DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

sunshine38_2

Evening All and "Happy New Year" :j

I havent been on for a couple of days and you've all been busily posting away - great to "see" some new faces joining in - Welcome

Rayday - Oh, I'm so sorry to hear your news, I hope your daughter starts feeling better really soon. Dont worry about not having been on here very much - even though we have all missed you loads, you are :A . If you can, just pop in and let us know how your little one is.

Gemmzie - I've just prepared my first letter to start reclaiming bank charges from my old Abbey account. Have you done yours? I was just wondering how much a £10 postal order will end up costing me (cos I havent got a cheque book anymore) and whether to send the letter recorded delivery? I think the last postal order I got was for £1 which ended up costing either £1.50 or £1.80 - I cant quite remember because I then paid for recorded delivery on top of that to request a CCA. Glad to hear things have been quiet for you. Best of luck with your reclaiming journey.

2spicy - great news on the reduced overall balance already - that's a good start. Are you doing a self administered DMP or are you with one of the charities? Just a thought on your payments that you are going to make in the meantime (until your plan is up and running) - I was advised that either token payments of £1 or £5 would be acceptable. If you pay more than those minimums and subsequently try to negotiate payments lower than, say, £25 (if that's what you will pay each of them for token payments) then you could hit some problems. Of course, I dont know what your income and proposed payments to creditors overall would be and if you dont anticipate any of the payments needing to be less that £25 to any of your creditors, then there would be no problem - I think! Anyway, it's just something that popped into my head when I was reading your post. If you can manage with payments of £25 or more in your circumstances, then that's great and a time frame of 3-4 years is not too far off to get it all sorted. I hope that makes sense

suziepoor - I was wondering which bank you were with and also had the loan. We have problems with HSBC continuing to "take" payments, bouncing them and then charging for them - that is despite having received written confirmation that they have accepted the offer of DMP payments for the loan. They've even subsequently "given" hubby an overdraft (how nice of them ) to continue taking payments for the loan and once that overdraft limit has ran out, they've continued taking him over the overdraft, bouncing the loan and then charging x 2. I'm trying to find out what I can do to stop this and we will ultimately aim to reclaim any of those charges. I just wondered who you were with and whether you may face a similar problem?

I just also wanted to say that if I were you, I would not meet the loan payment for this month and save the money towards your emergency fund. Have you managed to hear about your other account yet? If you think there will be a delay in getting your salary paid into your new account and your DMP is due to start, dont worry, just contact CCCS and they will delay sending any paperwork notifying your creditors of your position. We had to do that because my salary hadnt made it to my new account in time. It's always better to see your salary hit your new account and then you know no-one else can dip into your money (except you of course!).

I'm sure I've probably missed some points - apologies if I have - there's been a lot to catch up with.

Good luck everyone - I'm glad you're all here for the ride

Sunshine x

Gemmzie

sunshine38 wrote: »

Evening All and "Happy New Year" :j

I havent been on for a couple of days and you've all been busily posting away - great to "see" some new faces joining in - Welcome

....................

Gemmzie - I've just prepared my first letter to start reclaiming bank charges from my old Abbey account. Have you done yours? I was just wondering how much a £10 postal order will end up costing me (cos I havent got a cheque book anymore) and whether to send the letter recorded delivery? I think the last postal order I got was for £1 which ended up costing either £1.50 or £1.80 - I cant quite remember because I then paid for recorded delivery on top of that to request a CCA. Glad to hear things have been quiet for you. Best of luck with your reclaiming journey.

....................

I'm sure I've probably missed some points - apologies if I have - there's been a lot to catch up with.

Good luck everyone - I'm glad you're all here for the ride

Sunshine x

We've got all the statements, Dad is self employed so actually keeps very good records despite the debts(!) so didn't need to. Just have to send the letter asking! Not sure whether to send it to Halifax or Blair, Oliver and Scott though. I think postal orders cost 85p. Good luck!

Toffee_Penny

Evening all :j

Sorry to hear about your daughter Rayday, hope all is well

I miss my cheque book too Sunshine, still at least I keep the local Post Office in business with the postal orders I will be buying for SAR's I will be sending off

I just want to have a moan (really?, YOU moan I here you say ) about the price of this special delivery posting lark. It's only when writing to bloody creditors that I have come to realise how much of a con the different postage is.

First class is 36p right? yep ok so when I went to post my latest letters I wanted special delivery as I wanted proof that I had posted and the guy said that signed for is £1.08 but guaranteed the next day is a whooping £4 odd!!! I asked if signed for was guaranteed the next day and he said 'well mmm errr' what a rip off!! Anyone else think this? I thought first class 36p was next day delivery but to try and get you to pay £4 odd is robbery especially if you have more than one letter.

Fingers crossed all the letters I have sent for £1.08 are getting to their destination ok.

sunshine38_2

Me again

Hope you dont mind me posting my progress report. I've spent the afternoon/evening going through our various paperwork to work out figures etc ... and I'm deflated.

Our DMP payments started July 2008 and at the time our overall outstanding balance was £15,994.00. The balance today is £15,320.54. We have paid a total of £1271.00 to CCCS. That means that approximately £597.84 was "added" to the debt along the way due to charges and/or interest :mad: . Here was I thinking that our debt had come under the £15k mark.

I did read on earlier DMP threads that sometimes it can feel like "one step forward and two back" and I'm just hoping that from now on our payments will start to make a dent in what we owe. The majority have now stopped interest and/or charges so, fingers crossed, that by the next time I do an overall review of our "progress" it will be a much happier report.

