DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

Hi all,

Just popping in to say that after years of hammering the credit card (especially at this time of year) I have just purchased my last pressie and of course, have not spent a penny on credit !! :T:T:T

The feeling is soooo strange yet brilliantly liberating - I hope that many more of us on here have managed to do the same without too much stress and worry.

For me, it has been relatively straight forward - started buying a few pressies a month from May onwards, didn't buy for any friends and their children (well disguised due to credit crunch!!) and have been a little more creative with family and DD. Hubby is getting the smallest token and he is doing the same with me. I have been shopping very carefully for things like computer games for nephews getting the lowest possible price on the net and extra treats like choccies and alcohol in the house have been trimmed right down.

This is going to sound very odd but I have actually enjoyed the challenge! In fact, turning down invites to xmas meals and drinks has been MUCH harder and I have given in a couple of times and set myself a tight budget by taking cash and not my debit card with me.

I keep thinking that in January when much of the country has a 'hangover' from how much money they have spent, I will have made another payment to CCCS and actually have less debt!

I really hope others on here feel as positive as me - I have been in a DMP for nearly a year and it has been tougher than I imagined sticking to budget. There have been some seriously depressing times - one month we ran out of food money and couldn't even buy toilet roll for the 3 days before being paid - kept bringing some home from work each night!! I hope in 5 years I can look back and laugh at that day and there will probably be some more like that to come...

BUT for those of you just starting out, you will soon settle down into the routine of it and just watch every penny!!

Tinkerbell12 x

Evening All

Tinkerbell, that's fantastic news and a very positive post - thank you! We need to see more positive posts, dont we. I'm hoping to feel proud come January time and maybe I can ease off beating myself with this big stick I seem to have found .

I have already started thinking about Christmas 2009 (previously unheard of in my world!) to the extent that I'm joining a tontine through work and I'm also giving mum money to put away out of my reach! I'm keeping all receipts from this month and I'm going to work out exactly what was spent (without credit I might add) so that I can realistically try to budget better for next year. So, that's positive, isnt it

Starlite, no apology necessary ... I appear to have a habit of rambling, so you can write as long a post as you like to make mine look tiny :rotfl:

Thank you for sharing your story so far. I wish I could give you a number but I think we have to wait for Rayday2 to do that, sorry, but stick around, you will get one. Well done on quoting the OFT harrassment rules, yes, you win :T .

Six months into ours and the only people who tend to call (automated of course) are HSBC ... so we just ignore the number when it comes up, simple! Even the kids know to ignore the 0800 number (I keep telling them its someone trying to sell insurance ooops! bad mummy!)

For anyone else just hovering about - feel free to pop in and say "hello". It is so much easier along this journey when we have each other's experiences to share along the way.

Sunshine x

hello Sunshine

many thanks for the welcome back and merry christmas and a lucky 2009 to all

i too havent spent on any of my credit cards since oct 2007 over a year and yes its been a bit tough ole year this year, it has also made me learn a lot of lessons for myself and the family

but next year i hope to be in a bit of a stronger mindset and also i appreciate in a funny way how things have had to be forced into the open debt wise

i hope somehow our dd has learnt a few very hard lessons too about life and such

since the credit crunch, ive been finding a lot about my rights and while ive tried to be honest and upfront with all my creditors, some of them have turned very very nasty towards me and that in inself and made me search out my rights to a point its changed my whole way of looking at the debt im in.

What im trying to say is do what you have to do for your own family and dont get hounded by creditors, get as much advise as you can and get the help you deserve to live your life as best as you can and get out of the debt trap as fast as you can.

If nothing else, i dont want credit ever again, ive not incurred any more since oct 07(only still charges on some creditors and my first default and termination which im going to challenge -) so that in itself is pleasing, i just need to resolve issues around the debt ive got and that is my plan for 2009.

keep positve and from my year of troubles, i believe im a much stronger person now then i was last christmas, im going to enjoy christmas at a chilled out rate and focus on my debts from 1.1.09 onwards.

Have fun and keep yourselves safe and warm and learn as much as you can along this mad journey of ours to become debt free.

Happy holidays to all

laters maz :beer:

hi.
i just wanted to wish everyone a belated merry xmas and an early happy new year as i dont get on here very often.
just received my cccs statement today and its still loads but not as much as last month so im happy.gone under 20 grand and soon under 19 so progress is being made.
candygirl.....dont worry about the letters, they just try everything to get more money ....but they get the message in the end.keep ploddin on.more ppl than every will be doin what we are doin cos of the credit crunch so i think they are realising that even court does scare ppl and they have to be thankful that they are getting any money at all.
if we all go b/rupt, they will get squat so any payments from cccs are a bonus.
besides most of them have gone to the government for money to tide them over so in a way,its our money that we are payin back, iykwim...and we shouldnt owe anything....if only!!!!:)
my neighbours have now got their karioke machine out and they have really good voices....NOT....
some things are sent to try us.
all the best,
love ilgd...and springer spaniels.xxxxxx

Hi All, haven't been on and posted in a while so thought would pop back and say hello! I hope everyone had a nice xmas and I wish you all in advance a very happy new year!!

I had a letter on xmas eve from a company called Eversheds, who Sainsbury's have sold my debt too. It wasn't a great way to start xmas and the letter was quite threatening but after a call to the cccs my mind was at rest again. They have assured me that they will be doing everything they can to avoid me receiving a ccj/going to court by sending them my budget sheets etc but am still slightly worried. Am just trying to do my research and keep on top of it all. I must admit after a day at work I really cannot be bothered to go through things etc so am greatful for this short break over xmas to make sure that I am on top of everything.

My first dmp payment is due to start in January and just waiting to see from there how I get on. i'm on a low start dmp so my review will be quite soon after but already from sorting out my tax code (something which the cccs pointed out to me) i can make bigger payments and literally wipe around 8-9 years off my dmp (original debt free date quoted 2027 ) so that is quite good news but my student loan is due to start coming out in april so i have to take that in to account also.

I know this sounds silly but all of this I guess I should be worried about and sometimes when I think about it too much I do feel worried but I honestly do not feel as worried as i used to feel when I was paying my own debts without the help of cccs though as I feel with their help and help from people on here i'm not alone.

I am looking at claiming back some charges in the new year. I am just waiting for the payments to start and then I will look into this. I know for a fact that some of my creditiors are adding on charges for 'late' and 'missed' payments so to speak where I have made my token ones- can i claim this back? I hope I can as the idea of doing my plan was to pay my debts off not accrew more!! jeeze!

Anyways one nice thing to end on and something that I noticed a few of you have put is the fact that I didn't put one xmas present on a credit card!! It felt so liberating and refreshing to know that in the new year I will not have added more to my debts. I too managed to shop around and get some good deals, and where i felt i may have been buying too much I just simply left and thought actually i don't really need it. Amazing how you feel when it is your money you're spending and not the plastic! I think I still need to get used to budgeting as at the moment i find i may be spending less on the shopping and more on petrol etc or vice versa but i think it's balancing out. I am sure thinking about what I buy now before I buy it!!

Anyways that's enough from me for the time being.

xx DD

p.s may I have a member number? I don't think i'm in the list above