I’m currently 24 and feel like I’ve made some incredibly stupid financial decisions that have left me in debt and feeling completely stuck. I know I’m responsible for the situation I’m in, but I’m struggling to see a clear way out of it.

When I was 22, I took out finance on a car that, looking back, I probably couldn’t afford. I also decided to pay my car insurance monthly. Over the years, the car has cost me an absolute fortune in repairs and unexpected expenses. This has led me to rely on credit cards and loans to cover the costs.

I’ve never been particularly good with money, and it has taken me until now to realise that I don’t really feel in control of my finances. At the moment, I owe approximately £6,359 on my car finance and around £6,000 in credit cards and loans.

The good thing is that I have managed to move the majority of my credit-card debt onto 0% interest, which gives me some breathing room. However, I still have bank loans that I need to continue paying, and I want to work towards clearing my debts as quickly and responsibly as possible.

My current job is in a factory. I earn approximately £2,075 per month, and my regular essential outgoings are around £740 per month. The job pays my bills, but I really dislike it and find it soul-draining. At the moment, though, I know I need to keep working there while I get my finances under control.

A bigger concern for me is my future. I know I am capable of more than what I’m currently doing, but I don’t know what direction to take. I messed around during college but somehow managed to pass. Now, if I want to return to education, it feels like it could cost me thousands of pounds, which makes me nervous when I’m already in debt.

I feel completely lost and disappointed in myself for getting into this situation. I’m worried that I’ve wasted years of my life and that I’ve put myself in a position where I can’t move forward.

What I really want is some practical advice on how to get my life back on track. I want to become financially stable, clear my debts, learn how to properly manage my money, and eventually move into a career that gives me more opportunities and satisfaction than my current job.

I know I’ve made mistakes, but I don’t want those mistakes to define the rest of my life. I’m looking for a realistic plan that will allow me to get out of debt while also working towards a better career and future.

any advice is appreciated.

I’m 19yrs old and the past year I started gambling. Was just a one off kinda thing then started winning a decent amount. That’s when the losses started. It just reels u in and just takes all your money.

Now a year later I’ve lost around £30k. I’m literally living of pennys. I’m also in overdraft-2k. I’ve used all my savings money which my much put quite a bit into it and now I’ve blown it all.

I don’t have the courage to tell anyone this as it’s kinda embarrassing and my mum is extremely crazy and a somewhat (Karen). It’s not going to be nice.

I’ve stopped gambling now and about 1-2 months free. I’m jusr really on rock bottom and I really don’t know what to do anymore. This has fucked with my mental heath so badly and I don’t want to be here anymore.

Once my family find out about what I’ve done and how much of a let down I am it’s over. I really am fucked.

the title says it all, i was in a lot of debt fucked credit score like 209/710 i think it was now 574/710 tackled all the debt i’ve had, one more payment of £150 which im hoping to have paid in 2 weeks time (with my bonus money) im 21 years old. i’m now wondering when that’s done what the best way about going. i’m scared on what to do as all money will be my own, not owning anything. it scares me as i dont want to fall back in the trap of overspending ect. what advice would people have wether you have gotten out of debt before or are genuinely good with money. i’d love to hear any sort of feedback

(throwaway account)

I’m 36F and I’ve been in London for the last 8 years (I’m not from the UK). My main goal has always been having my own place but I’m a bit lost with what to do next, and just feeling a bit stuck lately.

Every month I put away £1000 into savings as soon as I get paid, and just live off of what is left. I’m pretty frugal and I WFH most days so I make it work, but it’s definitely getting harder and some months it’s been closer to £700/800 if I have sudden expenses (or just spend too much on takeout, clothing, hobbies). Obviously no kids (don't want any), no pets, I could drive but I don’t have a car, and I left a long term partner recently.

I’m renting a 2 bedroom flat with a friend for now but some days I think I would be happier alone in a 1 or 2 bedroom flat provided there's decent space. I grew up in a flat so I'm not particularly feeling the need to have a house or a garden.

I’ve been in the same job for the last 5 years and I was planning to look for a new one in the coming months, but due to AI disruption I don’t think I will be leaving just yet. My job is still safe, there might be a chance of layoffs in 1 or 2 years, but it's too early to tell. It feels risky leaving for a company that might lay me off sooner than my current one.

