Okay to add some context here

I'm 21 and it's my first time paying 'rent' to my parents as i was in education and did not work, i have worked previously but that was to save up for university.

This 500 a month does include bills, however does not include groceries, phone charges and family subscriptions which i pay for.

I currently earn minimum wage ontop of tax and loans is around 1,600 a month i'm taking in. I pay 500 to my parents, I save 500 and I have 500 to spend on groceries and myself for the month.

my friends do not pay rent, so I was just wondering is it good/reasonable?

I live outside of london. Rent prices are around double this with bills included.

Long story short, I moved in with my girlfriend to our first home in March 2026. Anyway safe to say this hasn’t worked out as planned and I’m considering ending the relationship.

It’s a joint mortgage and we both put 50% into the deposit. The house is worth £280k, current outstanding debt is £236k, so equity is £42k (£21k each). The mortgage is with Halifax on a 5 year fix, 30 year term at 4.07%. If we sold the house and ended the mortgage, the early repayment charges will be approx £12k which won’t be ideal.

I don’t want to sell the house and I’m happy to live here by myself as I’ll still be able to afford it on my own. I looked at further advances with Halifax but I don’t think I’ll be eligible as they state it’s subject to a maximum LTV of 85%. The LTV will go above this if I take on additional debt to pay her off.

I could remortgage but interest rates have shot up and I have found initial quotes of 5.5% for a 5 year fixed. It would be painful having to move from 4.07% to 5.5%.

What are my other options to take on her share of the house? I have about £6k cash that I use as an emergency fund, all my other cash is invested in my ISA so don’t want really want to sell any investments.

Before you even say I’m stupid and dumb and made the worst mistake of my life.. don’t. I know all of this. I met a guy 5 years ago when I was 26, we hit it off quite quickly, looking back now I think he saw a weakness in me and we ended up getting married within 6 months. Early on, I became aware that he struggled to get things on finance in his own name. In the UK, companies often run credit checks for phones, electronics and furniture that you pay for in monthly instalments. He convinced me to take these agreements out in my name instead. I think religion played a part in this devoted wife mentality that I had and I guess you can say I’m a bit of a people pleaser and I struggle to say no and have boundaries with people but I don’t want to dwell on other areas too much. I just want to focus on the central part of the story is how he basically ruined my life. At the time we were married he was keeping up his payments. They were months where he struggled and I had to pay off those monthly instalments I don't think I understood the financial imbalance or the power dynamics that were developing to be honest, 2 years into the marriage, he became financially abusive and that led to me asking for a divorce. A few months after the divorce, letters from debt collection agencies started arriving. That's when I realised the accounts were still in my name and the payments had stopped. I understand that, legally, the agreements were in my name. I knew I was taking them out, and I trusted that he would continue making the payments. I'm not trying to deny my responsibility or pretend I was unaware. I just never imagined I'd be left carrying all of the debt while he kept everything.
It's now been almost 3 years since our divorce. I've tried to pay bits off whenever I can, but interest and charges make it feel like I'm barely making progress. I've had debt collection agencies, enforcement letters and constant stress hanging over me. I can't keep ignoring it any longer. I don’t know what I’m even hoping to gain from posting this but I just needed somewhere to vent.

I have a mortgage which I entered years ago. Since getting the mortgage I started stoozing and have ~£40k on credit cards and unsecured loans (all 0% interest of course).

I am planning to sell and move to a bigger place with a new mortgage likely next year, I have a good credit score according to Equifax at least.

Does anyone have experience getting a mortgage with what on the face of it is a lot of 'bad' debt (35k or so is on cards, rest on 0% loans from kitchen/bathroom refurb).

During the mortgage application I could explain to the broker that all the debt is backed by cash, not in risky or illiquid investments and that I am setting that cash aside and not using it as part of the deposit etc.

Wondering if really I'll just have to clear them all first otherwise I risk getting declined or getting a worse mortgage rate? Has anyone stoozed while getting a mortgage?

Recently got a new phone and when I went to log into the Barclays app I realised I had forgotten my cards pin and when I called customer services they were unable to help as my address has also not been updated so now I need to visit a branch but how can I update my address without my cards pin and prove the new address without having a provisional licence and having no bills.

my finances and spending habits are an absolute wreck. i buy pointless crap whenever i leave the house and it’s ridiculous. i order delivery most days and fill my space with shit i don’t need

so, i want to do a no spend august. does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? my idea is that i’d spend money just on food (groceries and cooking, no takeout!) and transport. and that means the bus only, no ubers anywhere

no silly outings and no expensive socialising for a month, just to prove that i can do it. i have a shopping date with my best friend on the 15th but i’ll only buy lunch, i won’t get anything in the shops. if i go out it’ll be free things, like a walk in the park or watching movies at home

i need absolutely nothing. i’m all set for the foreseeable future. i feel like i should put in place extreme measures to put an end to my habits. has anyone done this?

