Single income, AuDHD, £29k debt, no savings...turning the ship as of 2025!

puffintail

I’m trying to decide what to do, between instigating the process towards a self-managed DMP, or ‘just’ continuing to try and pay debts each month until it is clear (likely in around 4-5 years…)
I would really value the thoughts of those in this forum – I don’t have any family to discuss this with, and live on my own (with the dogs) so bouncing ideas around with you all will be a great help.

Some additional context:

Single (full-time, public sector) income household, mortgage (in yr 1 of a 3 yr fixed term deal) in my name only. Since buying the house, debts have escalated, between poor car choices, to private diagnosis costs and vet bills not paid by insurances. No missed or late payments, no defaults – essentially, I have a ‘clean’ credit file, albeit low on scoring for my credit utilisation.

I don’t have any emergency funds, and I am in a perpetual loop where I pay money off debt each month, but then I’ll have costs (e.g. I have an upcoming car bill for a new cam belt and brake discs + pads for  c.£1k) which just add on to the debt.

I run (and am a named Trustee and Founder) for a small charity.

Main concerns:

1) having no emergency funds (especially with no family/other backup)

2) debt with 4 different creditors
I’d like to have a single payment for all, as I feel stressed having multiple creditor payments – which may sound ridiculous, it’s owing to Autistic issues and OCD ‘neatness’.
I could get a loan for the majority, leaving the Tesco CC alone as it’s 0%, but that loan would be at 15.6% with Admiral. Good for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, but the Zopa debt is on 9.9% currently.

I could get a loan just for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, this would be 13.5% APR. That still leaves me with 3 creditors, which my mind (annoyingly) still finds stressful.

3) If I brave the stress of defaulting, I could build myself up an emergency fund, and I am comfortable staying with my current lender when the mortgage fixed rate is up (2028) but I’m (probably irrationally) scared to take that leap because I have no family/friends/inheritance etc as last resort back up (and foolishly used credit historically as this ‘backup’)

4) I am not sure as to what impact a self-managed DMP would have on my position within the Charity

SOA:

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

 

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 0

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

 

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2592

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2592[/b][b]

 

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 665

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 110

Electricity............................. 70

Gas..................................... 30

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 25

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 32

TV Licence.............................. 0

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 35

Groceries etc. ......................... 350 (this includes cleaning products/dog food & meds)

Clothing................................ 20

Petrol/diesel........................... 150

Road tax................................ 3

Car Insurance........................... 46

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 21

Car parking............................. 10

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 45

Buildings insurance..................... 16

Contents insurance...................... 16

Life assurance ......................... 7

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30

Haircuts................................ 20

Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes Spotify and Amazon Prime)

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 0

Fitness................................. 35[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1786[/b]

[b]

 

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 200000

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 1500

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 201500[/b]

[b]

 

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 128020...(665)......4.74[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 128020....-.........-   [/b]

 

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

NatWest CC.....................5092......65........22.9 (0% until March 25)

Tesco CC.......................4400......55........0 (0% until June 26)

Zopa Loan......................19063.....560.......9.9

Lloyds CC......................900.......20........29.9 (0% until March 25) [b]

Total unsecured debts..........29455.....700.......-  [/b]

 

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,592

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,786

Available for debt repayments........... 806

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 700[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 106[/b]

 

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 201,500

Total HP & Secured debt................. -128,020

Total Unsecured debt.................... -29,455[b]

Net Assets.............................. 44,025[/b]

 

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

fatbelly

Stick with it and see if you can get one 0% card to bt the other two to in March.

EssexHebridean

Yep - if you can get accepted for further 0% balance transfer cards  then that would be great  - don’t be out off accepting a card offer of a 0% card just because you can’t transfer a full balance across either - anything you can get from accruing interest to 0% is good! 

If you are confident that SOA is right then you should have £100 a month surplus - so question 1 has to be “do you have that money spare at the end of the month?” If you don’t then there are holes in the SOA somewhere. 

Bits that stand out to me:
- electric bill so much higher than gas is a bit of an oddity - you look to be quite a heavy electricity user so it may be worth tracking down why (unless you already know) and seeing if you can reduce that.  Do you use electric heaters rather than putting your central heating on, perhaps? Your car value doesn’t suggest a hybrid EV…

- mobile phone is higher than it needs to be. Make a diary note of when your contract ends and look to switch to SIM only. 