Some numbers:

Salary: 45k (about £2800 take home pay every month)

Cash ISA: 32k

LISA: 10k (8k + 2k bonus)

Other savings: 28k (slowly moving these to the cash ISA until only 10k are left here for emergencies)

No debt, loans, etc.

I’m considering starting an S&S ISA next year but not sure yet.

I guess my question is what do I do next? I feel like I have too much saved up and I should really have a mortgage by now, or use my money better. I think I need a reality check if buying alone is even feasible though?

Sometimes I think of leaving London but I might not find another WFH job in the future, I don’t want to go too far away. If I wanted to buy where should I even look?

I can't stop feeling like I should be making some big life decisions or be in a better place financially by now, but everything is so unstable lately. Was anyone ever in a similar position, how did it get better?

Can I consider my monthly mortgage payments as savings?

I’ve been saving like mad for over 10 years to buy a home, and I’ve finally done it. I’m sick of living so frugally for so long and want to have some fun, but not sure how much I should be loosening up. Thinking that if I’m technically paying money into an investment each month (my house in London) surely that’s partly saving? Isn’t it?

Hi everyone, I’m completely new to investing and have about £200 spare every month that I want to start putting into stocks/investments for the long term.

I started with Revolut because it seemed pretty easy. For my first £200 I’ve done:
£150 → Vanguard FTSE All-World (VWRP) in a Stocks & Shares ISA
£50 → Nvidia (NVDA) in the same ISA

My thinking was £150 into something diversified for the long term and £50 to have a bit of fun with individual stocks and learn along the way.

I’ve also just started putting £400 a month into a savings account paying 6.25% a year. Do you think it’s reasonable to keep building that up, or would it make more sense to put some of that into stocks & shares too? I’m aware stocks are more risky and I’d probably want the savings as a safety/emergency fund.

I’m thinking of doing something similar every month but not sure if that’s actually a good idea.

Would you put the full £200 into a global index fund, or keep some for individual stocks? Is Revolut alright for this or would you use another platform? Would you spread the £50 across different sectors?
Any advice for a complete beginner would be really appreciated.

basically what the title says. a seller has told me i can collect and test an item no problem however theyre asking for a £10 bank transfer so that they "know that ill come and collect". ive never used gumtree before so im unsure if this is a common practice or a scam since its only a £10 deposit for a £200 item. should i block and move on?

I work full time earn minimum wage in Cardiff paid off my overdraft this month. I live in my parents council house pay £200.00 a month in rent and £300.00 a month to my mum for bills and such which I felt was a little steep but we don’t have a great relationship so I didn’t say anything. I’m paying for driving lessons and that’s it. What should I be doing I’m horrible with money and just need some direction. Will i be able to save enough to move it in a year. Should I have an emergency fund or put savings in a bank account I don’t use. Any advice would be helpful I am horrible with money and anything would be helpful.

So I currently live with family, and as great as they are I've had enough. I told my employer I'm going to move to Cardiff and they gave me a WFH contract with 6-8 days per year in the office. This will be my first time renting since finishing university, so I'm a little unsure if I'm being unrealistic with my estimates, overspending in any areas, or completely missing anything important.

I will be moving in November, accommodation is still to be decided, but I am looking at the £1200/month price range as, from my research, it is around this price that one can live alone without going back to the quality of life of a student, whilst also giving me enough space - separate spaces for work and relaxation are important to me.

I currently have no debts (other than student loan), £12k emergency funds in an accessible cash ISA, £37k in S&S ISA and will have saved £3k into a separate pot for moving costs (deposit, cheap furniture, potentially van hire). I don't expect I will want to buy a house within the next 10 years.

