DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

cheffy1 · 26 March 2016 at 4:15PM

Hi all

Just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you January2015 and puzzcat, and to everybody on this thread for the help and advice given.

I was given advice on letters to write to Halifax regarding the interest they have been adding to my account.

I've just had a call from an "account manager" about my complaint, and they have agreed to default my account, and back date the default to May 2015.

They have also agreed to stop interest charges, and to refund £2630.03 of interest added.

Although I've got a very long time left on my DMP, I'm starting to feel like there will be a light at the end of the tunnel!

Growurown · 26 March 2016 at 6:47PM

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

I hope you all don't mind me asking but what amount do you normally allow for your budget each week? I have bus fare, school dinner money, petrol and groceries to get each week so I was wondering what people feel is a manageable amount to budget for on a weekly basis. Our DMP review is due in a couple of months so wondering if I need to allow more wiggle room in the budget to give us a little more each week as we do often struggle to keep within budget meaning we end up in difficulty the final week before payday

Thanks in advance.

BDFSH x

Hi BDFSH, difficult to answer really as everyone has different outgoings. If you are struggling on your budget then yes I would up it to give yourself more wiggle room. I found the amounts given by Stepchange for food for example difficult to stick to. The amount for car repairs went nowhere near to what our cars cost us:eek:

Some DMPers like the fabulous Mrs TTFTM were very good at sticking to a strict budget. I knew it wouldn't work for us, OH hates not having money to spend, so I claimed for everything I possibly could, like lunches at work and dry cleaning. Yes it extended my DFD but it made life bearable and as most of my creditors stopped charges and interest it didn't really matter whether it took a little longer to pay them back. It wasn't going to cost me any more in the long run.

January2015 · 26 March 2016 at 8:08PM

cheffy1 wrote: »

Hi all

Just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you January2015 and puzzcat, and to everybody on this thread for the help and advice given.

I was given advice on letters to write to Halifax regarding the interest they have been adding to my account.

I've just had a call from an "account manager" about my complaint, and they have agreed to default my account, and back date the default to May 2015.

They have also agreed to stop interest charges, and to refund £2630.03 of interest added.

Although I've got a very long time left on my DMP, I'm starting to feel like there will be a light at the end of the tunnel!

Way to go :j

See - just because we are in debt it does not mean we have no rights and have to live in fear of our creditors. Well done for standing up for yourself and fighting back :T

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere · 27 March 2016 at 1:40PM

Growurown wrote: »

Hi BDFSH, difficult to answer really as everyone has different outgoings. If you are struggling on your budget then yes I would up it to give yourself more wiggle room. I found the amounts given by Stepchange for food for example difficult to stick to. The amount for car repairs went nowhere near to what our cars cost us:eek:

Some DMPers like the fabulous Mrs TTFTM were very good at sticking to a strict budget. I knew it wouldn't work for us, OH hates not having money to spend, so I claimed for everything I possibly could, like lunches at work and dry cleaning. Yes it extended my DFD but it made life bearable and as most of my creditors stopped charges and interest it didn't really matter whether it took a little longer to pay them back. It wasn't going to cost me any more in the long run.

Thanks Growurown

I think I may just try to drop the DMP payment just a little when the review is due - it would just make things a bit easier, especially in that final week before payday!! We are pretty strict at budgeting for the essentials - it's just when unexpected things crop up like school trips or friends' birthdays, Easter eggs (!) etc. I guess I need to make sure I budget for those too.

Is there any way I can find out on the SC website what figures I put in on my last review?? Foolishly I didn't think to save that info anywhere! :eek:

BDFSH x

MitziB · 27 March 2016 at 4:11PM

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

Thanks Growurown

I think I may just try to drop the DMP payment just a little when the review is due - it would just make things a bit easier, especially in that final week before payday!! We are pretty strict at budgeting for the essentials - it's just when unexpected things crop up like school trips or friends' birthdays, Easter eggs (!) etc. I guess I need to make sure I budget for those too.

