year to have ours serviced, but it is only 7 years old and has a 10 year warranty. My plumber though is a local, single trader and I have an excellent relationship with him. He's totally reliable. Not sure that I would have cancelled the cover on a 10 year old boiler if I didn't have a plumber who I know will come out quickly if I have a problem.

Yes, it is. I replaced mine at 10 years.

You may be fortunate and never need pet insurance but my cat was hit by a car and lost a leg. There was no way I’d euthanise an otherwise healthy young cat. Fortunately I’d taken out pet insurance the month before. My £5 premium covered a £2000 vet bill.

I would set up an account with monzo or chase and have pocket accounts

if you cancel the boiler cover - then put the £31.50 into a pocket account by standing order on pay day, named boiler account and let it build up each month in 5 years you'll have enough money to pay for a new boiler. I'd also have pocket accounts for house insurance and building cover, again by standing order on payday. I have about 10 pocket accounts to cover my bills that are annual bills - then I don't have large expenses through the months but its all spread out over the year and I just dip into that account when that item/bill needs paying.

I also have a travel pocket - for bus fare and Ubers - I put in the amount on pay day and use that for transport through the month

Most boilers are fine to repair for at least twice as long as that. Unless you've been listening to a scammer Worcester installer

@Silvers11 my boiler cover gives £1000 towards a new boiler if they can't repair mine

2000 minus all your bills and council tax plus say 200 on food = 640 left over each month which isn't too bad. Definitely cancel boiler cover, you tube & add free netflix. Once you're out of debt and have 300 spare I'd put that straight into savings for unexpected costs.

The boiler cover and the pet plan I would cancel and just put the equivalent away every month. Are you paying for you tube and netflix with no adds? You could probably half that.

Do you have your single person discount on your council tax?

Shop around for your broadband

how I’ve reduced my debt:

have a list of all direct debits/ standing orders and what I need cash for throughout the month.
every pay day I transfer that amount into a different account, anything left over I transfer straight into my credit card.
then I use my credit card for all card purchases. Every month I end up paying off more and more of that credit card this way.

remove Apple Pay (or the equivalent).
I’ve gone from £4K in debt to currently £1.6k