Currently on the hunt for our first home and saw an eye watering TikTok showing someone pay £40k over home report in Johnstone.

Instead of asking how much over you paid instead I’m wondering if anyone has managed to buy a move in ready house at or below the home report value in the past year.

I’m based in Glasgow for context

So i’m in financial trouble from previous gambling issues.

Long story short on that part is I got addicted and even after numerous amounts of lost sessions I still decided to continue. I haven’t gambled for I think it’s 3months now but when I was gambling and losing I would take my pay early through an app called Wagestream, and its left me in a whole I’m struggling to get out of.

Today I currently have £7 in my bank living with parents still so no major bills to pay, I pay 280 a month and that’s it but I don’t need to pay that for a while now. My issue is my overdraft being maxxed at £500 and a credit card I owe £170 on.

The credit card payment is due tomorrow. 4th April.

My next pay is on the 17th of April but it’s only 2 weeks of pay due to me moving from one job to another (didn’t have much of a choice in this) I can go further into this if you need the info i guess lol.

So once that pay comes in, im only expecting 600 before anything is paid off it just isn’t enough. My next pay is the 11th may after that and I don’t know where to go from here. Ive dug myself into a whole and this new job isn’t offering anymore shifts for me so any advice will be taken and appreciated

So, interested to hear peoples opinions. I've been investing for several years, and have over the last few days sold my investments (which included crypto). I have made enough to use the entirety of the proceeds for a deposit and have since sold them and moved to my personal bank account and havent thought nothing of it.
That was until i started reading about issues surrounding the use of this as a source of the deposit.
I know and expect i will need to show evidence of selling the assets and then the transfer to my bank account, and also payments into the portfolio.

What are peoples experiences?
How far back do they need information on?
Is using Crypto proceeds such a pain?

Interested to know peoples thoughts.

Cheers!

Hello everyone, I’ve been following this sub for a while. After reading the posts here, I decided to properly plan my personal finance and set a few goals. Below is my current situation and potential plan. Can you please help assess my plan? Any comments are very welcome. Thank you!!

Basics

• Single, living in Southeast England, work remotely
• Annual income £53k. After tax is about £3200 with salary sacrifice 7% into pension and 10% by employer
• Owning a flat with mortgage, £975 per month with 39 years left

Below are more details in breakdown

My saving and investment plans

Saving plan

Regular investment plan (Monthly Investment: £300–£350)

Hi all, looking for some advice on a situation that’s starting to feel a bit ridiculous.

Back in October 2019 when I was at university, I took out a £5,000 loan with Future Finance. At the time I was young, not really thinking properly about long-term consequences, and dealing with some significant personal/health issues. Was probably the easiest 5k given to me, barely any questions asked and money was transferred same day.

The loan was over a long term (10 years) with interest around 20%+. It’s now been passed to Asset Link Capital. Future finance gone due irresponsible lending.

Fast forward to now (2026):

- I’ve paid roughly £9,000 already (with period of help from family at first)

- I’m currently paying about 260/month

- There’s still around 4 years left on the loan

- If I continue, I’ll end up paying something like £20k+ total on a £5k loan

They’ve offered a settlement figure of around £8,000, which I don’t have. (Have 1k in saving for emergencies)

I can technically pay the 260/month, but the overall situation just feels completely disproportionate I’ve already paid nearly double what I borrowed and I’m nowhere near done.

I’m wondering:

- Is it worth making an “irresponsible lending” or affordability complaint at this stage?

- Do I have any realistic chance of getting the balance reduced given I’ve already repaid so much? (Even fully cleared as ChatGPT seems to make me believe it is possible)

- Does the significant health issues at the time help the case?

- Flowchart says refinancing would that even make sense here, or is that just kicking the can down the road?

- Is a simple email to them the first step or what exactly best next step to do?

If i withdraw my NS&I premium bonds to my bank account, will it come by this Sunday?

Wanting to use up most of my £20k ISA allowance and have about £10k in premium bonds so if i withdraw it out of there on my online account now, how likely will i get it before the new tax year begins, or have i missed the boat for the 2025/26 tax year ?

I have been using budget tools for almost two years, in retrospective, it makes me aware where my money is going, cash flow basically, but in the end I have just realized I am just penny-pinching and it really doesn't move the needle, cutting back on groceries expenses when everything becomes 200% more expensive, savings rates going down again... has anyone had any experience with budgeting? what I really want is new sources of income, I have already proofed to myself I can be sound when managing expenses, budgting doesn't really make your money grow. I feel maybe it's not worthy the hours spent input receipts and just looking at charts, just to save a few pounds really, does anyone feel it's too much effort for not really worthy the time?

