Drowning - What Can I Do?

MrDucky

RAS said:

Agree with all the above. The APRs are essential.

In the short-term, do you have anything you don't use and could sell at a car boot etc? Even £50 into your emergency fund could help.

You need an emergency fund and a budgeting fund. The budgeting fund is where 1/12th of your car insurance goes every month, as well as 1/12th of you annual prescription cost and the required amount need to pay off Very.

By the way and annual prescription cert is £111?.Might be worth looking at?

Hey,

Thanks for the reply.

I’ll take a look at the agreements once I’m home from work today and get back with the APRs.

I could probably pick through things and try to sell a few bits (I do sell bits and pieces on Facebook Marketplace, but I’ve got 27 listings on which are now 6 weeks old without interest).

No spare funds currently to have any sort of savings/emergency fund, I honestly with there was…

I’m already on the annual prescription monthly payment plan.

Cheers,

MrDucky

Grumpelstiltskin said:

What does your entertainment budget cover?

Nights out? Sports clubs?

When does your mobile phone contract finish? It sounds like you have an expensive phone included in the contract.

Entertainment covers:-

Guitar Practice - £20
Bouldering - £15
Spotify - £8
Netflix - £5
Date Night - £20
Gym - £15
Lotto - £12

Mobile: Ends in January

CliveOfIndia

MrDucky said:

I have no means to pay the Very BNPL when it reaches its due date, only option is sell personal items to cover the outstanding balance.

Cheers,

With respect, it's that approach that has led to this situation in the first place.  You can't just go buying stuff when you have no means to pay for it.  What was it that you bought form Very - anything you could sell?

MrDucky said:

Car Insurance: Cross that bridge when it comes up next June, currently unable to put anything aside to cover the cost.

Entertainment: Open to suggestions.

Car insurance - again, you simply cannot afford to take that attitude.  Insurance is a known expense that happens every year - although the amounts may vary (usually upwards).

Entertainment - what are you currently spending the money on?  Unpalatable as it may seem, from what you've said so far it may be time to make some cutbacks - short term pain for long term gain and all that.

Please don't take this the wrong way, the advice is well-intentioned.  But you need to get a grip of your budget, prioritise the essentials and cut out everything else for a while.  You cannot just "cross that bridge when you come to it" where finance is involved, it requires planning and budgeting.

The other gap in your SOA is the car maintenance part - assuming you own (rather than lease) the car then routine maintenance and repairs are a given, you have to budget for them.

MrDucky

CliveOfIndia said:

MrDucky said:

I have no means to pay the Very BNPL when it reaches its due date, only option is sell personal items to cover the outstanding balance.

Cheers,

With respect, it's that approach that has led to this situation in the first place.  You can't just go buying stuff when you have no means to pay for it.  What was it that you bought form Very - anything you could sell?

MrDucky said:

Car Insurance: Cross that bridge when it comes up next June, currently unable to put anything aside to cover the cost.

Entertainment: Open to suggestions.

Car insurance - again, you simply cannot afford to take that attitude.  Insurance is a known expense that happens every year - although the amounts may vary (usually upwards).

Entertainment - what are you currently spending the money on?  Unpalatable as it may seem, from what you've said so far it may be time to make some cutbacks - short term pain for long term gain and all that.

Please don't take this the wrong way, the advice is well-intentioned.  But you need to get a grip of your budget, prioritise the essentials and cut out everything else for a while.  You cannot just "cross that bridge when you come to it" where finance is involved, it requires planning and budgeting.

The other gap in your SOA is the car maintenance part - assuming you own (rather than lease) the car then routine maintenance and repairs are a given, you have to budget for them.

Very:- The BNPL was for a washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer.

Entertainment covers:-

Guitar Practice - £20
Bouldering - £15
Spotify - £8
Netflix - £5
Date Night - £20
Gym - £15
Lotto - £12

Car Stuff: Current constraints mean that I’m not committing any money towards things like car insurance / potential maintenance.

I’m here for advice, like everyone else I guess, so open to suggestions to try and better my situation.

Grumpelstiltskin

You have to have a complete rethink on your finances at the moment you are prioritizing entertainment over car insurance.

When your mobile contract finishes in January go Sim only, plenty of advice on here about very cheap ones.

You need to realize if you can't pay for it you can't have it.

Grumpelstiltskin

Another thought if you are renting a cooker should have been provided, why did you buy one?

CliveOfIndia

MrDucky said:

CliveOfIndia said:

MrDucky said:

I have no means to pay the Very BNPL when it reaches its due date, only option is sell personal items to cover the outstanding balance.

Cheers,

With respect, it's that approach that has led to this situation in the first place.  You can't just go buying stuff when you have no means to pay for it.  What was it that you bought form Very - anything you could sell?

MrDucky said:

Car Insurance: Cross that bridge when it comes up next June, currently unable to put anything aside to cover the cost.

Entertainment: Open to suggestions.

Car insurance - again, you simply cannot afford to take that attitude.  Insurance is a known expense that happens every year - although the amounts may vary (usually upwards).

Entertainment - what are you currently spending the money on?  Unpalatable as it may seem, from what you've said so far it may be time to make some cutbacks - short term pain for long term gain and all that.

Please don't take this the wrong way, the advice is well-intentioned.  But you need to get a grip of your budget, prioritise the essentials and cut out everything else for a while.  You cannot just "cross that bridge when you come to it" where finance is involved, it requires planning and budgeting.

The other gap in your SOA is the car maintenance part - assuming you own (rather than lease) the car then routine maintenance and repairs are a given, you have to budget for them.