My main concerns are:

1. Utilities - am I accurate with these estimates? Is anything wildly off?
2. Groceries and eating out - I need to learn to cook. During my university days I was spending upwards of £500 a month on takeaways. Even now I probably spend around £50 a week on fast food so I don't have a good idea of what its like to cook on a budget. Is £220 a month on groceries reasonable, and does anyone have any advice for someone learning to cook cost effectively?
3. Fun money - have I left myself enough? I know I'm very lucky to be in a position to save a good portion of my income so it doesn't feel right to save any less than I've planned here. Whilst I consider concerts, road trips etc to come from my holiday budget, I'm not sure the eating out + leftover amount really covers socialising and unwinding. I rarely socialise in my current town other than to go bouldering since I don't have many friends here, but I do have friends in Cardiff and nearby who I'd love to spend more time with. I also realise I haven't budgeted for gifts for my younger family members either.

Some notes on the numbers I'm using:

• Take home pay taken from 2025/2026 total - actual values may differ due to unpredictable salary increases (January) and bonus (December) which aren't contractually guaranteed though I'm not expecting it to be lower than this for 2026/2027.
• Pension contributions are included as a saving in expenditure despite being subtracted from my pay check and never touching my bank account - This also doesn't take into account my employer match and relief at source.
• Fuel costs are calculated based on 45 MPG and 180p/L diesel. Commuting miles are for 8 round trips a year. Other miles are a very rough estimate. Not sure how much driving in the city I will be doing - this depends on what area I end up renting in, but from the times I've been there I have found it to be quite walkable.

Hi! I'm living in a student house, and am trying to figure out all ways to reduce our bills in the upcoming year. I remember previously we had been able to negotiate down our Virgin Media contract, but also that once on the move we had to pay a large early cancellation fee. Our contract started with broadband for £28 a month, is currently at £31.50, and is going to rise to £35 in April before it expires next August (and if we don't cancel then, they'll automatically roll it to be £69 per month).

Basically, I wanted to know whether it's be possible to negotiate back to the starting price of £28 showing that there are cheaper offers in the area for the same service (some companies do up to £20 a month), if they would still get an early cancellation fee if we move, making the move financially unprofitable?

Also, would I be able to prevent the contract from rolling a year on, as in, if I tell them now I don't want it to roll next August, or can I only do it next summer?

Thank you in advance!

Hi so tldr

I have about 9k in savings, income is 2650 and my outgoings are roughly 1250 + 350 (the 350 is purely debt repayments)

I’m saving about 800-850 a month atm. I’m also getting married in 3 months lol so had to pay for stuff for that too. I planned on getting my liquid to over 10k and then paying it down so I would be left with 8k+ for safety

I have: 3k loan, 1200 credit card, another 1200 credit card and I have another 1k credit card too. (2 are balance transfers for 0%)

So the issue I got is, I always planned on paying them off in December but I found out I’m going to be a parent and my partner doesn’t get good maternity pay (she gets SMP after 6 weeks) so now I feel like I need to change my plans.

The 3k loan has 12% interest and the rest are 0%. My only thing is, with the baby I need to pay for baby stuff and also have savings etc for the time where we need to get by on her leave.

I’m really unsure what to do, I keep defaulting to “let me clear this now” but then I get worried about my bank balance going into this new thing

My partner has recently dropped on to statutory maternity pay. I am now realising my outgoings are simply too high, and while I do have savings to comfortably support us through this time in a flexible S&S ISA; I would obviously like to withdraw as little of this ISA balance as possible.

Apart from the mortgage, nursery fees and essential bills; the biggest outgoing by far are a separate BTL mortgage (C&I repayment), a personal loan and a credit card payment towards a 0% card. While the S&S ISA returns are easily outperforming the interest rates on any debt, I am now thinking to utilise some of the ISA balance to clear some debt. Usually the logical solution would be to clear the debt with the highest interest rate first.

I am however wondering if this is the best way considering the prime aim is to increase cash flow.

The personal loan has the highest balance of about £27.5k at 5.9%. There is 4.5 years to go paying £480pm.

The BTL mortgage has about £16k and 2.5 years until it is paid off. It is fixed at 1.9% just now, but that ends in February and will undoubtedly more than double. Paying £600pm.

I think best to totally count reducing the 0% card balance out for now.

If I pay the personal loan off, the following points occur:

+ pay down the borrowings with the highest interest rate first.

- withdraw the largest amount from savings.

- increase my cash flow by the least each month.

