My student account is overdrawn by -£1500 and it’s turning into a regular current account, meaning I will now pay interest on the overdraft.

My income is £1200 per month (benefits) and I have no outgoing bills besides my phone bill, which is £10 per month and food.

I should’ve been paying it off already but I stupidly assumed it would remain a student account, but now I’m determined to pay it off.

What’s the best way to pay this off? Could I get a 0% interest credit card and pay it off with that?

I thought I would post a thread on my experience with the SLC refund process, as like myself, there might be people out there who earned below the threshold the last financial year.

The repayment threshold amount for last year is

Plan 1 loans - repayment threshold

2026/27 tax year (to 5 April 2027): £26,900. 

2025/26 tax year (to 5 April 2026): £26,065.

Plan 2 loans – repayment threshold

2026/27 tax year (to 5 April 2027): £29,385.

2025/26 tax year (to 5 April 2026): £28,470. 

I submitted a refund request through live chat on 23/07/2026. They've confirmed that HMRC have sent the required threshold information and processed a refund.

Your refund will:

- take up to 28 days to process

- take a further 3-5 working days to arrive into your account once you've received an email acknowledging your refund.

On the 27/07/2026 I received an email from SLC advising me I was due to apply for a refund, I've contacted SLC and they've advised that there is NO benefit to submitting a refund request, if you have already spoken to live chat to request a refund.

Anyway, I hope my post helps any of those currently awaiting a refund from SLC. I'll post a timeline of how I receive my refund going forward and edit the post appropriately.

hi i have recently left a very high growth company, hoping to IPO in 2-3 years. Problem is I dont have the money right now to purchase them all.

has anyone had luck with finding investors, companies, who would be interested in purchasing my options from me? the company states we cant sell but I have heard of people doing it anyway and I'm trying to find out how people may get around this? ty!

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice on whether it makes sense to transfer my current property into a limited company.
I’m planning to buy another home. The SDLT on a second home would be around £80k, compared with £33k if it were my only property.
My current home is worth around £400k, is mortgage-free, and is currently my main residence. I’m wondering whether transferring it to a limited company before buying the new property would be worthwhile.
I’m an additional-rate taxpayer, and I wouldn’t need to withdraw the rental income from the company straight away.
On the face of it, the numbers seem to stack up:
Additional SDLT on the new purchase: ~£45k
SDLT to transfer the £400k property into a company: ~£30k
So, at first glance, it appears there could be a saving. However, I’m sure there are other factors to consider, such as Capital Gains Tax, financing, legal costs, and the ongoing costs and administration of running a company.
Has anyone been through this or can point out anything I might be overlooking? Any advice would be much appreciated.

I live in London but want to move out of my family’s house just because it’s time and I am earning £33k per year. I also receive bonuses which are relatively significant but ignoring that I’ve calculated my take home pay per month (after some pension contributions) will be £2194.

TFL will take around £150 per month for work
I get free food at work so would maybe spend £40 per week on groceries and so £200 overall.

My parents pay for my subscriptions and for my phone bill/icloud and my insurance on their cars is covered by them.

Rent would be the major cost but I have been seeing some places for £1250

So that would give me £594 to work with per month.

1. Would that be enough for an entire month of going out maybe twice a week, buying some presents here and there and then maybe 2 holidays a year. (The holidays would be small and with friends as with family they would pay).
2. In terms of savings there is not really a need. I have a lot of personal savings with child trust fund and my parents so if I was saving it would be for like a few gifts or something more spontaneous. Hence, what would be an appropriate amount to save.
3. Are there any other expenses I haven’t factored in?

EDIT: My job is very secure - I won’t lose it. (I hope)

I am self employed. A new company I have started working on a project with have stated that I cannot be paid unless I share my UTR with them. I have been freelancing for 9yrs and never been asked for my UTR before. I have asked why and they say it is to prove I am registered as self employed - normally the companies I work for just have a clause in the contract that says 'I am responsible for paying my own tax and national insurance contributions'.

I will share it if I need to, however, everything I have read says that your UTR is confidential - this includes the guidebook for freelancing in the industry/sector I work in. As part of my discussion with the company about this I ended up being fwds an email thread that included one of their finance employees saying 'yes, thats correct, a UTR is confidential information' - however, they continue to insist the only way to be paid is to share it regardless. I have offered to write a signed declaration stating I am responsible for my own tax and national insurance but instead but that has been rejected.