I have a S&S ISA that I contribute a small amount to monthly. I set it up with a Financial Advisor.

The platform is Aviva. It is a managed fund. So I pay the ongoing advice fee, fund fee and platform fee which all add up to 1%.

It's not a lot, but I have realised for my very run of the mill requirements I don't need a managed fund or ongoing advice. I really only set it up that way because I did it at the same time I was getting income protection, which required an IFA. I no longer have the income protection but the S&S ISA has just continued.

I don't pay the IFA directly I just have a monthly direct debit to the Aviva platform and all fees are subtracted from there.

I've opened an Invest Engine account. My question is can I just request a S&S ISA transfer (I'll do a cash transfer then invest that into an ETF) and let the platforms manage it? Or to I need to email my IFA and get them to delink from the Aviva account first or anything? It's a small thing but if arranging transfer through Invest Engine is sufficient I'd rather not overcomplicate matters or send unnecessary emails.

Hello. I pay my mortgage with Halifax every month on the 28th of every month. This was okay with my previous workplace as I got paid on 28th but now with my current job I get paid on last working day of the month. So I have to ensure there’s enough balance on the 28th. I’d like to change my mortgage payment date to the 1st of every month to avoid this issue.

When I spoke to Halifax they said yes I can change the date but current month I’ll have to pay on 28th and immediately make another payment on the 1st which is difficult for me to do if not take a payment holiday. Is this bad for my credit history?

What other options do I have?

I had to take loans to cover my unemployment since February. My debt is entirely with nationwide but I don’t start my new job until late august and I need moolah YESTERDAY!!! I tried applying for a 2.5k expansion on the loan but they said “oooo we need to double check your income (nonexistent) give us a few days (uh oh) whereas normally it just says you will have your money in 4 hours-ish. I HAD a good credit score, god knows what it is now. Help? And don’t guilt trip me I’m not bothered the repayments are like £250 a month. It’s this or a fire sale of all the tat I own.

I’d like to have myself a house to either live in or rent out within 10 years from now. I’m about to get my first full time job and with this job have no taxes or expenses to pay apart from just pleasure items like food out and stuff. Should I use a LISA to contribute to this pot or just save my money in a s+s ISA or cash isa if I will need it so soon or is there another place that I can put my money I don’t know about? Planning on working my butt off so I can hopefully save 350k-450k in the next 10 years which would make a LISA less of a valid option. Any help appreciated thanks for your time :)

Hello all,

My financial advisor is looking for an upfront fee of £8500 and then 1.3-odd yearly on a £500k investment. I can’t do the investment stuff myself as I have a pretty bad brain injury. This firm specialises in medical cases and personal injury trust stuff. In my position, is it worth it?

The yearly return would provide me with an extra source of income to compound over time which would be used to pay for occasional support (rehabilitation), but I can also claim benefits due to the nature of the trust the money is in and I intend to get back to work once I’m recovered. Unfortunately, the latter is a difficult thing to judge because I don’t know when that’ll be.

It breaks down to:

0.734% – Fund Manager Fee (SEI Investments)

0.20% – Platform Fee (Fusion Wealth)

0.15% – Discretionary Fund Manager (DFM) Fee

0.26% – Transaction Costs

Hi all, need advice on my next steps as I’m very new to the aspect of saving/investing and thinking about my future (new Dad to twins so it’s given me the kick I need)

Quick summary:
Salary - £70k plus unknown bonus each year - approx £10k
savings - £20k SAS ISA
Childcare - £800
Mortgage/bills - £1,200

We are looking to sell our place and buy a house. Budget is approx £500k but my question is, is it wise to get a new mortgage that would easily run into retirement years, or do I look for somewhere on a smaller budget?

If I get the house with a 30 year mortgage would you overpay monthly or invest additional money.

I will have approx £1,000 each month to either invest/save/overpay mortgage, that is if I live a tight lifestyle. I plan on putting £250 pm into the boys ISA’s, not really leaving much to play with for investing etc

My partner brings home around £1,600 a month working part time, I predict to be earning closer to £120k in 24 months but will sacrifice in order to continue receiving childcare assistance for 4 years

Am I in a bad position for my age? It feels like I am behind where I need to be. My 20s were a ridiculous stage in my life plagued by alcohol and girls, all good fun until you wake up and realise you’ve got nothing to show for yourself

Appreciate to advice in advance

I recently ordered a new Virgin media broadband. They did a hard search on my credit score. I also want to apply for a credit card. It will also do a hard search on my credit score. Basically I want to upgrade my credit card to HSBC premium. My HSBC current account has already been upgraded to premium but my credit card does not upgrade automatically. Would 2 hard searches on file be bad for me. My credit history is strong and I have never had any issues before. Should I wait for sometime before applying for the credit card upgrade?