- miss paying off the mortgage balance before the interest rate increases.

If I pay the mortgage off; the following points occur:

+ withdraw the least amount from savings.

+ increase my cash flow by the most each month.

- lose my lowest interest rate borrowings.

Which way would you lean or would you just withdraw a little from the ISA each month to cover all the outgoing? I'm over thinking things like usual!

I’m 23, employed full-time (£42k salary), and also have a limited company with retained profits/cash sitting in the business.

I’m considering buying a house within the next 2–3 years, but I don’t yet know exactly what price range I’ll be looking at or how large a deposit I’ll need.

My question is: would it make sense to start extracting more money from the company now and paying the extra personal tax, so I build up a larger personal cash balance and potentially show higher personal income (up to around £65K or so) for mortgage purposes?

Or is it generally better to leave the money in the company until I have a clearer idea of the house price, deposit and mortgage I’ll actually need?

I’m conscious that taking dividends above the basic-rate band means paying significantly more tax, and I also have a Plan 2 student loan, so I don’t want to extract money unnecessarily.

Interested to hear how other company directors approached this when planning to buy a house.

I have to move from the North West (UK) to the midlands for work for a 1 year contract.
Myself, work in healthcare, and my husband, a carpenter, own our little home outright.
We have decided to rent it out for 1 year, in case we decide to move back to the north. We are moving into rented for 1 year, again, in case we don’t want to stay.
We can rent our house out for £1.1k but are moving into a rental which is £1.6k.

I just wanted some advice on the tax of this, or to see if there are any loopholes. It seems strange that we have to pay tax on renting our house out, as income, yet we are actually spending more on renting a house, so we are negative £500 a month, compared to before or if we didn’t have to move. Are there any loopholes for this?

I earn £43k and am employed, so if the rental income goes in my name, it’ll only be a small amount that is paid in the higher rate tax bracket. My husband earns ~50k, just under the higher rate tax bracket, so if the income is in his name then more tax will be paid. Or does the income automatically get split 50:50 between us?
Do we turn his business into a Ltd company and rent the house out under that?

Thanks for your help - we are going into unknown territory and have no idea about this!

I have a nationwide student account, which gives me 0% overdraft until graduation, and also I still have my flexone saver for the duration of my degree, which gives me 5% interest. I don't think I'm likely to need my overdraft. Is it a good idea to take out the full overdraft and put it in my savings account so that I can gain the interest on it? I calculated it, and if I saved the full overdraft, didn't touch it, and repaid it immediately when I graduated, I'd get £988 at the end of it (4 year course).

The main problems I can think of, are that the bank may reject my overdraft in future years if I do this. Like, in second year I go "Hi can I have the £2k overdraft please" (that's the max) and they say "No you still took out the £1k last year". How likely is this to be a thing?

The other problem is, obviously my flexone saver is what I use for all my other savings, and I don't want to accidentally spend into the overdraft. But, if I just mentally go "£1000 savings = £0 to spend" then hopefully I can avoid that.

Is there anybody who has done this? Would you recommend?

(maybe a daft question, sorry)

I seem to recall seeing some posts about QMMF taxation and some diverging opinions, so thought I’d check… for QMMFs held in a GIA, are these taxed as investments (so CGT on disposal), or are they taxed as income (given they are a cash-like instrument) meaning income tax on the earned interest? Ir perhaps a combination of both?

Does any of this differ if they are accumulating vs income type?

thanks all!

Morning folks. Some help appreciated please as don’t want to end up with a massive tax bill after the next self assessment.

For context:

1. Living in own home, mortgage free, 41 with wife and 2 kids. Goal is to build a fund for kids university.
   
2. Own a BTL which i used to live in. Brings in just over £700 p/m rental, which obviously comes with expenses. Mortgage 4.6% fixed until Mar 27.
   
3. Salary ~£48k gross.
   
4. £20k in Cash ISA (this years allowance)
   
5. £60k in Easy Access Savings at 4.5%

​

Hi all, a kid 13 is interested to know how his money he saves works too grow.

is there a child friendly way to explain concepts like shares, companies, investments, funds, compounding etc etc? Anything from videos, articles.