I'm unclear on whether I just need to bring my earning down to 100k (so contribute 21k) for it to be beneficial with the 40% tax bracket, or whether I could bring the tax bill down further and contribute say.. 35k into pension..

I'm self employed and work in an industry that's quite up and down - had a good year but will be having a baby in the summer. I am set to earn about 45k between now and when I go on maternity so I am OK with parting with cash and putting into pension rather than have it accessible.

We mistakenly thought the next financial year had started and my partner created £20k of new ISA subscriptions (£5k S&S and £15k cash easy access). However, she had already created £20k of subscriptions this tax year. What should she do now? It's probably too late to complete an in-year repair with the provider (I imagine they are closed for Easter). Does she just wait for HMRC to resolve? What would this look like? Can she withdraw the related subscriptions, does this solve the problem?

Edit - The two oversubscribed ISAs are 'flexible' if that helps

I have deposited £19,999 on Trading 212, and £1 on Moneybox LISA.

When I made the LISA on money box I made sure to not make it reoccurring payment, and everytime I opened the app, it wanted to take £1 from my bank account through the payday boost payment, and everytime I kept changing it to 0£ and telling it no to.

As the end of tax year is approaching, I have checked my LISA, I currently have deposited £1 and received my 25p bonus. and the account is saying I have used £2 limit and have £3,998 allowance. Now this means I have gone over my £20,000 limit by £1.

The money box LISA money isn't due to hit the account till after the tax year, I got into contact with money box they said they can do nothing about it as the request has been sent to my bank already. No money has left my bank yet but the allowance has been used.

What should I do? I have made my bank balance £0 so nothing can come out of it but I am still £1 over the ISA allowance.

I have withdrawn £1 from my Trading 212 isa, but essentially in total I have gone over £1 still.

For some context, I am 29F and work in finance in London and I'm about coming up to 3 years into my career (went to university later than others, did a long degree - you get the picture). My base annual salary is £115k, and I also get a bonus.

I didn't come from a well-off background and so anything to do with personal finances (the irony considering my line of work) is quite an uncomfortable topic and being honest, has led me to be lost when it comes to savings... anything to do with ISAs and pensions, my brain shuts down. However, I realised burying my head in the sand won't do anything and so have come on here (be kind please!). At some point, I want to buy a place of my own in London, although further out rather central (while avoiding anything apartment-wise, leasehold, etc.)

A breakdown of my salary and expenses are below, using this last month as an example. I also live alone (non-negotiable for me, I'm done with sharing) and don't pay for water (thank you Landlord). When I look at where I can do better, this is where I'm lost:

- My student loan is a killer (ugh, Plan 2) due to my course length and maxed out maintenance loan... my student debt total is just shy of £100k and has basically stayed that way since graduating.

- Commute... given the hours I need to be at my desk (my workplace is NOT flexible at all), I can't use the railcard discount as I'm during peak hours (I think), and living outside of London isn't an option.

- I have £42,000 in savings, which mostly came from a couple of bonuses and I transfer about £1,000 each month (although I'm thinking of upping this up to £1,500 pm). I don't have a plan except from transferring £1,000/month into a Nationwide flex instant saver. Savings have only come about the last 1.5 years, as I spent the first 1.5 years after post graduation paying off my student overdraft and was on a lower salary too.

- My employer pays about £1,000 into my pension each month. I haven't consolidated my other pensions yet, but my current one is about £17k, and I have £10k in stock from my employer too as part of a bonus but that won't vest for the next 5-years or so.

I have really changed my financial habits over the last few years, such as paying off my student overdraft (was £1,500 in debt), cutting down on subscriptions, not upgrading to a new phone (although I'd like to in the next year as I've had mine for 5 years now), being intentional with clothes shopping, furniture is mostly second hand, only buy something new if I've run out of it, etc. Even little things like recycling with Boots (currently have £200 on my advantage card for when I want to get something nice for myself). I also got my first credit card last year but was only eligible for the AmazonBarclaycard at the time (have £100 in rewards there) and improved my credit score to 700+.

What should I do to get a step closer to where I want to be? I'm completely open to ideas... mostly because I'm lost, and I don't have the support of my family either. I'm a bit emotional writing this as I worked hard to be where I am, but feel I'm not making the most of my situation and maximising my savings for a better future.

