Where I am now?

bathgatebuyer

I thought it useful for me to write a quick summary of where I am at the moment as far as my debts go - if anything to remind me of how far I've come and how little there is to go. This is for my benefit, but if anyone else finds it interesting, then good!

At the moment, my outstanding debts are a little under £5,000. Over 3 years ago, it was £34,000. I plan to be debt-free in the next year and I cannot wait :j

As you can see from my signature, a large part of this was through reclaiming bank charges, credit card charges and my mortgage exit fee. I've also reclaimed about £800 in PPI and have another few cases ongoing.

At the moment, I have a case against Sainsburys registered with the FOS. This is for a failure to supply a CCA which contains the prescribed terms and conditions and for PPI miss-selling (The terms and conditions of the policy only supplied to me last year - it was taken out in Nov 02 :mad:) I received a letter yesterday that all the paperwork is about to be passed to an Adjudicator for a decision :eek:

I've also sent off a SAR for an Egg Credit card which I've often ignored because it's online and, therefore, the balance doesn't seem as real as though which send paper statements. Stupid, I know, but that's how the mind of someone deep in debt worked! I don't think I've incurred too many charges here largely due to the direct debit that was in place here. Nonetheless, even if it's a few hundred, it will help bring forward my debt-free date by a few months. I also need to check the PPI cover and terms in case there's something not right there.

Nonetheless, with Egg, I've really focussed on reducing this debt and have been paying £110 a month by d/d each pay day (it was £100 a month but I've added the extra £10 back from the taxman!) and have reduced the balance by about £450 in the last 6 months. This is one I feel really positive about clearing as I can see the balance really changing each month. I'm also due to have an extra £60 following some examination marking I'm doing in November and will put that towards this balance too.

I also have an RBOS card which is roughly at £1,900. I'm plugging away slowly and surely at that by paying the minimum by direct debit each month, plus adding a BACS payment of £50 or thereabouts onto it each pay day.

At the start of my debt-free journey, I had cards with IKEA, Habitat, Halifax, MBNA Liverpool, Alliance and Leicester, Capital One and those have all been paid up and closed. I also had a Cahoot loan for £10,000 which has been fully settled too.

Only Egg, Sainsburys and RBoS remain. I'm not including in this my Capital One £200 limit card as it's my emergency card for car or house repairs and has a balance of £0.

I have also politely asked Natwest to give me back some bank charges incurred in the past 2 years - these total about £400 but are for only about 9 missed direct debits. Fingers crossed they are sympathetic! :rolleyes:

The other changes I've made to my life have really been quite small:
I used to love my branded soft drinks but now buy only supermarket own for a 1/3 of the price;
I walk back from work each day and only pay £1.10 for the one-way bus journey (and the walk is about 45 mins so decent enough to keep me fit);
I buy more second hand clothing and books (this used to be my real area of gluttony!) and will only buy DVDs when I have a reward voucher from Pigsback or Valued Opinions;
I started a pension for the first time in my life just over a year ago (my contributions = 6%, employers = 9%);
And I've learnt that there is no shame in admitting to people, "Sorry, I can't, I'm skint right now and can't afford it" (This has been the biggest change).

My credit score a few years back was 'very poor' but I'm now just about back into the 'fair' category with the settlement of my final credit card to be included, this may just push me further into fair and on the verge of good in time for my remortgage in March / April hopefully.

I've really had some awful ups and downs as money has dragged me into depression and anxiety attacks, but I do feel as if I'm on the way out of the other side. Everything seems to have a plan now, and although things always come along to try and ruin things for me (i.e. Council Tax suddenly telling me I'd underpaid from 2003 by £500 which is when I was out of work, but I've agreed to double my Council Tax payments to £200 a month for the next 5 months to meet this shortfall and get rid of this debt), but it being dealt with and that's an amazing source of comfort to me.

As I said, this is for my benefit so that I can record somewhere how far I have come. I'm sure everyone on our debt-free journeys has probably got their own story to tell, but I'm pretty sure the emotions and things I feel are the same as everyone else, hence I've written more about how I'm getting out of it in practical terms.

frasersmum123

Congratulations - you seem to have done really well.

Bismarck

well done... a great illustration of what can be done! good motivator....

Gemmzie

Fantastic to hear you're so close now I like it when people do updates, it's nice to know the board makes a difference to long haulers.

ZTD

That's good news. Not only with the debt, but with the positivity. Not long at all to go now, and you've come so far already.

bathgatebuyer

It certainly does! If anything there's a real culture of support on this board (some others can be a bit judgemental and nasty!) and even when things are at their very worst or seemingly insurmountable, there's always someone who can help any time of day. That's the most important thing. Too often money problems are things people are ashamed of and too many people don't mention it. Having people around you who can give advice - whether practical or just supportive - is something unavailable to too many people because of the stigma associated with debt.

Seeing it written down in black and white is a motivator to me also. It reminds me that the hardest part of the task has been done, that is, in admitting that there is a problem and making the first steps to change.

Damita

Congrats

Miss_Piggy_2

I enjoy reading posts such as these. When you are starting on your debt free journey, the end date can seem a long long way off. Your post just goes to show that with a bit of determination, persistance and fortitude, it IS possible. Thank you, and lets all hope that last £5000 goes very quickly!

Miss P
xx

fascinated

Just wanted to say very well done bathgatebuyer. What a fantastic achievement. I think you're absolutely right when you say that money problems are something people are ashamed of or don't discuss. Certainly in my main circle of friends nobody ever says they are short of money. They all drive nearly new cars, go out every weekend and spend loads, go to shows and meals etc. They never seem to worry when the kids need money for after school clubs, school trips or other leisure activities, and if they need a new winter coat (as I do!) they just go and buy one. I try to tell myself they must be putting at least some of it on plastic but you never know.

Anyway, just wanted to say well done. I think the support we all get on here is brilliant.

Fasci xx

dancingfairy

Hey congratulations, that's amazing. When do you think your debt free date will be? I am sure you will be able to bring it forward even more.
Best of luck
df x

bringmeshoes

congratulations!
i think threads like this are important as it shows the newbies that there is light at thew end of the tunnel
well done