DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

newlywed

Why not go with the budget, see how you get on for a few months but try and put £200 away each month to see if you could go back near to your original figure?

That way you know if you could survive on less, are prepared for it, and have a safety net tucked away in case

If you struggle then try splitting it down the middle and upping by £100 = 5 years difference??


When you start off, you feel like you have loads of money, then 6 months down the line (if you are like me) you think... if only I had a little bit extra each month we could - go for dinner, have a day out, save for a new boiler/sofa/car, have a weekend away, etc.

dlb

You never know whats going to happen in the future..you may win some money..come into money...get a pay raise ect ect all these things would help you reduce your debt free date...but in the mean time enjoy your life knowing the creditors will be happy with your dmp payment and dont go on living in misery.
DMP are there to give you your life back..and lets face it you dont ever want to get in dbet again so whats it matter if you are paying it off for 10,20,30 years you will be enjoying your life whilst keeping everyone happy...INCLUDING YOURSELF.

massivedebts

newlywed wrote: »

Why not go with the budget, see how you get on for a few months but try and put £200 away each month to see if you could go back near to your original figure?

That way you know if you could survive on less, are prepared for it, and have a safety net tucked away in case

I think that's the way to go Newlywed, thanks:j .

My biggest fear is that if I go in too low, they won't accept the reduced payments, still I s'pose CCCS know what they're doing and wouldn't have offered if not an option.
Thanks again:A

MD xx

massivedebts

dlb wrote: »

You never know whats going to happen in the future..you may win some money..come into money...get a pay raise ect ect all these things would help you reduce your debt free date...but in the mean time enjoy your life knowing the creditors will be happy with your dmp payment and dont go on living in misery.
DMP are there to give you your life back..and lets face it you dont ever want to get in dbet again so whats it matter if you are paying it off for 10,20,30 years you will be enjoying your life whilst keeping everyone happy...INCLUDING YOURSELF.

You're right, as usual DLB. :A

Thanks for putting it into perspective.:D

MD xx

dlb

Also you said paying it off for 9 years...at this moment in time that may seem forever, i thought the same when i was told my dmp would last 8 years, now 3 yrs in i have only approx 30 months left to being debt free due to getting bank charges back ,upping the payments here and there (i also dropped them for a while too).
Plus these past 3 years have flown by, each monthly payment gives you a sense of achivement, getting one step closer to the end and seeing the ballance drop help you keep your chin up.
I have enjoyed my life again from the day i signed up for a dmp...no longer do i panic when the kids give me their xmas.birthday list or the mot is due, its no longer a choice on do i put the last £5 in the gas or elec metre!!!!
I enjoy life again and you will too
Donna
xx

massivedebts

dlb wrote: »

Also you said paying it off for 9 years...at this moment in time that may seem forever, i thought the same when i was told my dmp would last 8 years, now 3 yrs in i have only approx 30 months left to being debt free due to getting bank charges back ,upping the payments here and there (i also dropped them for a while too).
Plus these past 3 years have flown by, each monthly payment gives you a sense of achivement, getting one step closer to the end and seeing the ballance drop help you keep your chin up.
I have enjoyed my life again from the day i signed up for a dmp...no longer do i panic when the kids give me their xmas.birthday list or the mot is due, its no longer a choice on do i put the last £5 in the gas or elec metre!!!!
I enjoy life again and you will too
Donna
xx

It'll be 10 years with the DMP of £498 per month and 19 years with the new amount given to me by CCCS £310.:(

faye6174

Thank you everyone, for your welcome and advise, there really is nothing like hearing from the voice of experience. You can read all of the official info until it comes out of your ears but it still doesn't make sense until you have been there and done it.

Thank you 2spicy for the advice about starting a family, I do agree that this shouldn't rule my life as it has done for at least the past 3 years. It will be hard, but you never feel like you have enough money to have a baby - right!!?

Thanks again to all!

dlb

massivedebts wrote: »

It'll be 10 years with the DMP of £498 per month and 19 years with the new amount given to me by CCCS £310.:(

But 19 years is along time to put your life on hold beacuse of mistakes we all have made, we are at least facing up to it and paying it back be it in small amounts, we havent gone bankrupt we intend to pay every penny back we have had.
But life has to continue, there is no way in 10 yrs time that your situation will have not chnaged..things will get better and even if you stick to the higher budget and put a tiny bit away each month thats something else to throw at the debts.
Also full and final offers can be for 30% of total debt owed...so if you are managing with out the `extra` cash put it away ready for full and finals later down the line...in that one small move alone you can cut you dmp lenght by up to 70%

Each time you manage to put away a months worth of payments thats 30 days nearer to you debt free date or 100 days closer with full and finallys.
If it makes you feel better set your self a target to put away a full months payments every 6 months..so each year you are knocking 2 months off the lenght of the term.

Please dont worry i know its hard, been there, i bet in 6 months time your on here telling any new members the same as im telling you..its just the fear of the unknown..and belive me it is not as bad as you are thinking xx

dlb

Another tactic i use to keep me going is i have a master plan or goal.

One of the main reasons i got in a mess with the credit cards was due to my mother in law suprising us with a hoilday to Florida just over 4 years ago, she paid for the full package and even though we were already falling behind with other commitments we were not going to tell the kids they couldnt go because we didnt really have the spending money.

We went and had the holiday of a lifetime, and i didnt tell my kids no once, we had everything we wanted ate out at all the best Disney resturaunts and all on the credit cards well most of it anyway.

Well the moral of my waffeling again is..we came back and within a yr started on the dmp as we couldnt keep up any longer, but..........

know we have learnt to budget and live on cash only over the last 3 years, my husband i i have decided that once the debt is cleared in approx 2.5 yrs, we will continue to live without that money and each month put it towards taking the kids back to Florida.. this will be our huge pat on the back for getting to our debt free date.

I think everyone has to have a goal or reward to aim for no matter how many years away it is, we also have `mid-term treats` too, every few months we treat ourself to a babysitter and head of out for a meal, night on the town, concert ect..its the little milestones that keep reminding you what a fantatsic job we are doing in clearing those debts.

YOU ARE ALL DOING SO WELL
KEEP GOING
XX

newlywed

Yeah my goal is as soon as the DMP is finished to save the majority of that money and book a skiing holiday for all 4 of us. OH would love to take the kids skiing and I used to go every year (before the DMP and marriage) and I MISS IT!!!!

So will save up a few £K to make sure we can have a whale of a time and no worries and finally be able to afford the evening snow mobile event and the ice driving lesson and all the things I never had enough for on previous ski holidays.

Then as soon as that's done, I'm saving up for all of us to go on a hot holiday for 2 weeks, probably Greece, and eat out every night so I don't have to cook.


Course at this very minute I haven't even got money to renew my passport But I still have a plan