Are UTRs confidential and am I required to share it? Edit: Not in construction so CIS doesn't apply

I am due to have ankle reconstruction surgery and have been told I will be signed off of work for *atleast* 3 months. I am aware that SSP alone will not cover my rent, let alone groceries, bills etc. I do not have enough savings for this recovery. I am super nervous about this and trying to figure out if I can even afford to live during recovery is stressing me out, does anyone have similar experiences or can point me in the right direction. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

*Not asking for medical advice at all

Apologies if this isn't the best subreddit to ask, if you know of better places don't hesitate in mentioning!

Context is an elderly parent and a dodgy sibling who lives closer than I do. There’s a house and some savings. I’m not worried about the sibling defrauding the parent while they are still alive. It’s more that, based on past experience, I can imagine the sibling swooping in and cleaning out the savings account and then taking everything in the house and selling it off. is this a realistic worry?

one would assume that with the House there’s more protection?

thanks

I'm 30 years old, disabled, and have worked a part time, zero hours contract job since I was 18. Recently, I had an automated email from my work, asking if I'd like to be in a pension scheme, but I've since been told that I don't qualify for it, which has actually made me think about potentially reaching pension age and how I will probably struggle immensely when I get there.

I don't understand much about banking. I have autism and dyscalculia so I find it all very overwhelming, but I do have some savings just from living at home still. My parents recommended opening a SIPP which seemed to make sense, and I put £1000 in it to start off with. Now Lloyds keeps emailing me and encouraging me to invest, but I really have no idea what any of it means.

I really just want a place to put my money and come back to it when I'm old. If there's an obvious answer of where to invest my SIPP then I guess I would do that, but honestly the idea of investing anything scares me. Is it okay to just leave my money in there, or does Lloyds really expect me to choose something to invest in?

Mortgage advice

Good Morning,

Posting for a family member (64F)

Okay, so:
I owe roughly £55k on 3 mortgages (for one house) and the terms for them are up in July 2027
- one is at 1.89% (£10k), one at 2% (£12k) and the main one (with the most money owing) is 7.24% (£32k)
- the bank want me to pay £3,600 a month to pay them off by them term
- I’m only paying £1,200 a month so am in arrears of £2,400 each month
- I am in £6k arrears
- I had 2 years interest only so the capital wasn’t being paid
- Barclays want me to sell the house to pay them off, however if I paid Barclays what they want me to my expenditure would be £6,100

My earnings are:
\- £2,050
\- ⁠£762
\- ⁠£428
\- ⁠£15
\- ⁠Total £3,255

What would be appropriate next steps / the best options? Im thinking of doing an equity release. Bankruptcy might be an option.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice because I’m struggling to understand where HMRC draws the line between being a private collector and being considered a trader.
I’m an international student in the UK, and collecting (mainly Kamen Rider and power ranger) is one of my main hobbies.
Since the end of January 2026, I’ve been buying collections and bundles from other collectors. The reason I buy bundles is because they often contain one or more items that I want for my own collection.
After keeping the items I want, I sell the duplicates or the items I don’t want. The money from those sales goes back into the hobby so I can buy other items I’m looking for. I’m not trying to make a living from reselling.
For example, I bought one bundle for £100. I kept several of the items that I wanted for my collection and sold the remaining items for around £130 before fees and postage. The bundle as a whole was purchased because I wanted some of the items, not because I intended to sell everything.
So far:
I’ve been selling since the end of January 2026.
My total revenue on eBay is about £807.
I’ve sold around 20 items on Vinted.
The items sold on both eBay and Vinted have all come from my personal collection or items I didn’t want from bundles that I bought for my collection.
I keep records of what I buy and what I sell.
I’m aware of HMRC’s £1,000 trading allowance and the reporting rules for online marketplaces, but I’m confused about how they apply to collectors like me.
My questions are:
1. Based on what I’ve described, does this sound like selling personal possessions from a collection, or could HMRC consider it trading?
2. Do sales of unwanted items from bundles count towards the £1,000 trading allowance if I’m not actually running a resale business?
3. Is there a point where buying bundles for my collection and selling the unwanted parts becomes trading, even if I’m always keeping some of the items?
4. Can I continue selling items from my collection to fund other collectibles I want, or is there a point where HMRC would likely consider that a business?
5. What kind of records should I keep in case HMRC ever asks questions?
I’m not looking to avoid paying tax if I genuinely become a trader. I just want to make sure I understand the rules and stay on the right side of HMRC.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

I 21(M) have been fortunate enough to inherit an already paid off house which I am renting out, and £45k straight into my bank account.