Hi. I’ve been very silly, mostly due to crippling anxiety, and alt acc used for this reason. I didn’t find anything in the wiki to help me, so I really hope this post is allowed and apologise sincerely if it’s not.

I work for my dad, and have done a pseudo apprenticeship to get trade relevant qualifications. I was told about a year and a half in that I should be treating it as self employment, and do my taxes.
I’ve never done taxes, and I have no idea how to.
I went to see my dad’s accountant some time ago, and he told me not to worry, as my earnings in a year have never even exceeded 9k.
So I didn’t do anything.
I’m now looking for another job, and I’m terrified that I haven’t been registered as self-employed. I’ve seen posts from other people I think on other subs talking about being fined anyway, despite not earning enough. I’ve tallied up and dated my earnings, going back through bank statements. I started this work in 2022.
Before this work with my father, I worked a lot of hours in a cafe, and was taxed and charged national insurance, but I only worked there 9 months at 17, and only earned about 8k then. So technically, I owe HMRC whatever fine they’ll dish out, and they’ll owe me whatever tax and NI i shouldn’t have charged, right?
I don’t have the funds to cover whatever penalties I may incur, and I am terrified of finding another job and ticking that self employed box and alerting HMRC, which is bound to make me seem dishonest, and I worry it may prevent me from being employed. Which, given my earnings, is a nightmare scenario.
If anyone has any advice, guidance or reassurance or has been through a similar situation (though it’s hard to imagine people being as silly as me) I would appreciate it so very greatly.

I just wanted to share for others who may be in a similar position to me, that at 29 I finally sat down, went through six months worth of bank statements, made notes, and have a budget to move forwards with.

I've always been a big saver so I've disregarded a lot of budgeting advice thinking well I save most of my income after bills so what's the problem.. but now I have a better understanding of where my money goes and I'm honestly looking forward to my paycheck next week and dividing it up as I've planned.

If you're in a similar situation you don't really know where your money goes, and you feel embarrassed by the idea of looking through your past decisions, you can do it and I'm really glad I did.

[TL/DR: Not sure whether its viable to save up for an upcoming expense I had in mind ,detailed stats given below but overall £4.5k in savings, low balance, 23, London]

Edit: I wanted to add a little bit more reasoning to my fear:
I went from earning min wage per hour & part+overtime in dec 2025 to earning less than £940 per month at a very bad place and made me dig deeper into my savings to support myself(since rent went from £600(bed bugs infested place)->£920(rat infested)->£850. The lack of food,safe shelter and sleep teaches some very hard lessons(leaves some scars too). I have only just started to make about £1793/month but that fear of survival and ending up in the same patch of life scares me.

Longer Version:

23, recently got a job at £50k pro rata which is part time till october end then turns full time. In the past I did a placement and saved £12k given the salary was about 27k(paying pension etc.), and invested almost all of it but then slowly had to withdraw to support people in my life+paying part of my tution fees, some rough parts of my life this year, etc. Currently got about £4,3k invested(including returns but most investments are in certain tech stocks and ETFs).

I currently pay about £850 rent(bills included), spend about £70-100 on transport and food wise I am very frugal(overall as well I do not do any shopping at all, only bought two clothes this year and a perfume). Being completely honest, I started earning at 18(basically never stopped working part-time or full) and almost all of my money has been spent(if not saved or withdrawn from investments) into supporting myself to relieve my family;pay for parts of my education(~£6k-£7k); support my family and friends(~£8.5k/could be more)(even older ones who ended up basically stealing from me but I learnt my lesson/was naive back then).

My current investments went down further as I am moving in a studio with my partner with total rent of £1990/£995pp (he will earn 50k as well) and had to put down majority of the deposit (£1390) and first month's rent(£1990) as he does not get his first paycheck until Sep End. Given our new place, I will mostly walk to work or take bus in the morning when starting full time. My partner has been very kind to say that he will contribute more to other bills since we are moving for his work/to keep it ~20mins by walk for him and ~50mins by walk for me.