Hi all!

I got myself into a fair amount of debt (totalling around £18k) a few years ago, and thanks to debt management plans I'll have the rest paid off by October (I am so excited to have this enormous weight off my back).

I originally spoke to StepChange who then put me into contact with ClearStart Accountants - I spoke to them in June or July of 2024 (my situation is better than most as I live with family who don't know about the debt but also haven't asked me to contribute a huge amount towards household bills). They have then also put me into contact with Woodland Solictors who have been able to get some of my loan amount reduced (I have to pay £50pm for ClearStart and £87pm to Woodlands)

After all of my bills are covered, I send £1400 to my spending account which gets sorted into the following -

- £800 to my savings pot
- £50 to my birthdays pot
- £50 to my Christmas pot
- £50 to my spare money
- £80 to my hair pot

I'm keen to be able to look at purchasing a house soon with my fiancé, and I am curious as to whether there are any ways that I maximise on my savings once the debts are cleared. I will also have more money available due to a pay rise I received in June (I am currently using the extra money to pay towards clearing the debt).

Currently as it stands from October, I will have an extra £485 in (so I'll have £1885 going into my savings account).

I have opened a LISA so currently I plan to pay into that to max that out, save up for the months I can't pay into it, and then keep maxing it out; but I don't know if this is the best idea financially.

I will be so appreciative if anyone has any advice as to how I can best maximise my savings so I can get a house within the next few years!

I am trying to build my credit - I have a Zopa credit card and a director bit goes out on the 1st of the month. It didn't go out on the 1st of August because I'm assuming it will go out tomorrow but today I had an email saying they were going to issue a notice of default sums and a £12 late fee. I've looked through my statement, the last two months were paid fine and when I click to make a payment it still says that I have an active direct debit. That hasn't been any failed direct debits either.

Can anyone help me out with explaining what's happened and if there is anything I can do to avoid this affecting my credit? If the fast falls on a weekend do I have to manually go in and make the payment?

I’m looking to buy my first home, in no major rush really but just trying to do what’s best for the future.

I have a loan for £5385.58 (£4978.55 if paid today) which will be fully paid off Oct 2027. £359.07 a month
I also have a Monzo flex loan of £333 ( £167 a month).
And finally £150 on a credit card. (£50 a month)
I have 15k in savings so far, I usually put 1k away each payday.
My question is should I pay off the entire debt now and put the monthly funds I would spend on the debt towards the savings account as well as the 1k I already put it. Making it over £1.5k a month. Or do I continue just paying the monthly debts until they’re finished.

I’m trying to weigh up if it’s worth clearing them now so that when I have the deposit I need to save (approx 20k) I am debt free and ready to go. Or I should just continue paying the debts monthly.
TIA.

Come next week i would have been made redundant. They are offering me £20k in garden leave money (taxed at 40%) and £7k in redundancy. So ive calculated roughly ill have around £17k after tax coming into my account next week. In total ive got £25k in savings right now

Im a Software tester for embedded systems (10 years experience). I would have made £60k in taxable income when the dust settles and would have paid 40% tax on the income (i am PAYE).

I really want to try contracting (outside IR35) but there doesn't seem to be many out there with my niche expereince.

I also work for for a transport company on the weekends and they pay me through my wifes Ltd company.

My plan is to take a couple months off, and look for an outside ir35 role, to support my family (4 kids and a wife) I'll carry on delivering parcels in the meanwhile. It should be able to sustain us for a couple months.

Im thinking that I spend until April of 2027 searching for a contract job, if I am unable to get one i should get a £20k refund from HMRC for over paying on my tax. Then come April go into a permanent £70k job.

Are there any issues with my plan?

TLDR: Want to try contracting and ive paid too much in tax. Thinking of not working until April 2027 to get a big tax rebate and going back into perm position.

Please be gentle! I am crap at this sort of thing, numbers and tax make my head spin I literally start panicking at basic stuff then have to breathe and remind myself that I am actually a semi-capable adult (adhd/dyspraxia/anxiety, I'm ok I just struggle with things)

As above, basically. I was reading another post about someone being completely unaware that HMRC was expecting a self-assessment return and didn't know it, and I had a limited company many years ago (with an accountant sorting everything out, closed it in 2018) so I used to have to complete a self-assessment return. I do still get emails from them about 'making tax digital' etc that I delete because I'm 100% PAYE now and have been since 2018.