- your issues around car costs can be solved by budgeting a more realistic amount for maintenance. You’re evidently doing a reasonable amount of mileage, so you need to factor in more frequent servicing and going through tyres more often - there’s no way  £21 a month is going to cut it! 

- you may be able to shave a bit off that grocery bill. Probably partly depends on how expensive the dog food is though. 

- what is the life assurance for? You have equity in your home so it’s not likely that your mortgage lender insists on it,  and you don’t appear to have dependants..?  

Do you pay your council tax over 10 months or 12? If 10, remember you have two months coming up without payments. That is money you can throw straight into starting your Emergency fund. 

Getting your budget right is key - and that includes making sure that where you are budgeting money for the big expenses like those car costs, that money definitely gets set aside ready for those bills. That’s also true of the smaller costs though - that £20 for hairdressing for example, if you miss setting that aside one month, then get to the hairdressers for your appointment you’re going to be short of the cost, and that leads to reaching for credit. 

Do you still carry credit cards with you? If so, I’d suggest stopping, then spending on credit is more difficult.

Rob5342

According to your SOA you have £100 spare a month but your debts have been going up, so whats going to change now to make them go down instead? If its just a case that you need to be stricter about budgeting then you migjt be able to start paying things down, but if your costs are actually higher than the SOA says then you might not be able to. 

puffintail

Thanks all - I have typically been using *any* surplus and throwing it on to my debt, but then, when a big bill hits (e.g. the £1k car bill due next month that I don't have savings for) then the debt increases anyway.

The mobile phone cost came as a result of my last phone totally dying, and not being able to afford a new mobile phone, so I switched from SIM only to contract to get a phone.

Re the electricity, I pay just over £100 duel fuel, so I guessed at what proportion would go where. I don't watch TV, nor have any games consoles, I turn lights off and standby off for the computer at every opportunity, only boil as much water as I need each time and have the quickest showers I can, too. 

I have life assurance primarily to boost any payout for whomever handles my estate if I were to die, so that they're not left with any debt to pay off. I do have a sister, we're not close, but I wouldn't want her facing any nasty surprises.

I pay council tax over 12 months.

gwynlas

Have you room for a lodger? It could b a Mon/Fri thing if there is a call for such in your area or perhaps a part time job evenings or weekends?

Rob5342

puffintail said:

I have life assurance primarily to boost any payout for whomever handles my estate if I were to die, so that they're not left with any debt to pay off. I do have a sister, we're not close, but I wouldn't want her facing any nasty surprises..

If you died then any assets you have are first used to pay for your funeral, then to pay any creditors you have, and what's left gets passed to your next of kin. If there isn't enough to pay your debts fully then your creditors just get a partial payment and that's it, nobody else would have to pay it. Neither your sister nor anyone else would have to pay your debts, having life assurance means that your creditors would get more money back and that your sister might get something instead of nothing.

The executor is responsible for repaying someones debts, but only from that persons estate. 

https://www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/over-50-life-insurance/later-life-planning/what-happens-to-debt-when-you-die/

MFWannabe

puffintail said:

I’m trying to decide what to do, between instigating the process towards a self-managed DMP, or ‘just’ continuing to try and pay debts each month until it is clear (likely in around 4-5 years…)
I would really value the thoughts of those in this forum – I don’t have any family to discuss this with, and live on my own (with the dogs) so bouncing ideas around with you all will be a great help.

Some additional context:

Single (full-time, public sector) income household, mortgage (in yr 1 of a 3 yr fixed term deal) in my name only. Since buying the house, debts have escalated, between poor car choices, to private diagnosis costs and vet bills not paid by insurances. No missed or late payments, no defaults – essentially, I have a ‘clean’ credit file, albeit low on scoring for my credit utilisation.

I don’t have any emergency funds, and I am in a perpetual loop where I pay money off debt each month, but then I’ll have costs (e.g. I have an upcoming car bill for a new cam belt and brake discs + pads for  c.£1k) which just add on to the debt.

I run (and am a named Trustee and Founder) for a small charity.

Main concerns:

1) having no emergency funds (especially with no family/other backup)

2) debt with 4 different creditors
I’d like to have a single payment for all, as I feel stressed having multiple creditor payments – which may sound ridiculous, it’s owing to Autistic issues and OCD ‘neatness’.
I could get a loan for the majority, leaving the Tesco CC alone as it’s 0%, but that loan would be at 15.6% with Admiral. Good for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, but the Zopa debt is on 9.9% currently.

