DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

chjones

Hi there, i am new to all this but i have found these boards really helpful. I called Payplan last friday afternoon after a long discussion with my husband about how we are going to get ourself out of the rut we are currently in! My husband lost his job last august and got another job quite quickly but with a big pay cut, therefore our money problems started! To make matters worse i got made redundant just before christmas but i have now managed to start a new job but again with a paycut. So since before christmas we haven't been able to keep up with the minumum payments on all of our debts and it's been quite stressful to say the least! So i am booked in for my telephone appointment with Payplan on wednesday. I am hoping to enter a DMP with them we have a total of £30000 debt between us and i have worked out our living expenses etc and it leaves £550 that can go towards our debts. So my question is, do you think that qualifies us for a DMP? I have worked out it should take around 5 years to clear all that if they stop the interest on most of them. Just a bit nervous about it all. Any advice welcome!
Newbie Charlotte xx

2spicy

Well done and Yes, a DMP means you are Serious about paying yoru debts ... like most of us times have been unfortunate. Good luck.

debrag

chjones wrote: »

Hi there, i am new to all this but i have found these boards really helpful. I called Payplan last friday afternoon after a long discussion with my husband about how we are going to get ourself out of the rut we are currently in! My husband lost his job last august and got another job quite quickly but with a big pay cut, therefore our money problems started! To make matters worse i got made redundant just before christmas but i have now managed to start a new job but again with a paycut. So since before christmas we haven't been able to keep up with the minumum payments on all of our debts and it's been quite stressful to say the least! So i am booked in for my telephone appointment with Payplan on wednesday. I am hoping to enter a DMP with them we have a total of £30000 debt between us and i have worked out our living expenses etc and it leaves £550 that can go towards our debts. So my question is, do you think that qualifies us for a DMP? I have worked out it should take around 5 years to clear all that if they stop the interest on most of them. Just a bit nervous about it all. Any advice welcome!
Newbie Charlotte xx

you you can't afford the minimum monthly payments then yes that qualifies you

rcpbiggles

Hi

I have recently done the online budget on CCCS and it seems a DMP is an option for us so I think we will go ahead and get the ball rolling.

One concern I have is that people have talked about recent activity on a credit card as being a problem - can anyone tell me more about that please? The thing is, we are in the classic "make min repayment with our wages but then have nothing left to buy food so stick it on the credit card" loop. I can't see how I can stop using the card until we are on the DMP and making smaller payments.

Also worried, on this basis that we took a loan (supposedly to make our debt more affordable - hah) but have only made one repayment on it - will that cause us a problem too?

Looks like I may be here a lot from now on - appreciate any advice you have!

Ex-Spendaholic

Just popping in to say hello. It has been a while. I hope all the old-timers are all still doing well. A big hello to everyone who is new. Stick with it guys, life will get so much easier once your DMP is up and going. I promise you that and this is the best place ever for help and support.

Not a lot new with me. Got a letter today saying I need a CCCS Review. I've just emailed them a few slightly amended figures. They'll probably ring me but thats fine.

I'm delighted to say that:

1. Christmas happened this year with no credit be used whatsoever.

2. Its 19 January, payday is 23 January and I still have a healthy amount of money left

3. Argos Card repaid my charges so that has reduced the DMP a bit.

4. Today out of the blue a cheque for £250 arrived from Cahoot as repayment of my charges. I knew I was getting a refund but assumed it would be paid into the account. Its with Apex but I assumed they just acted for Cahoot. Anyway I'm going to put some of it away and spend a little on a treat.

Oh and from this week I'm starting a Post Office Saving Card for next Christmas and buying stamps etc in Tesco.

Gemmzie

Hi Ex-Spendaholic, glad to see it's all going so well for you Not many from before about lately, so nice to see people drop in.

rcpbiggles - The loan may cause problems, some credit card companies ask for three months clear of spending. CCCS will be able to advise you further about how to deal with this.

newlywed

Hi ex - some of us oldies are still about

Things are ok here - no money left so waiting for payday - need 2 new tyres on the car as soon as I get paid so next month should be "interesting" food shopping wise :rolleyes:

Still, have a good store of food to last to payday, even if lack of money meant I ended up walking 6 miles yesterday as OH had the car and I didn't have enough for bus fare as well as bananas and marge!!

At least the base rate going down means the only creditor still charging interest, charges me less They charge me 1% above base rate, so I'm not complaining

I've paid off 30% of my debt now too - nearly a third of the way there

This year I WILL sort out a savings account for car costs :rolleyes:

dlb

Hiya everyone.

Had letter confirming my annual review is due, hoping to raise payments by another £50 a month, so just looking at the budget and crunching the numbers to make sure i can manage it.

Also had a letter from Natwest, confirming they have agreed to the offered repayment for another 6 months with no extra interest, so thats them happy until july, saying that they have always accepted from day one. And they are my largest creditor.

Have been ebaying to get some extra to throw at Full and Finally hopefully by the end of the year.

Hope your all ok
Donna
xx

tinkerbell12

Morning all,

Ex- Well done!! I wish I still had a healthy amount left until the end of the month! I am in the same boat as Newlywed - your post about walking 6 miles made me smile as I can sooo relate to it! I stood in the supermarket the other day with only the cash left in my purse to spend on food. It took forever to decide what the priorities were - I couldn't even afford a 38p packet of biscuits lol!! It is at these times I keep thinking, " I would have stuck this on CC by now - at least I am no further in debt!"

I still have nearly 2 weeks until payday - only need to buy food and petrol but even so, not quite sure how we are going to do it. Def gonna up our food budget at annual review, we just can't cope with £300 p/m no matter how hard I try. My advice to any of the newbies is allow yourself extra for everything on your budget. At least then you can up your payments if you feel you need to as opposed to reducing them and potentially upsetting creditors. I don't want to rock the boat as nearly all of ours have stopped interest and I don't know how they will react to less money. BUT, I can't manage on our budget so will just keep fingers crossed that they don't throw a strop!

Also waiting for our monthly phone call from Halifax demanding payment on arrears!! We are all psyched up for it this month - gonna fail the security check they take us through i.e. my name, D.O.B etc and then they won't be able to discuss our account will they. I can't really believe that I have given them that information in past when they have rang. They could have been anybody!

Well, we live and learn...

tinkerbell12

Donna - would love to know how your get on with F+Fs from creditors. We are not in a position to do this (i wish!) but good luck!