My debt plan and payments

Spinney2 · 2 February 2017 at 4:19AM

Hi all,

I got myself into a quite large amount of debt from gambling. I never used to gamble at all until a friend of the family started inviting me out to the local amusements at the seaside. I used to play the 2p machines and win the toys, but over time I have gone from 2p bets to £20 bets on slots, both at the seaside and now online!

I had a period over Christmas where I was 'gambling' but because of the bank holiday my funds in my bank account stayed the same, and because my bets were quite large bets, £100 deposits turned into £1000 deposits within 30minutes.

Now I have come to realise why gambling is a bad and very expensive hobby. I've checked my bank statement including my loan that I took out to gamble with and in total I owe a lump sum of £14,225.

I've applied for a dmp with StepChange as I work full time and get approx £1200 after tax every month. They have stated it will take me 32 months to become debt clean. I'm using this diary as a guide to I can keep track of what I owe, and to who, what I am playing back per month to each creditor and to do a ''save pot'' which will be my leftover money at the end of each month.

Creditors owed:
Barclays: £5,116
Barclaycard: £420
Wonga loan: £590
Hitachi finance: £8100

spare money saved: £0

All of the above (apart from Barclays) include maximum interest rate after everything is paid off. After the 32 months I want to be debt free, and if I can save enough I might be able to make larger payments to each debt to ensure it's paid off even quicker.

Hopefully i can pickup extra hours at my main job, or ask for extra shifts at my second job to speed up this process, but last year I did massive overtime where before tax I earnt £18500 so hopefully if I can save enough extra money I can settle my debts within 18months. I'll be checking on this diary every week to read your inspirational stories of how to get debt free, and this will keep me motivated!

Wish me luck! 😬

Spinney2 · 28 February 2017 at 5:35AM

Ok so a month on and I've managed to not spend hardly any money so I was able to get through the whole month without spending more than I earnt. So throughout the whole of last month I did have to use my credit card alittle more meaning that number has risen, but luckily I am on the 30month interest free card which is kinda a life saver as long as I am paying back at least the minimum.

So as if one month into my scheme I now owe the following:

Hitachi loans: £7832 / £8100 (£268 paid)
Barclays: £5114 / £5114 untouched, they have frozen my account until I'm in a better situation as I was honest with them)
BarclayCard: £600 / £420 (more overdrawn but paying the minimum this month so I could completely pay off the wonga loan)
Wonga: £0 / 590 (completely paid off, 1 less debt)
Total debt left to pay: £13546 (£679 paid off this month)

I've left myself near enough penniless after only just being paid, but March's pay I'll be receiving an extra 1 x week of pay plus a bonus of about £170 which my aim is to completely pay off my barclaycard to balance 0 and grab essentials such as new shoes and clothes for work. I'm also going to be doing extra shifts at my second job to obtain about an additional £50 per shift! Which will then be in April. In March I'll be expecting to take home about £1500 after tax which is a better amount.

One of the challenges I'm going to be doing is the 'spend less than £3 a day on non essential items' and another which I am going to start myself is 'no spend challenge' which means I'll see how many days in a month I can go without spending a pennie, and try to beat the record on the following month (my aim is 15 days with no spend this month)

The only other habit I've got is I do smoke so approx £130 per month goes on cigarettes which I am trying to cut down on (originally I could smoke 12-15 a day, now I might smoke 8-10

)

Good luck to everyone trying to better themselves &#55357;&#56836;

Spinney2 · 26 March 2017 at 1:42AM

Right so i am going to be getting paid in 4 days and my debts now look like the following:

Hitachi Capital: £7831
Barclays: £4958
BarclayCard: £750.00
Wonga: £356
Lending Stream: £440
Lloyds: £56
Total:£14,391

I was paid on January 28th but by February 3rd when this post was made i already had no money to spend, So since making this post i have Received 1 payday in 55 days which is why the debt has increased. After this payday my debt's should look something like this:

Hitachi Capital: £7608
Barclays: £4958
BarclayCard: £730
Wonga: £0
Lending Stream: £0
LLoyds: £0

Total owing after payday: £13,296 (£1095 paid off, and £250 less than last months debts)

I'm recieving an extra weeks pay this paycheck so should after all my rent / debts are paid i should have around £200 left over, which im debating wether i should keep spare, since i need things like haircut and new work trousers / shoes. (Last month i left myself penniless after paying all the debts off, and i was silly to think that i could do the whole month with £40 for food and thats it, which was not far off, but all additonal costs went onto the credit card, hence the increase (which is 0% until Dec 2018)

I am finding it hard since no-one in my family is aware im in any debt at all and they do invite me out for meals ect, but my aim by april's pay is to have the Credit Card completely paid off so i can then concerntrate on the last 2 big debts, which would reduce my stress levels immensely.

One last thing, ive downloaded a webfilter program that has a password setting, this program helps me 'stop gambling' as it blocks all websites that uses words like slots / online / Casino, and the only way around this is to put in a 'appeal' in which the customer service team will rather 'approve my rights' or Deny. Things like facebook if they become blocked they will automatically be unblocked due to social media and not gambling).

If anyone is following my Diary, Please let me know and i can follow yours back, as the more support you get the better!

Here's to more Debt paid off! yay

mum2one · 26 March 2017 at 1:48AM

Just found your diary, sounds like u e taken j big step in the right direction.