I could get a loan just for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, this would be 13.5% APR. That still leaves me with 3 creditors, which my mind (annoyingly) still finds stressful.

3) If I brave the stress of defaulting, I could build myself up an emergency fund, and I am comfortable staying with my current lender when the mortgage fixed rate is up (2028) but I’m (probably irrationally) scared to take that leap because I have no family/friends/inheritance etc as last resort back up (and foolishly used credit historically as this ‘backup’)

4) I am not sure as to what impact a self-managed DMP would have on my position within the Charity

SOA:

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

 

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 0

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

 

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2592

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2592[/b][b]

 

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 665

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 110

Electricity............................. 70 - This seems high, are you in credit at all? 

Gas..................................... 30

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 25 - Are you on a meter? 

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 32 - When does your contract end?

TV Licence.............................. 0

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 35 - This is high, are you in contract? If not check what deals are available in your area

Groceries etc. ......................... 350 (this includes cleaning products/dog food & meds) - Could you shave some off here? £50 maybe? 

Clothing................................ 20

Petrol/diesel........................... 150

Road tax................................ 3

Car Insurance........................... 46

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 21

Car parking............................. 10

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 45

Buildings insurance..................... 16 - This is high, shop around for combined buildings and contents when renewal due as should be able to get both combined for this amount 

Contents insurance...................... 16 - See above 

Life assurance ......................... 7  - Don’t think you need this if you’re on your own

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30

Haircuts................................ 20  - Is this correct? Seems high 

Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes Spotify and Amazon Prime)  - Do you really need all these? Do you watch / use them all?

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 0 - Need to start building this up, if you have the £100 left over every month then start putting it into this 

Fitness................................. 35[b]  - Gym membership? Can you get this any cheaper? Do you use it? If you don’t use it then cancel if you can. If you do use it then I would say keep it as I believe fitness / exercise is good for us 

Total monthly expenses.................. 1786[/b]

[b]

 

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 200000

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 1500

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 201500[/b]

[b]

 

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 128020...(665)......4.74[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 128020....-.........-   [/b]

 

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

NatWest CC.....................5092......65........22.9 (0% until March 25)

Tesco CC.......................4400......55........0 (0% until June 26)

Zopa Loan......................19063.....560.......9.9

Lloyds CC......................900.......20........29.9 (0% until March 25) [b]

Total unsecured debts..........29455.....700.......-  [/b]

 

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,592

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,786

Available for debt repayments........... 806

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 700[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 106[/b]

 

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 201,500

Total HP & Secured debt................. -128,020

Total Unsecured debt.................... -29,455[b]

Net Assets.............................. 44,025[/b]

 

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

Hi
i have made some comments above in your soa. 

Have you checked the eligibility calculator to see if you can get a new balance transfer card to move all (or as much as possible) of the March 25 cards to? 

puffintail

MFWannabe said:

puffintail said:

I’m trying to decide what to do, between instigating the process towards a self-managed DMP, or ‘just’ continuing to try and pay debts each month until it is clear (likely in around 4-5 years…)
I would really value the thoughts of those in this forum – I don’t have any family to discuss this with, and live on my own (with the dogs) so bouncing ideas around with you all will be a great help.

Some additional context:

Single (full-time, public sector) income household, mortgage (in yr 1 of a 3 yr fixed term deal) in my name only. Since buying the house, debts have escalated, between poor car choices, to private diagnosis costs and vet bills not paid by insurances. No missed or late payments, no defaults – essentially, I have a ‘clean’ credit file, albeit low on scoring for my credit utilisation.

I don’t have any emergency funds, and I am in a perpetual loop where I pay money off debt each month, but then I’ll have costs (e.g. I have an upcoming car bill for a new cam belt and brake discs + pads for  c.£1k) which just add on to the debt.

I run (and am a named Trustee and Founder) for a small charity.

Main concerns:

1) having no emergency funds (especially with no family/other backup)

2) debt with 4 different creditors
I’d like to have a single payment for all, as I feel stressed having multiple creditor payments – which may sound ridiculous, it’s owing to Autistic issues and OCD ‘neatness’.
I could get a loan for the majority, leaving the Tesco CC alone as it’s 0%, but that loan would be at 15.6% with Admiral. Good for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, but the Zopa debt is on 9.9% currently.

I could get a loan just for the NatWest and Lloyds debt, this would be 13.5% APR. That still leaves me with 3 creditors, which my mind (annoyingly) still finds stressful.