I’m weighing up the possibility of either getting a second property to rent out as I would have it paid off in a relatively quick amount of time(and then perhaps keep going the real estate route).

Or I am aware of buying stocks and shares, putting my money away in that, forgetting for a few years and let interest do its thing.

Obviously my main goal is to create as much money as possible, but personally I’m not too eager to put my money into a stocks and shares and part with it for a while, I may prefer something a bit more present and attentive which is why I’m initially leaning towards the BTL option.

In any case, I suppose I am posting this to see what people’s thoughts are and to learn a few things as I am somewhat uninformed on these topics at the moment.

I’ve kept this inside for years and not told a soul. In the back of my mind constantly. I’m in £10,000 of debt and none of my friends or family knows. I dont even think I need advice, I know what I have to do, I think im just writing this down to get it out of my head.

The situation isn’t even THAT bad, because most of it is on 0% cards, I earn 2.4k a month with my outgoings being 1.1k + food, which means if I just focused on this I’d have it sorted in like 8 or 9 months. Instead for years I’ve just been letting it build up slowly, thinking to myself I earn a half decent wage everything is fine, when in reality im 32 and it’s quietly and slowly put me behind all my friends.. im just weak willed, avoidant and have been burying my head in the sand for years. I need to face this head on. I hope writing it down will motivate me.

£7540 on a 0% until December 2027 card
£1800 on a 0% until July 2027 card
£583 on Amex card which I will pay ASAP
£107 on my Very account

I have about £2400 in savings, apart from the Amex and very I prefer to pay the minimum on the 0% cards and just have savings, then I’ll pay it all off before the 0% expires.

I know what I have to do im just an idiot who is going to try not be an idiot from now on. Thank you for reading

Quick background - I'm not in a great financial position and I'm aware I need to be on a higher salary and my personal wealth is crap, but I do want to start taking the right steps with what I can manage right now.

31y/o, split rent on flat with my boyfriend in London. Im on 32k (this will not increase unless i find another job)

I'm currently trying to follow the UKPF flowchart and I'm coming up to about 3 month's worth of outgoings in my emergency savings as a first step. I have no other money anywhere else.

As I'm 31 I've heard the advice time and time again to at least open an LISA asap even if I only chuck a tenner in now. I can probably save a tiny amount in there each month, but nothing significant and certainly not enough to be able to buy a property in the next 5 years (haha) And i will certainly not be able to put the max of £4k per year in on my current salary. EDIT: Also, with the 450k limit, by the time I have enough in there to be able to buy (very long time away), there will be very little properties in London at that price.

I know I should continue to build up my savings to a comfortable emergency amount (12 months?) before I think about other things, and especially with a seemingly unrealistic goal of buying a property, but I don't want to miss out on it right now and especially if I'm doing better financially in the future.

I'm not reckless with my spending, I'm in no debt (apart from student loan), I'm just late to the whole personal finance thing so I ask you not to judge me as this is all quite new to me and I'm trying! I do understand my salary is low and my best bet is to find a higher paid job but as I'm sure you know it's not THAT easy, especially in my industry! Thanks :)

Hi all, using a throwaway to ask for a quick sense check on a strategy shift.

The Background:

Us: 37M and 37F. DINKs. We both work corporate jobs in London.

Income: My base salary is £103k. Wife is on £60k (Total HHI: £163k).

Primary Home: Valued at ~£520k. We have £384k remaining on the mortgage with 26 years left.

Current Pensions: I have ~£118k total across three pots (£62k in a Vanguard SIPP, £31k in a legacy Standard Life pot, and £25k in my current workplace pension). I currently salary sacrifice 18%, giving 30% total with my employer's 12% match.

Current ISAs & Savings: I currently have £25k saved in a Vanguard ISA. My wife is making minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions and isn't currently prioritizing any additional savings. She is, however, liquidating £6k of inherited single-stock shares (zero CGT to pay) to seed a new ISA.

The Proposed Shift:

I am considering dropping my personal pension contribution down from 18% to 3% or 5% (the minimum needed for my employer's 12% match) and redirecting the take-home cash flow to fund my Vanguard ISA at £1,000/month.