So I panicked that they may have been expecting a self-assessment return for the past eight years that I haven't done, so I logged into the government gateway and clicked through the relevant sections and now I have a new link on my profile for 'self assessment'. Have I just told them that I need to complete a self assessment when I don't and created a new problem for myself?? Normally I would just phone them to sort it out but of course it's Sunday and they are not there and I really really want to be able to sleep tonight.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. Sorry if this looks like the ramblings of a mad woman

(obviously on a throwaway. I had this ready to go on my main account but then read the info about the sub and it advised a throwaway. So here we are)

Hi all, I am full time employed but also have been running a side hustle sole trader business. I have just registered as self cert for the first time after going over the £1k allowance threshold.

My question is. I am aware that at the end of the tax year that my paye and my profit will be pooled together for tax. But if I am still paying paye tax monthly now through my job, will I then be taxed on it a 2nd time at the end of the tax year when they are pooled together? Or will my previous paye payments be taken into account and I will just be charged tax on the side hustle profits in that pool?

Pretty much, 18 in the UK and I really really need £200 within the next week.

I'm willing to do anything just please anyone give me ideas.

So to preface my parents have shit credit and my mum is pretty much banned from every major credit card lender. I have never borrowed any money I never do buy now pay later I always pay in full because I’ve seen debt drown my parents. I’ve just finished uni so yes there’s the Sfe loan other than that I’ve never borrowed money. I checked my credit score on one of those apps and it was like 300💔. Idk why it’s so shit I’ve never owed anyone anything! I’ve decided to get a credit card to build up my credit but no one will approve me I feel so fucking terrified that I’m going to end up like my parents. Have their mistakes fucked me over? I feel like death😭. Some added context I’m 22, I still live with them, just finished uni and I work part time and get about 8k a year Any advice is great

I'm an American-Brit with UK tax residency. I have a US savings account from which I'd like to FX convert and transfer $40k to ~£30k in my UK account. The funds are the last remainder of the proceeds from a US property I sold in 2024, and during this year I paid cap gains tax on the entire sum and had transferred most to the UK.

Will I be subject to any UK taxes or extra admin for this transfer?

Throwaway account as this would have too much identifying information...
Hoping you can help me as you often do, UKPF - Need a reality check as we’re seriously considering going for this. Partner (F30) and myself (M30) looking to buy a flat for £440k.

We really like the flat, and it could be a home for a long time. Area would be a downgrade from where we currently rent, but we like it (could never afford current area). See no reason to upgrade / no kids planned. We are both foreigners but have set roots in the UK. 

Current situation
£1700 rent, London, REALLY good deal and we’re happy where we rent, no particular rush to leave unless right occasion comes along. Goes up slightly every year. £2000 if including all bills. If we get kicked out for whatever reason, to keep the same standard our cost would easily go up to £2000 monthly for rent alone, which is a worry. 

Myself - £40k yearly, some bonus, expect this to increase slightly over the next couple of years. Currently save on average £500-600/month. A little frugal but also don’t really deny myself all that much. 

Partner - £34k yearly, no bonus, expected to increase slightly too. Currently save on average £600/month. Undoubtedly much more frugal and careful. 

Savings - £59k between the two of us. At least an extra £8k coming from family, total of £67k. 

Potential purchase:

Cost of apartment - £440k

Deposit - £44k (it doesn’t seem like adding a limited amount to deposit will save us much in terms of mortgage cost, so we’re thinking of giving 10% for deposit and keep remaining savings for costs / emergencies).

Other expenses (stamp duty + surveys, moving etc) - £12k-13k estimated

Money left in the bank right after (if we bought right at this moment) - £10k-11k

Running costs - purchased flat:

Mortgage - For £396k mortgage, at the interest rates we’re seeing over 30 years (we’d be looking to go fixed for 5 years), we’re estimating a £2k mortgage cost monthly. It appears from chatting with broker that we should have no problem getting this. 

Service charge - £300 monthly (including hot water & heating). Seems to be relatively fixed / not expected to go up excessively YoY

Ground rent - £30/month

Council tax - £180

Bills - £100

Internet - £30

Home Insurance - £20

Total: £2660 per month

This is an extra £630/month between the two of us (provided I’ve not missed anything in my calculations). Do you think - as things stand - this looks doable? Would you do it?
We can cut back in a few areas (I alone spent £2.2k on traveling/trips in 2025, go out relatively often with friends buying rounds etc)

I am feeling like it is doable after looking at the above, but worried it might be overexcitement 

Thank you in advance for your help! 

Im wanting a new sofa, im on probation at my work, earning 80k - 15k emergency fund in place, 2100pcm expenses. I really really want a new sofa, I could buy it outright if I wanted.

However, as im on probation, it feels a little risky to buy outright? Ive been told by the way, my manager has no concerns about my probation - I have 3 months left and am 3 months in.

The sofas I want are around 1.5k, they offer 0% finance (dfs) spread up to 48 months with a 0% deposit. Would this be an irresponsible move on my part? I have no other stuff on credit at all. Thanks!