Personally I would hold on to the £200 but put it up safe at home, or open a basic account and put the money in, so it's there, but not in the wallet xx

Spinney2 · 6 August 2017 at 4:46AM

It's been a while since I last posted, but I'm still here &#55357;&#56833;

So here's my current debt now:

Hitachi loans- £6800
Barclaycard - £1500
Wonga - £360
Moneyboat - £720
Lending stream - £800
Satsuma loans - £597

Totalling £10,777 now! ( nearly a drop of £4,000 since original post)

So that's where the good news stops. A few weeks ago I was made aware that my job was at risk of redundancy and since then we have been going through a consultation period. Obviously everyone was offered voulentary redundancy (and can still take this) if I wanted. The issue I have is I have been offered another job on Friday, but my last working day for current job is 22nd of September but on my new job they have given me a start date of 11th of September. I have asked my new job to see if they can push back my start date until 22nd of September so I can complete my redundancy from current job and receive my final payment (redundancy pay will be between 1.5-2.5 weeks for every year I have worked for the company - 9 years which means I could get between £4,050 and £6,750) which would obviously pay ALOT of my debt off, but I am yet to hear a response. I have also asked my current employer if I could use my accrued holiday on the last 2 weeks of my contract to start the new job whilst still being able to qualify for redundancy, they have also said no...&#55357;&#56862; I have questioned the holiday as I was also told that if I wasn't going through redundancy then I would be able to have them dates off as holiday. I'm just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation, and what I should do, advice would be appreciated.

redofromstart · 6 August 2017 at 7:14AM

Hi Spinney,

From memory, if they have issued you with written notice of redundancy they can't retract it, but they can refuse to move the date forward/release you early. Your best hope is for the new employer to agree a revised date. Its a good test of if you actually want to work for the new people while you are still at the 'wooing' stage - explain the circumstances, and see what they say. If they insist on now, imagine what they would be like if you had a crisis!

Sounds like you are doing really well on the income you have had available.

Spinney2 · 12 August 2017 at 8:58PM

Good news, I've been able to compromise with my new employer to start on the 25th September instead of the initial 11th September! Also my current employer has offered 1.5 weeks per year of service PLUS PILON and holiday pay included into my last wage slip. With this I should receive between £ 8,900 - £9400 payout of which approx £4,000 is not taxed (expected approx £1000 to be taxed)! This would basically pay off all my debts and I'll still have a new job to go to!
Exciting times, I'm considering paying for a intense driving course out of this money though, as I believe with driving under my belt I could get a even better paying job, but it would also help me later on in life! (I'll proberbly pay off all loans apart from the hitachi) which I do not mind paying monthly still (and it means I would of paid at least half of my debt off in 9 months) which with a dmp this would of taken 32 months apparently! Yesterday I paid off the wonga loan so that's no More!

Life's looking a lot better now that I have a clear head, and my new job would be Monday to Friday 9-5 basically!!

In September I want to attempt the no spend day challenge, where each month I try and beat the amount of NSDs I had taken the previous month .

Scott_Weiland_2 · 13 August 2017 at 12:46AM

How are you managing on the smoking front i saw an earlier post that said you were trying to cut down?

missymoo81 · 13 August 2017 at 2:22AM

Hey spinney, thought I'd pop in and say hi, well done on facing your previous gambling problem head on. You're doing great x

Spinney2 · 13 August 2017 at 5:50PM

Hey guys thanks for supporting me in my journey

Scott - i haven't been able to manage to quit or reduce really, as obviously with my job being stressful (redundancy), but I have not increased my amount either! One step at a time

Querying with my work wether it's going to be 8 or 9 years I'm entitled to, as it's such a Wierd timeframe. Does anyone know if they can terminate your contract on your last working day? Or is it the day after? As my redundancy would start on the 22nd September. Exactly 9 years after I started this all happened (not sure if I can fight this in my individual consultation either, but I'll give it a damn good try

)

Today was a NSD, my manager brought me a chocolate crunch for dessert tonight too!

Spinney2 · 17 August 2017 at 10:36PM

Current update on debts:

Hitachi Capital : £6,800
Barclaycard: £1,475
Wonga: £550
MoneyBoat : £600
Satsuma Loans : £597

Total : £10,022 (£4.2k drop since i started this post!)

I also have another £218 on me to last me until 30th August (It could last me until the end of september, but since ive been doing so good, i want to treat myself!!)

So end of August i should be able to pay off Wonga, and ill be making a payment of £124 to Money Boat, £58 to Satsuma Loans, and another £223 to Hitachi. I should be receiving abit more this month as i worked at my second job for 3 shifts last month, so thats an additional £120, and i should receive about £100 bonus from my main job, ontop of my months wages (Should receive about £1400 total from both jobs), so depending on circumstances at my main job (Redundancy), ill see if i can pay back more towards my Satsuma Loan.

If i work it out correctly, i should have abit to spend after i've paid all the bills

1. Wonga £550
2. Hitachi £224
3. Moneyboat £124
4. Satsuma £58
5. Contribution towards Rent £150
6. Phone bill £56

This should leave me with an extra £250ish pounds, in which im tempted to pay some off my credit card (£100-£200, depending on how much i actually take home!)

Total Debt paid off - £4204 !

My debt plan and payments

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