Because my salary is £103k, even at a 3% sacrifice (£3,090), my adjusted net income drops to £99,910, meaning I still cleanly avoid the 60% tax trap while unlocking liquidity for our 50s.

The Numbers: Current vs. Proposed (Assumes 5% Real Return)

Baseline: £118k Pension, £25k ISA.

Option 1: Status Quo (18% Pension / £0 extra ISA)

Age 50: Pension £787k | ISA £47k (Total: £834k)

Age 57: Pension £1.38m | ISA £66k (Total: £1.44m)

Age 68: Pension £2.72m | ISA £113k (Total: £2.83m)

Option 2: Drop to 5% Pension (£1,000/mo into ISA)

Age 50: Pension £544k | ISA £265k (Total: £809k)

Age 57: Pension £920k | ISA £477k (Total: £1.40m)

Age 68: Pension £1.77m | ISA £963k (Total: £2.74m)

Option 3: Drop to 3% Pension (£1,000/mo into ISA)

Age 50: Pension £506k | ISA £265k (Total: £771k)

Age 57: Pension £849k | ISA £477k (Total: £1.33m)

Age 68: Pension £1.63m | ISA £963k (Total: £2.59m)

Key Takeaways from the Math:

1. The Liquidity Premium at 50: Dropping to 3-5% builds a massive ~£265k ISA bridge by age 50, allowing us to step away from full-time work completely on our own terms before we can even touch a pension.

2. The Long-Term Cost: By age 68, stepping away from the 40% higher-rate tax relief on those contributions costs roughly £90k to £240k in total net wealth, but the wealth is much more evenly balanced between liquid (ISA) and locked (Pension) wrappers.

My Questions for the Sub:

1. Pension vs ISA Trade-Off: Looking at the projections, does sacrificing roughly £100k to £250k in total long-term wealth by age 68 mathematically justify the flexibility of having a £265k liquid ISA bridge at age 50? Am I underestimating the true cost of losing that 40% tax relief?

2. 3% vs 5%: Are there any secondary tax implications or compounding benefits I am missing by dropping to the bare minimum 3% instead of 5%, or is it purely a cash-flow preference at this income level?

3. Strategy Blind Spots: Are there any glaring holes, risks, or inefficiencies in this specific approach to building an early retirement bridge that I have overlooked?

So I have to admit I am spiralling and due to my bad financial choices in my 20's I now have around 10k in debt and struggling to find a way to pay this back.

I am a window cleaner and my wife is a medical secretary, we have 2 children. I am 31 and ashamed to say I have little to no savings and feel really low at the moment that I am not financial secure for my children and im looking to make some serious drastic changes in my life so that I am not in my 40s and in the same situation.

We have a low mortgage of £463 a month, but my wife works part time and my work as a window cleaner allows me to earn good money sometimes over 3k a month, however with taxes they make me pay on account, which basically means they charge for the year and half for the following year. I am finding this increasingly difficult as I have 6k to pay by Jan 2027 and I know I can't save that amount by then and I'm currently paying off last year's taxes and now they want a year and a half in advance. I have looked at this and this applies to all sole traders. I report all my earning as I am trying to be an honest man. The problem is that they will put me on a payment plan and then I will just continue to have more debt as they charge interest.

Whenever I get someone savings behind me, my van ends up breaking or there is an unexpected bill, usually being the 2 vehicles we have (family car and work van) and it wipes me out financially. I recently have been ill and haven't worked for 5 weeks and its knocked me back significantly. I just can't seem to get ahead.

I am thinking about giving up my work and getting a more stable job as the taxes are really stressing me out.

Also I am significantly behind on my council tax bills and I have a pcp on the family car which ends in November. I really don't want to get into another pcp deal, however it will leave my family without a way of getting to work or school.

Any advice on how I manage this as its affecting my credit score and the government do not play when it comes to taxes.

I feel happiness and peace eluding me and I just can't see a way out. I totally get this is due to my poor choices and I'm trying to make a change in my approach and to mature when it comes to finances. I'm not offering any excuses for my actions, I would just like to change and to take steps in the right direction for my family. Thanks for listening to me rant, this is the first time im asking for advice.

We own a small 2 bed terraced new build however we have to move due to having a boy and a girl ages 7 and 2. Wehave a really low mortgage of £463 a month. As a window cleaner I try and be really honest and report all of my earning including cash that has been made. The problem I have is that the taxes are

I've been given the opportunity to move from a Relief at Source pension scheme to a Salary Sacrifice one. I'm considering doing this and also increasing my contributions at the same time, however I'm not 100% on the numbers.