Is there any way I can find out on the SC website what figures I put in on my last review?? Foolishly I didn't think to save that info anywhere! :eek:

BDFSH x

There is a way you can access your last budget but I can't recall how:o. Maybe there's an option to click on My Budget, I seem to remember something like that. Sorry, am in a rush or would go and check for you.

Just wanted to say when I did my last budget review (on the phone instead of online) the person I spoke to was surprised I was leaving some of my amounts the same instead of putting them up. She asked if I want to claim more for such as insurances and council tax as they had both gone up for lots of people recently. Worth claiming more in those catagories if you want a bit of wiggle room, even if yours hasn't actually gone up;) and that would make your SC monthly payment a bit less.

Puzzcat · 27 March 2016 at 4:38PM

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

Thanks Growurown

I think I may just try to drop the DMP payment just a little when the review is due - it would just make things a bit easier, especially in that final week before payday!! We are pretty strict at budgeting for the essentials - it's just when unexpected things crop up like school trips or friends' birthdays, Easter eggs (!) etc. I guess I need to make sure I budget for those too.

Is there any way I can find out on the SC website what figures I put in on my last review?? Foolishly I didn't think to save that info anywhere! :eek:

BDFSH x

Hi,

You can see what you set previously by clicking on my budget on the left hand side and use the arrows to open up each section. You can also do your review online at any time, I didn't wait for annual reviews just changed it whenever I wanted to. Although I only ever went up in payments not down so not sure if it is different then.

Puzz. x

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere · 27 March 2016 at 5:54PM

MitziB wrote: »

There is a way you can access your last budget but I can't recall how:o. Maybe there's an option to click on My Budget, I seem to remember something like that. Sorry, am in a rush or would go and check for you.

Just wanted to say when I did my last budget review (on the phone instead of online) the person I spoke to was surprised I was leaving some of my amounts the same instead of putting them up. She asked if I want to claim more for such as insurances and council tax as they had both gone up for lots of people recently. Worth claiming more in those catagories if you want a bit of wiggle room, even if yours hasn't actually gone up;) and that would make your SC monthly payment a bit less.

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi,

You can see what you set previously by clicking on my budget on the left hand side and use the arrows to open up each section. You can also do your review online at any time, I didn't wait for annual reviews just changed it whenever I wanted to. Although I only ever went up in payments not down so not sure if it is different then.

Puzz. x

Thanks MitziB and Puzz

I have logged onto my SC account and can see everything listed with the amounts I put in last year.

Really appreciate your help. Will prob wait a couple of months and then do a review and lower the DMP payments a bit to give a little more breathing space. I noticed in my review that I didn't put anything in the 'emergency' section - does everyone normally put an amount in there?? Our emergency fund is pretty non existent now so could do with boosting that up too!!!

Thanks again - 18 months into our DMP and still learning!!

BDFSH x

carlyfluck · 27 March 2016 at 7:25PM

Hi everyone, I haven't been here for ages! Well we currently have 20 months left on our DMP with step change! We started in Dec 2012!! We are now thinking of upping our payment from £300 to £500 this will bring it down to 12 months. This could be doable with extra hours in work. Worth it? Or shall I try and clear some of the smaller debts so more of the £300 goes on the larger ones?
Thank you x

Growurown · 27 March 2016 at 10:09PM

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

I noticed in my review that I didn't put anything in the 'emergency' section - does everyone normally put an amount in there?? Our emergency fund is pretty non existent now so could do with boosting that up too!!!

Thanks again - 18 months into our DMP and still learning!!

BDFSH x

Yes you definitely need an emergency fund! I don't think SC will have any problems with you dropping your payment. I had to drop payments several times especially when we had car problems.

System · 28 March 2016 at 11:15AM

Hi guys I'm just starting out on a dmp , and my first payment is due on 1st April , I've already received 2 rejections , is this normal , I spoke with sc and they do put your mind at rest. Any advice for me? As I go into this next 10 years?

DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

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