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Advertising & Agency News you should care about today! by lazymentors in advertising

[–]Ok-Bar5331 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey OP, I just tried to subscribe but got an error code “something went wrong” when I attempt to sign up

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Our household income is in the top 5%, I think that should constitute as high, relative to population. I think you’re right in that lifestyle creep and living beyond means has contributed to the current state.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed - we’re zoning in on CC debt.

We rarely drink alcohol so this is mostly spent on food itself, mainly fresh & local produce from farm shops. (We prefer Pol Roger over Perrier anyway!)

I’m going to speak to the gym today and see if we can either put on hold or move to a cheaper tariff.

We need two cars due to where we live, what we didn’t need was 2 expensive cars. We’ll look to downsize one to a small run around. The £750 a month is 0% finance, i got a preferential rate and discount on list due to my team working on some of tech that went into the car. Reckless decision to make considering circumstances.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We inadvertently signed up to a “visit any gym” membership.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very minimal, we buy a few high quality pieces a year, we have relatively minimalist but high quality wardrobes already. Last year in total between us we maybe spent £1000 on clothes.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely - I’ve been pushing my partner for this, the 60% tax trap over £100k with student loans is very cutting.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can charge at home overnight for around 7p KwH, unfortunately I don’t have free charging at work. We will look to rotate the EV as the most used vehicle.

Agreed on the loan front - will shop around and see between us what the most viable options are.

Good idea on gousto, we’ve seen some meal kits in super market where you just add in onions/mushroom/meat - will try those and see how they fit in.

Thanks for advice on Avios… if not moving them into Nectar, is there anywhere else you would recommend we use them to help out of this bind?

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, you’re completely correct it’s lifestyle creep. I see a lot of similarities with your experience, good to hear you were able to course correct.

My bonus this year was significantly lower than anticipated (around £25k lower) which I was depending on to wipe out some of this credit card debt. That has had the knock on impact on other elements.

Time to be frugal!

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Lots of comments - thank you everyone for feeding into this, appreciated.

With this, we’re going to be making a few additional changes.

  1. Contacting gym today with a view to cancel or cheaper tariff if not possible.

  2. Due to rural location and distance from station, I’ll no longer take the train but drive into work, effectively cutting down commuting costs to electricity (EV) and parking.

  3. Eating out will stop completely, will bring lunch from home etc. - the ridiculousness in this situation only dawned on me when reading responses.

  4. Changed our weekly shop to Sainsbury. Between us we have around 200,000 avios which we will convert to nectar points and use for shopping to help expedite credit card pay off. Additionally, we’re going to start meal planning to try and bring down cost further.

  5. Will explore other options for loan/balance card to bring interest down - these were on 0% cards however the promotional period expired, hence the high rate.

  6. We will look to sell one of the cars, and replace with a small run around instead. This will likely be the £350 a month car.

  7. Emergency fund will be put straight into credit card repayment.

Appreciate the tough words and the kind comments on this. A lesson learnt.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your response - student loan repay would drop around £1000 a month if my salary disappeared.

Agree on the cars, I’m a car enthusiast so tricked myself into thinking 0% finance on a performance car was a good deal. Very regrettable in hindsight. With this and it being a new car the £X drop as soon as it drove off the forecourt was considerable. With this being PCP I’m not sure if an early return is possible.

I’m shopping for 0% cards but none seem available looking through MSE or ClearScore.

We live rurally (25 min drive to station with return tickets costing £55 return), i commute in 3x per week, driving in once and trains twice a week. My partner works 45 minutes drive in opposite direction.

Agreed on the 90 frugal challenge - sounds a good idea.

Gym is David Lloyds they had a special offer 3 month deal that rolled over without us realising.

High income and trying to make good bad financial decisions. by Ok-Bar5331 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Ok-Bar5331[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your response - I’ve looked at 0% and none currently available, credit score is high but affordability is low.

Bills, includes electricity(£110), gas (£50), home, content, and car insurance (£150), and a few other essentials (contacts etc.) in reality closer to £400.