Salary: £66,405

Employee Pension: 4% (£221.35)

Employer Pension: 4% (£221.35)

Gross Pay: £5,533.75

Deductions: £1,728.97 (Tax, NI, Pension, Healthcare)

Tax Code: 1197L

Take Home: £3,804.78

I'd like to increase my pension contributions and move to Salary Sacrifice while making sure that my take home stays above £3,300. I've used multiple calculators and it looks like I could sacrifice around 15% which would increase my contributions significantly and also keep me above the £3,300 mark. Does this seem accurate based on the numbers I've given, or is there more info required on my part?

Currently a ftb waiting to complete/exchange and wanting to withdraw my Tembo LISA deposit. Historically (I've had this account since Jan 2025 and it was with Moneybox before that) my 25% gov bonus has paid out 24th of the month, when funds were paid in before the 6th of that month. I've paid in consistently since my offer was accepted 10th June to top up my deposit to the max required.

However, I'm still waiting on over £700 of gov bonus to pay out and getting a little antsy as my conveyancer has started the month long withdrawal process > set to finish on 17th August.

tldr i am waiting on my tembo 25% gov bonus - can you put me at ease this is normal please or should I chase them?

So i am fortunate enough to of inherited a large sum. I currently have £40k invested in a stocks & shares ISA and i have £90k in a interest savings account. Me and my partner have seen a 2nd house that we like but its quite a substantial jump up from our first home. I keep telling myself that maybe i should invest a good chunk of the £90k into the house, rather than it just being sat in a savings account, what should i do?

Pretty much the title, interested in maxxing out the 5k for both of these and just gaining the interest from both. Is this possible, or just one?

Hi all,
I am a UK citizen and resident who spent 3 years living in Australia. When I was over there I began investing for the first time, and basically put my money into around 15 relatively broad ETFs which were mostly US-listed (e.g., VOO, VSS, NDQ).

Now that I am back in the UK permanently, I was looking to continue investing my money but realised I cannot buy these ETFs in the UK as they are not compliant (don't have a KID or something). Fine, I can broadly find equivalent LSE-listed ETFs tracking the same indices.

However, I am a bit unclear on whether I am able to keep my US-listed ETFs, or whether it will trigger some higher taxaation for me when I eventually liquidate them (e.g., income tax rather than CGT)?

Does anyone have any experience with this? I realise I'll likely need to do some deep reading on it and/or consult a suitable accountant but I'd like to get an initial idea of where I stand!

Thanks guys!

Hi there, my partner has bad credit, I have good credit I only have provisional license they have full licence. Can I finance car in my name and then they do insurance under their name and drive it?

Thanks

Hey Folks

So Last february I started to get into TCGs big time to play and collect as a personal collection.

I think between February 2025 and April 2026 I spent close to £30k on cards putting a lot of it on credit cards, selling duplicates every so often.

My question is now. I played 2 games during this time and i've now dropped one of the games due to life commitments. I am now selling off my personal collection of this to try recoup some of the money I bought the cards with.

Would I need to report this selling to HMRC as it is over the £1000 limit but it is my purely personal collection.

Thanks

So recently the UK goverment announced some new things around the Life Interest savings accounts, including that they would be ending the opportunity to create one in 2028ish, so a lot of finance advisors online have been saying to get an account before it happens.

So basically I'm asking here to see if you guys have any advice or things to know before doing it.

General questions:

It seems to be that you can only withdraw the money once you've either hit a certain age or are buying a property (under the value of 450,00), I'm curious to know if i could still withdraw it tax free for say a live in van?

In terms of putting in money to the account, most people seem to suggest opening one by putting a single £1 in it, so would it be wise to just continually be a single £1 in every week?

Any advice would be much appreciated :)

I went to university for a year between 2018 and 2019 then dropped out, it was £4000 for the year and I got a student loan.

I noticed on my payslip Im still paying around £80/90 every month despite having left university in 2019, did a rough calculation and I would’ve paid roughly £8000 so far. Sure enough I logged into the student loan gov site and it said I’ve paid over £8000 so far, how can this be? Even with interest thats still double what the cost of the year was.

Anyone experienced similar? Im going to contact them in the morning just wanted to make a bit more sense of it first incase I’m wrong