My SOA - Gulp! Lightbulb moment!!

St0lli

Hi all!
I thought I would give an update as I seemed to vanish after posting! I have been lurking and keeping up to date with everything but I’ve also been really busy with getting things sorted out… Little steps as they say!

First biggie for me was to tell my Mum what I’m going through. She has been a fantastic help and very supportive. I haven’t told her the amounts involved but she is very aware that my incomings do not meet my vast outgoings. Unfortunately she isn’t in a situation to help me in a big way financially but she has offered to help me out with food budgeting advice and food bills if I need it. Aren’t Mum’s wonderful?! Also she said if my son needs anything then she will take care of it.

I’ve made an appointment with CCCS and that’s taking place on 12th February. It was the first appointment they had which fitted in with my working hours (difficult for me to talk at work) and they were sooooooo helpful at putting my mind at rest.

I’ve set up a basic bank account at Abbey National (they offered me an overdraft facility of £1700 which I tactfully refused and had to point out that I really did want a BASIC account!)

I’ve dropped my Sky package down to the lowest. (saving £30 per month)
I’m in the process of changing my mortgage life cover (saving of £85 per month)
I’ve started a spending diary and that is really helpful and keeps me focused
I’ve had 7 No Spend Days so far this month!!!

Things still need to do
I need to ring Virgin to see if I can get them to match sky for telephone and 02 for broadband
I need to contact my Council to see if they will spread my tax to 12 months instead of 10
I need to see if I can cut the cost of my gas and electricity. (I’ve already started to make in roads in the house but now need to see if I’m getting the cheapest deal)

Just putting this on paper and seeing what positive moves I’ve made to getting things sorted out is helpful. I’ve not missed payments on any of my secured or unsecured debts so far (due to juggling of credit cards etc) so this is kind of scary knowing that I’m going to be only offering possibly a third of the monthly payments to my CC companies.

Wish me luck as I plough on…

I will keep you updated…

And a big thanks to all of you who took the time to reply to my original post….. I couldn’t haven’t got this far if it wasn’t for all of YOU!!! THANK YOU

St0lli

I've just found out that I can have my salary paid into my new account at end of January. It's all coming together but now I feel I'm letting all my creditors down and hate to think I've failed. Oh well upwards and onwards. I'm sure they won't be considering my feelings when they are chasing me for payment... Still doesn't stop me from feeling bad tho!

UncleBuck

St0lli wrote: »

First biggie for me was to tell my Mum what I’m going through. She has been a fantastic help and very supportive. I haven’t told her the amounts involved but she is very aware that my incomings do not meet my vast outgoings. Unfortunately she isn’t in a situation to help me in a big way financially but she has offered to help me out with food budgeting advice and food bills if I need it. Aren’t Mum’s wonderful?! Also she said if my son needs anything then she will take care of it.

Well Done :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

I'm so pleased you managed to pick up the courage to do something which is incredibly difficult to do!!!. At least you will have more emotional support than any of us can provide you hear. Keeping going, you're doing yourself and your son PROUD.

Cheers UB

St0lli

Thanks Uncle Buck! I really didn't realise how much I needed to talk to someone about it.
I'll keep reporting back and boring everyone with my progress! lol

slowlyfading

I've just read the thread, and its nice to know you're still around! keep your chin up, it may seem hard now but if you focus, it can get better this may be a silly question, but do you know why you're in debt? Have a think about it. Also, get on ebay/amazon and sell everything that isn't necessary - that can add a huge chunk to pay off something else
sf xx

St0lli

Hi Slowlyfading, yes I think I know why I'm in debt. I guess it all stems from the time I split with my ex. We had a VERY comfortable lifestyle, both earning good salaries but after a lot of soul searching I realised I wasn't happy and decided to split. I think I've tried to over compensate with my son and lifestyle by making no compromises in my lifestyle ie holidays abroad, nice clothes and lots of THINGS! Then I was made redundant and I had to take a much lower paid contract job... then that ended and I was unemployed for a while so took more money on my CC's... and it all got out of hand. I've currently got a few things on ebay and just a couple of seconds ago sold a digital photoframe for £30! Everything counts! Lots more to go on there as well.... watch this space... If only I could turn back time but as thats not an option I guess I'll just have to get on with it )

slowlyfading

£30 is great! and yup, everything counts

St0lli

Here's an update of whats happened so far:

Things still need to do
I need to ring Virgin to see if I can get them to match sky for telephone and 02 for broadband Virgin won't match the cheaper rates so its bye bye Virgin and hello BT and 02 broadband. I'm going via Quidco for 02 so thats £70 cashback!
I need to contact my Council to see if they will spread my tax to 12 months instead of 10 Council have said they can only spread costs over
I need to see if I can cut the cost of my gas and electricity. (I’ve already started to make in roads in the house but now need to see if I’m getting the cheapest deal) Still to do

I've rang around and changed all my PRIORITY direct debits to the new basic account I've opened.

I've cancelled my life/mortgage insurance cover as I'm covered for critical sickness by my work.

I've also managed to move my mortgage payment from 1st of month to 28th of month so this means that I don't have to use January's salary to pay February's mortgage - it will come out of my February mortgage. This gives me a saving of £1193 this month. What would you suggest I do? Put the money in a deposit account in preparation for DMP or make another payment to all my creditors and delay the DMP for a month (my appointment with CCCS isn't until 12th February.

Many thanks

elsie52

Hi.

Well done for all the things you have done so far......Personally, I would stash your spare cash as back-up money before you start your DMP......Probably others will say not, but I remember when we started our DMP and we had nothing behind us, it still left me feeling quite unsecure.

Good luck, and will keep reading your thread...

Lois_and_CK

Prudent wrote: »

St0lli - I do work full time. I am a special needs teacher, so its a fairly demanding job. I have a cooking session at the weekend and make lots of soup, casseroles, currys, chiili etc and freeze them in two person portions. I also bake if I have time.

Hi Prudent, I was really impressed seeing the amounts you spend on groceries in your signature. Can you give me any tips? :rolleyes:

(OP, sorry to hijack your thread, but this would be great tips for you too if Prudent will share! )