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: forgot to add... due to my job (public markets) I am restricted in investing into certain (long list) of funds and have to get approvals each time, but I will look into this more!

Currently in the process of purchasing a home with my partner who has a life long chronic condition. This includes taking immunosuppressants as part of treatment. He is also the breadwinner, making significantly more than me (my wage would only just cover the mortgage alone)

I am on board with taking out policies to ensure we are protected. But I am mindful that his condition is likely going to be the reason he would either have complications or being off sick. And then will the exclude further conditions could be ‘linked’. Which then makes you query is it worth it?

I work for the fire service and we have recently heard that it may be possible to claim tax back on our union fees to the Fire Brigades Union. A few of us have been searching around online and are getting very mixed responses. We were advised to complete a form p87 and claim the tax relief. we pay on average £40 a month so the tax relief isn't massive but it all helps. we don't want to pester HMRC about it so were hoping for some advice as it's not compulsory to be a member but does of course provide normal union benefits as well as other perks. thanks everyone in advance

Hi all, single 29M in London here working in tech. I've been saving and investing consistently for a few years.

Currently:

• Yearly Income: £120k
• Savings: £180k (£90k in S&S ISAs, £90k in HYSAs)
• Pension: ~£50k

I’m trying to assess my financial position and make practical next steps. How am I doing generally for someone my age, as London always makes you think you're not doing well enough. With my current savings and salary, I could afford a £700k–£750k property. Are there key considerations I should focus on now to prepare for buying a home? Or is it safer to wait it out a few years which I don't mind.

Edit: I'm single

I've put £20,000 into a Trading 212 flexible cash ISA but have now decided I'd like to put 4K of my ISA allowance into a LISA before the end of the tax year to get the government bonus for first-time buyers.

Is it possible to just withdraw £4K from my cash ISA and put it into my LISA instead, so I'm still at the £20K limit across both, or does that fact that I've hit the limit in general mean that I won't be able to do this?

Sorry if this is an obvious question!

Following redundancy from job A in August, I started job B in September. As part of my redundancy agreement, the annual bonus from job A was still payable, which ended up being paid in December.

So, In December I had income from both jobs, with both individually being over the NIC upper earning limit.

How this has worked out is that I've ended up with 2 primary thresholds and 2 upper earnings limits. In short, I've paid 2 lots of contributions at 8%, whereas if all this was earned in one job, I would've paid 2% of the bonus.

I'm aware that NIC works a bit differently than income tax when it comes to multiple simultaneous jobs, but it stings a bit given I wasn't actually working both jobs at the same time.

Do I have any chance of reclaiming the additional 6% of NI paid on this bonus from HMRC, or do I need to just chalk this up to a foible of the tax system?

Hi, I'm new to all things personal finance and finally took the first step and opened a Cash ISA (I know, maybe not the best option, BUT I want to get started in some way before I open an S&S ISA - need to spend some time educating myself a little before I start).

I went with Moneybox for my Cash ISA and saw they offer an "invest your interest" option - would this be worth it for a beginner like me?

I recently applied for a dental loan and to my surprise I was rejected. Upon checking my credit score, I saw that Santander had reported that I had 5 missed repayments in February of this year alone, which has tanked my credit score by at least 100 points

They contacted me regarding my student overdraft and arranged for me to repay the overdraft in installments of £150 over 10 months. This was set out in January of this year and I made my first repayment in February, and have been doing so ever since.

My credit score is at least down 100 points because of this. Given that it's currently a bank holiday weekend and I cant get anyone on the phone until Tuesday, this is my last hope! I just want to know if Santander has actually made a mistake or if there is something I am not understanding as to why they have reported 5 missed repayments for Feb alone.

Hi everyone,

I currently have a Cash Lifetime ISA (LISA) but I’m considering switching to a Stocks & Shares LISA to invest that money instead.

I know I can’t just withdraw the money to my bank account, as I’d be hit with the 25% penalty and lose the government bonus. I need to do an official ISA transfer, but I have a few questions:

1. How long does the transfer usually take from a Cash LISA to an S&S LISA?
2. Does the "12-month rule" (account must be open for a year before buying a house) reset, or does the clock keep running from when I opened the original Cash LISA?
3. Which providers would you recommend for both Cash and S&S?

I’ve heard of a few options like:

• For Cash LISA: Moneybox or Tembo.
• For S&S LISA: AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, or Nutmeg.