3) If I brave the stress of defaulting, I could build myself up an emergency fund, and I am comfortable staying with my current lender when the mortgage fixed rate is up (2028) but I’m (probably irrationally) scared to take that leap because I have no family/friends/inheritance etc as last resort back up (and foolishly used credit historically as this ‘backup’)

4) I am not sure as to what impact a self-managed DMP would have on my position within the Charity

SOA:

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

 

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 0

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

 

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2592

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2592[/b][b]

 

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 665

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 110

Electricity............................. 70 - This seems high, are you in credit at all? 

Gas..................................... 30

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 25 - Are you on a meter? 

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 32 - When does your contract end?

TV Licence.............................. 0

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 35 - This is high, are you in contract? If not check what deals are available in your area

Groceries etc. ......................... 350 (this includes cleaning products/dog food & meds) - Could you shave some off here? £50 maybe? 

Clothing................................ 20

Petrol/diesel........................... 150

Road tax................................ 3

Car Insurance........................... 46

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 21

Car parking............................. 10

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 45

Buildings insurance..................... 16 - This is high, shop around for combined buildings and contents when renewal due as should be able to get both combined for this amount 

Contents insurance...................... 16 - See above 

Life assurance ......................... 7  - Don’t think you need this if you’re on your own

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30

Haircuts................................ 20  - Is this correct? Seems high 

Entertainment........................... 30 (this includes Spotify and Amazon Prime)  - Do you really need all these? Do you watch / use them all?

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 0 - Need to start building this up, if you have the £100 left over every month then start putting it into this 

Fitness................................. 35[b]  - Gym membership? Can you get this any cheaper? Do you use it? If you don’t use it then cancel if you can. If you do use it then I would say keep it as I believe fitness / exercise is good for us 

Total monthly expenses.................. 1786[/b]

[b]

 

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 200000

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 1500

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 201500[/b]

[b]

 

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 128020...(665)......4.74[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 128020....-.........-   [/b]

 

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

NatWest CC.....................5092......65........22.9 (0% until March 25)

Tesco CC.......................4400......55........0 (0% until June 26)

Zopa Loan......................19063.....560.......9.9

Lloyds CC......................900.......20........29.9 (0% until March 25) [b]

Total unsecured debts..........29455.....700.......-  [/b]

 

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,592

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,786

Available for debt repayments........... 806

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 700[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 106[/b]

 

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 201,500

Total HP & Secured debt................. -128,020

Total Unsecured debt.................... -29,455[b]

Net Assets.............................. 44,025[/b]

 

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

Hi
i have made some comments above in your soa. 

Have you checked the eligibility calculator to see if you can get a new balance transfer card to move all (or as much as possible) of the March 25 cards to? 

Thanks.

Gas and Electric: energy supplier recently upped this fuel fuel cost from £89 to £103. I'm in credit by about £70

Water: not on a meter

Mobile phone: contract ends in Feb next year

Internet: I have FTTP, contract runs until June 2026

Buildings & Contents: this is up in April, I'll look around.

Haircuts: I have long curly hair, so getting it cut always costs more than I'd like, ideally, and I try to go as little as I can.

Entertainment: I use Spotify daily, and Amazon Prime is a significant help when I'm ill and can't get out for things I need and/or have forgotten things (being AuDHD) and need them quickly.

Groceries: I have one disabled dog, and two small rescues, the meds are for allergy and arthritis treatment. I also have more regular bedding washes to do (so laundry costs/electric/water usage are impacted). I shop at Aldi as much as possible and rarely go out for food. I don't drink any alcohol, nor smoke.

Emergency fund: this is the concern for me, because every time I build a little up, it goes because I've had a car related issue, boiler service, vet bill etc

Fitness: this is a bulk package of classes I buy (so it's as cheap as possible) 

puffintail

gwynlas said:

Have you room for a lodger? It could b a Mon/Fri thing if there is a call for such in your area or perhaps a part time job evenings or weekends?

Unfortunately not

ManyWays

You are on the verge of not being able to pay the minimums, with no emergency fund and insufficient in the car maintenance pot, it is going to be hard to maintain that for years.This leaves no leeway to pay more for a consolidation loan to get a neat and tidy one payment a month.
If you can't get a new 0% in March, then any loan to cover the 0%s ending will cost you more a month than the current 0% minimums. At that point I think you need to opt for a DMP. You can do this yourself, and many people will say its better, or go to StepChange where you will get the simplicity of a single monthly payment and not having to talk to your creditors.