Step-by-Step Action Plan
Week 1 – Stabilise & Prioritise
List every single outgoing (subs, DDs, luxuries). Cancel or pause everything non-essential.
Mortgage & utilities first. Pay these before anything else — repossession/disconnection = game over.
Contact HMRC. Call and set up a Time to Pay plan immediately. HMRC are brutal if ignored, but reasonable if engaged.
Contact Amex collections. Offer a token payment (£1–50/m) until income resumes. Do not agree to unaffordable repayment plan.
Santander loan + card. Call, explain situation, ask for payment holiday or reduced arrangement until contract restarts.
Car PCP: Review voluntary termination options. £700/m is a bleed. If work doesn’t require this car specifically, plan to hand it back and downsize.
Week 2–4 – Cash Flow Protection
Utilities arrears (Gas/Electric, Sky, Mobile): Pay token or part payments to prevent escalation. Prioritise energy → they can disconnect; Sky/mobiles are low priority.
Food/living: Tighten but don’t starve the family. Shop smart (bulk staples, ditch brand names).
Track spending daily. Use a free budget tracker or even a notebook. No more “I never tracked.”
Talk to StepChange / National Debtline. Get advice on freezing interest on cards/loans. Having a plan on record can protect against creditor aggression.
End of Month 1 (when contract pay starts hitting)
Build buffer: First 1–2 pay cycles, stack a 2-month survival fund (mortgage + bills). This prevents falling back in if work halts again.
Clear arrears: Bring mortgage, utilities, and HMRC current. Stabilise priority debts.
Negotiate debts: With Amex/Santander, push to freeze interest. Pay a lump sum if possible to reduce balance.
Months 2–6 (debt strike-back phase)
Attack high-interest first: Amex (collections) → Santander card → Santander loan.
Snowball method: Once one debt is dead, roll freed-up payment onto the next.
Car decision: If not already, ditch PCP and redirect £700/m into debt destruction.
Lifestyle audit: Keep only essentials + things that directly support work/family stability.
Months 6–12 (reset phase)
HMRC fully current. Keep them on side.
Unsecured debt collapsing fast. With £8–8.5k take-home, you could kill £70k unsecured within 12–18 months if disciplined.
Mortgage remains priority low-cost debt. Keep paying as normal, maybe overpay once everything else is wiped.
Golden Rules
Prioritise: Mortgage → HMRC → utilities → secured car → unsecured debts last.
Token payments > ignoring. Creditors back off if you show willing, even if it’s £1.
Don’t borrow more. New debt just feeds the fire.
Cash reserve first, not last. Even £2–3k buffer changes the game.
Income is the nuke. Once money starts flowing, funnel it with military precision.
👉 Drop this into your rentry and it reads like a proper survival manual: “Stabilise → Protect → Strike Back → Reset.”