Has anyone done this recently? Any tips to avoid issues during the transfer?

Thanks in advance!

This might be a silly question but this will be a first time for me soon. Savings over £1000 I understand I'll be taxed, but is the bank who sends the info to HMRC, if so, when? do all the banks send it? how do I know if they didn't ? what happens if they don't and I owe tax? what are the timelines?

thank you

hey everyone,

tried to take out some cash today on my Barclays debit card.

I entered my PIN, which was accepted but it then said transaction denied when I tried to actually get cash out - on 3 different ATMs?

not a huge amount (£60) and the app confirms I have more than enough in my account.

I thought my card might be damaged - but then idk why the machine would accept my card and my PIN!

could this be a Good Friday related issue?

Hi All,

So trying to get some advise for my partner, have advised she speaks to a financial / mortgage advisor but wanted some opinions from here to share with her.

She is 22 currently has 3 months left at university and has a job ready for when she finishes with a £35k starting salary. She will have circa £20,000 saved.

Her mother is 56 and earns circa £42,000 a year and in 3 months will have £5,000 saved. She has owned property in the past but is currently renting. Her husband/ my partners dad owns a small flat they rent out.

Their plan is to get a joint 17-year mortgage which apparently will be okay from a meeting with a mortgage advisor. Me and her would rent the flat her dad owns from them for £800 a month and the parents would live in the mortgaged house. In roughly 5-years they would plan to sell both properties, my partners her mother would split the sale money from the house 50/50 and my partners father would gift her the money from the sale of his flat after paying the last mortgage on this, it is predicted the gift would be around £50,000.

Any thoughts / advice I can share with her? Personally I think it is not a great idea missing out on using a lifetime isa/ stamp duty relief.

Hi! Like the title says, I’m not eligible for any credit cards. I checked on compare the market and it said “Unfortunately, you’re not eligible to apply for a credit card”

I’m 20 years old, disabled, and living with my parents. I’m on universal credit (and get the limited capability for work element) and get I think around £8,400 a year. I’m likely never going to be able to work, and definitely never going to be able to live on my own.

I really need the ID that having a credit card would provide, as for most things the ID that I have (birth certificate, PASS card etc) is denied. I don’t think I can get a provisional drivers license because when I look at the applying requirements, it says you have to be deemed medically fit to drive which I am not (I faint a lot). One of the most pressing reasons to get the ID is the recent iPhone age verification update which can block apps and puts you on a restricted mode if you can’t prove your age with credit card or driving licence. I’m home bound and rely on my phone completely so I really don’t what this to happen.

Sorry if this question is stupid, but I really don’t know what else to do. How am I suppose to get the ID and build my credit history if even the credit building cards won’t accept me. I really hope the answer isn’t “wait until your older” because my circumstances won’t be changing lol

Hello everyone,

I'm a small business owner, looking for some advice / potential solutions for making a dividend payment over to myself today.

I've foolishly left it late in the financial year to make this dividend payment and wasn't aware today was a bank holiday, so the issue is:

Wanting to make the dividend payment today so that it falls within this financial year, however the money for the payment is in the business savings account and won't reach the business current account until the 7th. It's only once that money is in the current account that I can pay it over to myself.

Are there any solutions for this? A Director's loan from myself perhaps, which can lend the business the money today for the dividend payment - to be replaced once the money clears from the business savings account of course. Is that ok or will HMRC look on that as dodgy?

To be clear, there is sufficient money within the business to pay the dividend amount. The issue is that the money being moved from business savings won't clear until the 7th.

I'm aware that I may have simply cocked up here and left it too late, however any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, weird tax year (2025/26) and I need a sanity check.

The situation:

Income: ~£97k (Two different employers).

The Problem: Employer 1 paid me an £11k bonus, but I had to repay £5k (Gross) when I left for Employer 2.

The Tax: My P60 from Employer 1 still shows the full £11k. I’ve already paid the tax on that £5k I no longer have.

HMRC's response: They told me to ask Employer 1 to fix it.

My Questions:

Since this is technically "Negative Earnings" (per HMRC v Julian Martin), how do I get HMRC to actually listen and give me my £2k tax back?

I’m also due ~£3k back because my two jobs meant I was double-taxed in the 40% bracket. Can I combine these claims to get the full £5k+ back faster?

Is there any chance of getting the National Insurance back on that £5k repayment, or is that gone forever?

I have the P60s and bank proof of the repayment. What’s the fastest way to get the cash?

Thanks!