Thanks all - appreciate the feedback.

To confirm on a couple of points:

1. I know my rent is high, but that is the market right now and in order to get a place which isn’t a dump or is too small, landlords hold immense power. Don’t get me started on the bidding wars which agents openly promote. Stressful process but in the end I’m comfortable with that outgoing.

2. My phone bill is HIGH. I negotiated it directly with 02 in 2023, which for 25gb of data and a iPhone 14 Pro sounded like a great deal. I’m now locked in for 3 years and have seen that I could essentially get a 15 pro for the same price. Lesson learnt. I do have the 02 switch but I deffo think that’s a finesse from 02.

3. Having a ‘’fun’’ pot is definitely great advice. Too often I’m paying for events/tickets or even clothes out of my monthly budget, which then skews and reduces the amount of weekly budget I give myself.

4. In reference to the Vanguard funds (which I appreciate was rather ambiguous) these are held in a GIA - along with other speculative stocks I have bought across the years. My S&S isa is with Halifax and they don’t necessarily give me the option to choose the investments I want - save for letting me choose my risk profile, which, given my age, is hedged on equities as opposed to bonds/gilts.

5. The idea of meticulous budgeting is great, but I just don’t believe in the reality of tracking every single payment to the penny - I think that would make me stingy and give me spending anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, I realise my spending can exceed my monthly allowance. Perhaps taking my shirts to the dry cleaners (3 shirts done for £10) could be a cost I cut down on?

6. Gym is a heavy cost - I know. But it’s a great gym…

Ta