I dont want my post to put anyone off the idea of starting/continuing with a DMP - it is still the best thing we could have done in our circumstances - we're learning to budget and as each month passes, we learn how to budget more carefully; we've made progress with paying our debts off (ok, not as much as I thought it would have been, but it's still gone downwards!) and managed not to accrue any other debts - and that can only be a good thing.

On a lighter note ...

For all of you having "holiday booking withdrawal symptoms" you also forgot about the suitcase challenge ... you know the one where you try to get the entire contents of x 4 wardrobes into x 2 suitcases; you have to anticipate what x 4 people actually will and/or want to wear for a fortnight (both day & night!)/what underwear goes with which outfits/what shoes & accessories will go best with the outfits; take the entire contents of your bathroom and a first aid kit that St John Ambulance couldnt rival "just in case" ... oh yes, you know the challenge :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: ... and even though you are heading off to a warmer climate you still pack a few woolies "just in case" with global warming and all that

Sunshine x

tinkerbell12

Hi Sunshine - try not to feel too down by it all but I know how frustrated you must feel! I think the best thing you can do is try and remain positive about the fact you are not in as much debt as your were and you are learning to budget! It is tough though isn't it.

We have been really lucky in that so far none of our creditors have added interest or charges (quick touch wood) but of course things can change! We have our annual review coming up too and I feel our payments need to drop a bit so they may kick off then!

Did anyone struggle to stay away from the sales? I know shopping was (is) my main vice (hence the debt!) and I have dipped into one or two shops but I am finding it sooooo hard!! I think I know how smokers trying to give up feel when someone offers them a cigarette!!

Toffee_Penny

:rotfl: Sunshine you made me laugh with the suitcase challenge, you forgot the hairdryer and straighteners despite visiting countries with heat like the inside of an oven :rotfl:

That's what I love about this thread and you guys, no matter how crap I feel about the situation I am in some days, you always make me laugh and as Barclaycard says that's 'priceless' :T

Toffee_Penny

tinkerbell12 wrote: »

Hi Sunshine - try not to feel too down by it all but I know how frustrated you must feel! I think the best thing you can do is try and remain positive about the fact you are not in as much debt as your were and you are learning to budget! It is tough though isn't it.

We have been really lucky in that so far none of our creditors have added interest or charges (quick touch wood) but of course things can change! We have our annual review coming up too and I feel our payments need to drop a bit so they may kick off then!

Did anyone struggle to stay away from the sales? I know shopping was (is) my main vice (hence the debt!) and I have dipped into one or two shops but I am finding it sooooo hard!! I think I know how smokers trying to give up feel when someone offers them a cigarette!!

I didn't even get a sniff of the sales (couldn't find a crying smiley face)

I got paid before Christmas and now have to do the 'live on fresh air until payday at the end of January' challenge. OK so I might be exaggerating but I was saying to OH that I find it depressing to get ahead with bills as it just seems never ending payout when you get your wages.

What I mean is I pay school meals, childcare plus rent, council tax usual bills etc but only get enough for one month so usually have to pay that months when I get my wages (sort of catch up). I just wish I had extra so I could pay ahead one month have some spare. Does that make sense? It just seems like constant payout every month like you work for nothing sometimes.

sunshine38_2

Thanks Tinkerbell, it is tough isnt it but you are right, it's progress in the right direction!

Ooooh, the sales .... oooh .... I was incredibly lucky enough to have been given a gift card so I was able to go and spend, spend, spend ... well, I actually spent half of the value and I've kept hold of the other half. I could have spent the lot in one go, but strangely, I didnt! I still went through "do I need it ... or do I just want it" mantra in my head as I wandered around the store. I bought three things ... 2 that I actually did need and 1 that I didnt - and felt justified in buying it because I'd seen it months before (a bag!) at twice the price and fell in love with it even at that price ... so to find it less than half price in the sale ... well, I just couldnt leave it there now, could I

Also on the plus side in the sales, we managed to buy our DS a pair of trainers for £8 (fab - usually pay up to about £20 for those).

When I think about just how much you can save on things around at the moment - I soooo wish I had our finances sorted already because I would certainly make sure that our money went a whole lot further than it would have done before. Ahh well, never mind, by the time we hit the "next recession!" we should be well sorted out and have money in the bank (can you see my fingers crossed :rotfl: ). That's the plan anyway

Sx

sunshine38_2

Toffee_Penny wrote: »

I didn't even get a sniff of the sales (couldn't find a crying smiley face)

Awwww TP ... here's one for you and you can have a dodgy :grouphug: too to make you feel better

Do you reckon the "sales" will last for a while longer - I hope so, will give me time to save (good grief ... that's a new word to me

Sx

sunshine38_2

Toffee_Penny wrote: »

:rotfl: Sunshine you made me laugh with the suitcase challenge, you forgot the hairdryer and straighteners despite visiting countries with heat like the inside of an oven :rotfl:

That's what I love about this thread and you guys, no matter how crap I feel about the situation I am in some days, you always make me laugh and as Barclaycard says that's 'priceless' :T

Ermmm TP, I think you might mean Mastercard (It's okay, I understand, too much sun in the past (boo hoo ... the past ... oh woe is me .... will I ever see the sunshine again .... ))

I wouldnt mind but the hairdryer/straighteners/curling tongs would get used the first two nights and then after that it was a case of "oh s*d it, I'm on my 'olidays!!!"

Sx