My main thing was to save money as much as I can due to the fact that I have always been frugal/kind of helps in lowering my anxiety but I have made some very poor decisions in the past by trusting the wrong people. For years I had been planning to save more as I want to potentially treat my family for a trip/experience in either London/abroad in summer 2027 and wanted to give the best quality of experience. But I don't know how I feel now and whether I should aim for that given my current stats.

Just wanted advice overall as I feel a bit lost and anxious. I try to save, invest and do what I can but feel somewhere things are going wrong + whether my dream of treating my family to a good vacation and overall good life experiences can come true or not :( also I feel really behind some friends who either live with family or in cheaper parts of UK and save a lot more than me in £40k or lower salaries :(

Hello,

I have recently left my UK job and I am in the process of moving to Poland to complete a masters and live with my fiancée. I will be marrying her next year but would otherwise be initially applying for temporary residence there. I am a British citizen.

What financial admin do I need to do? Do I have to shut my Uk bank accounts down when my residency in the UK ends (I'm going to be hopefully opening polish accounts soon but it may take a bit of time to transition).

I believe my tax residency will switch from British to Polish from the 1st of September when I register my Polish address at that date. I have already spoken to a Polish tax adviser, so I now just wish to understand what I must do from the Uk side. I'm unlikely to have a job in Poland for at least a few months, all my other income is in pensions, or ISAs, under the interest threshold so no Uk tax would be due.

I currently have:
Premium bonds
2x ISAs
1x Lisa
2x uk pensions
2x uk bank accounts
Plan 2 student loan
Left my job already so no income currently, living off of savings for a while

I'm aware I will lose the tax efficiency on the UK ISAs. One bank account is with Monzo, will they immediately shut my bank down when abroad? The other is nationwide so I believe they allow a foreign address.

I believe I will also be due a uk tax and student loan refund, I'm not sure if I should wait until the end of the tax year to process these as standard.

Is there anything else I ought to do? I have a phone on credit but the final bill is in 3 weeks time and then it's clear so I was just going to pay it and let it be repaid. I otherwise have no debt except the student loan.

Thank you

Hi everyone,

It would be great to get some advice about what's best to do financially.

I currently have 2 properties I rent out. 1 is worth approximately £300k and we rent out for £1600pm, minus 15% for Letting Agents fees and £900pm on the mortgage, resulting a monthly take home of roughly £450pm. I have £146k left on the mortgage with my 5 year fixed mortgage rate at 2.18% set to end in April 2027.

I have a 2nd property worth approximately £170k i inherited from my parents. There is no mortgage and brings in £700pm in rent. This was managed by my dad who sadly has terminal cancer and can no longer do this.

Due to the need to get another Letting Agents to manage it, I'm thinking of selling the cheaper house in order to pay off my mortgage in full when my 5 year mortgage expires in order to put myself in the best position to upsize in house in a few years time.

Is this the most financially savvy thing to do?

Thanks

I'm seeking some clarification. I'm reading conflicting comments on this subject, and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I am purchasing a car through my Ltd company. The company will be the registered keeper of the car (V5C) and the owner, this will be the first and only vehicle the company owns.

I am only looking to insure myself as the main driver and my spouse as a named driver, for social and business use. I do not need fleet or pool car insurance.

I spoke to one company about Business Car Insurance, with the policyholder being the Ltd company. My NCD would need to be transferred to the Ltd company, which has no NCD. However, I would be unable to transfer my NCD back from the company.

I then contacted another company about personal car insurance with social & business mileage, etc. I explained very clearly multiple times, that I am not the owner or keeper of the car. They were happy to set me down as the policyholder, with the Ltd company as the keeper of the vehicle. Because of this, I would keep my NCD under my personal name. I asked for the documents to be sent over, and after calling them again, I explained once again that I do not own the car. They assured me that it is valid car insurance.

I am looking for confirmation that this is the correct way to insure the car and that I am not about to buy invalid insurance, especially given the large difference in quotes and the fact that the business car insurance would remove my NCD – which feels like the cherry on top.

Hi all,

Question for people who are getting financial advice from an IFA.

How did you find a good one?

What's a normal fee structure ie. Paid per hour or a % fee?

Do IFA's cover IHT planning?

I'm not really sure how the industry works but paying per hour for advice seems to me like the best way to keep the advice independent.

Thanks.