The month I could not pay and what happened

Started 25 February 2026 · 17 replies · 127 hearts · read 2.1k times

HettieLancaster, UK · 25 February 2026

5 months ago

Something I have been sitting with: The month I could not pay and what happened Not looking for advice so much as other people's experience.

Money post. No apologies, this circle is for it.

I have not asked about the cost side at any appointment because I was embarrassed, and I have now worked out that this was expensive.

What I cannot find anywhere is the criterion I am being assessed against, and I suspect that is the whole of my problem.

I have a deadline on this and I have wasted two weeks of it trying to find out who to write to.

No judgement wanted and none expected in this circle, which is why I am asking here.

ZoëHackney, UK

What I found is that the cheapest route was not the most reliable, and I paid slightly more for something that did not run out.

9me too 4

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia

Stepping in to note that an alternative arrangement exists in several systems and is rarely offered unprompted. Worth asking for by name.

KateBelfast, NI

Petra has already said most of this and I want to add the one part that was different for me.

The thing nobody mentions is the ancillary costs, which in my case added up to more over a year than I had allowed for.

GavinDundee, UK

I stopped for cost reasons once and I want to say plainly that stopping for money is a legitimate reason and not a failure.

NadirCasablanca, MA

Building on what Petra wrote rather than answering the original question.

I keep a small buffer specifically for this so that a bad month does not force a decision I would not otherwise make.

GwennoPwllheli, UK

What I would say is have the cost conversation. Mine produced two alternatives and neither had been mentioned unprompted.

7me too 9

MoBradford, UK

Something I got right was deciding in advance what I would do if the cost rose, so that I was not deciding it in a difficult week.

OttoPrague, CZ

Nadir said something I want to sit with for a second.

The pharmacy price varied more than I expected between places, and one phone call round three of them saved me a meaningful amount.

LlianCarmarthen, UK

Gwenno, thank you for that. It gives me somewhere to start from.

I would gently say that if cost is about to force you to stop, talk to your prescriber first. There were options in my case.

PeronelCanterbury, UK

#10

What helped was somebody here being completely frank about their own numbers, which gave me permission to look properly at mine.

6me too 4

IlyaAlmaty, KZ

#11

Just marking that I read this properly rather than skimming it.

HettieLancaster, UK

#12

My experience is that this got easier once I had a plan for a year rather than reacting month to month.

ZoëHackney, UK

#13

The thing I underestimated was how the cost affects the decision-making. I was reluctant to raise problems because of what a change might cost.

7me too 7

SaffHastings, UK

#14

Zoë — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

Something worth knowing: prices moved over two years and I only noticed because I was tracking. Worth checking occasionally.

KateBelfast, NI

#15

Something practical: I set up a separate account for it, which sounds excessive and means I always know where I stand.

PetraFacilitatorMelbourne, Australia

#16

I want to name that stopping, pausing and going more slowly for money reasons are ordinary decisions in this circle and have never been treated as failures of resolve.

NadirCasablanca, MA

#17

Petra has already said most of this and I want to add the one part that was different for me.

My review appointments cost money too, and building those into the annual figure changed my sense of the total considerably.