Very:- The BNPL was for a washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer.

Entertainment covers:-

Guitar Practice - £20
Bouldering - £15
Spotify - £8
Netflix - £5
Date Night - £20
Gym - £15
Lotto - £12

Car Stuff: Current constraints mean that I’m not committing any money towards things like car insurance / potential maintenance.

I’m here for advice, like everyone else I guess, so open to suggestions to try and better my situation.

For the entertainment you could whittle that down.  Spotify & Netfix are not essential, there's plenty of free alternatives.  Gym - could you do without this?  Lotto - that can most definitely go.

Car stuff - sorry, if you own a car, you will have to spend money on maintenance.  At the very least you'll have the cost of an MOT every year (as well as tax and insurance).  You will have to replace tyres, brake pads, windscreen wipers every so often.  You can't just bury your head in the sand, then when these things need replacing, just stick them on the credit card with no means to repay it.  That's quite apart from any unforeseen repairs that may occur - depending on the age of the car, it's unlikely you'll get away without any repair costs at all.  Routine servicing - yep, OK, I can fully understand it's not a priority if things are tight, but it can be a false economy.

Overall, running a car is an expensive business - is there any realistic way you could manage without one for a couple of years?  That could potentially free up many hundreds of pounds to throw at the debts.

MrDucky

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Another thought if you are renting a cooker should have been provided, why did you buy one?

Grumpelstiltskin said:

You have to have a complete rethink on your finances at the moment you are prioritizing entertainment over car insurance.

When your mobile contract finishes in January go Sim only, plenty of advice on here about very cheap ones.

You need to realize if you can't pay for it you can't have it.

That’s why I’m here, I can only present the facts as they are, it’s better than lying and painting a fake picture of my current situation, my SOA was an accurate representation of my financial position. I can’t change the past and the poor choices that were made, I’m here trying to work on the future…

Very: The last two places I’ve rented had no appliances included in the property, the ones which were purchased for the property were taken by my ex when she left last December (she purchased them, so they were hers to take).

Entertainment / Car: What would you change, to save my insurance premium would mean no entertainment for 5 months.

Mobile: Was planning on going SIM only, changing will reduce my outgoings by around £60 a month.

Grumpelstiltskin

The world won't come to an end if you don't spend anything on entertainment for 5 months,

I see you don't have anything down for TV licence so if you don't watch live TV then Netflix is worth keeping. Spotify, you can survive without that, same for Guitar Practice, Bouldering, Gym and Lotto.

MrDucky

CliveOfIndia said:

MrDucky said:

CliveOfIndia said:

MrDucky said:

I have no means to pay the Very BNPL when it reaches its due date, only option is sell personal items to cover the outstanding balance.

Cheers,

With respect, it's that approach that has led to this situation in the first place.  You can't just go buying stuff when you have no means to pay for it.  What was it that you bought form Very - anything you could sell?

MrDucky said:

Car Insurance: Cross that bridge when it comes up next June, currently unable to put anything aside to cover the cost.

Entertainment: Open to suggestions.

Car insurance - again, you simply cannot afford to take that attitude.  Insurance is a known expense that happens every year - although the amounts may vary (usually upwards).

Entertainment - what are you currently spending the money on?  Unpalatable as it may seem, from what you've said so far it may be time to make some cutbacks - short term pain for long term gain and all that.

Please don't take this the wrong way, the advice is well-intentioned.  But you need to get a grip of your budget, prioritise the essentials and cut out everything else for a while.  You cannot just "cross that bridge when you come to it" where finance is involved, it requires planning and budgeting.

The other gap in your SOA is the car maintenance part - assuming you own (rather than lease) the car then routine maintenance and repairs are a given, you have to budget for them.

Very:- The BNPL was for a washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer.

Entertainment covers:-

Guitar Practice - £20
Bouldering - £15
Spotify - £8
Netflix - £5
Date Night - £20
Gym - £15
Lotto - £12

Car Stuff: Current constraints mean that I’m not committing any money towards things like car insurance / potential maintenance.

I’m here for advice, like everyone else I guess, so open to suggestions to try and better my situation.

For the entertainment you could whittle that down.  Spotify & Netfix are not essential, there's plenty of free alternatives.  Gym - could you do without this?  Lotto - that can most definitely go.

Car stuff - sorry, if you own a car, you will have to spend money on maintenance.  At the very least you'll have the cost of an MOT every year (as well as tax and insurance).  You will have to replace tyres, brake pads, windscreen wipers every so often.  You can't just bury your head in the sand, then when these things need replacing, just stick them on the credit card with no means to repay it.  That's quite apart from any unforeseen repairs that may occur - depending on the age of the car, it's unlikely you'll get away without any repair costs at all.  Routine servicing - yep, OK, I can fully understand it's not a priority if things are tight, but it can be a false economy.

Overall, running a car is an expensive business - is there any realistic way you could manage without one for a couple of years?  That could potentially free up many hundreds of pounds to throw at the debts.

Netflix / Spotify: What free alternatives exist?
Gym: I would prefer not to cancel it but could.
Lotto: Can go… but what if my numbers come up?
Car Stuff: I’m fully aware that there are requirements, if there was money left in the pot then I’d be putting it away for them, but when there’s basically zero left over that means zero saved, zero budgeted for future financial requirements and zero for emergencies. Cars needed for work as I travel to multiple different locations daily (work cover internal travel between sites, my £80 a month covers getting to-and-from the main office plus any other travel).