Who said this would be easy!! A debt free diary

rubyslipper

Hello MaiseyMoo!

Just wanted to say a big GOOD LUCK for your journey. :j I had my LBM last weekend as my mum was handing me some cash to help me survive until the end of March (I'm 30 years old - the shame). I'm building up the courage to start my own thread in this lovely forum (eek) but in the meantime I really admire your spirit and bravery. This site is brilliant and I already feel loads better about the mess I've got myself into.

Remember - the light at the end of the tunnel isn't always an oncoming train!

Love, Ruby xx

maiseymoo_2

Thanks for the message and welcome. Keep up the courage and start a thread. Its a great way of off loading. Last tuesday I was ready to jump off a bridge and thought things would never get better, but by sitting down, writing my thread and reading others, it gave me the courage to ring the bank and give them a push to approve my DMP. Now I feel more able to cope and maybe that light at the end of the tunnell isn't a high speed train after all !!

And... forget the shame and embrace the pride of being able to hold your head up high and saying I made a mistake, but I am sorting it out and I am in control, well done :T

Hugs, Julia

looktothefuture

Hello and welcome to the best place in the world! I love this place! Comparitive to what others owe, my debt is just a drop in the ocean but I'm finally able to build up the courage and look at what used to be a shocking credit record and see some light at the end of the tunnel!

In a few weeks you will be totally in control of what you are spending and paying out in debt and it will only get better from here!

Good luck!

mogchops

maiseymoo wrote: »

Thanks for the message and welcome. Keep up the courage and start a thread. Its a great way of off loading. Last tuesday I was ready to jump off a bridge and thought things would never get better, but by sitting down, writing my thread and reading others, it gave me the courage to ring the bank and give them a push to approve my DMP. Now I feel more able to cope and maybe that light at the end of the tunnell isn't a high speed train after all !!

And... forget the shame and embrace the pride of being able to hold your head up high and saying I made a mistake, but I am sorting it out and I am in control, well done :T

Hugs, Julia

Hi Maisey,

Totally agree with you, I have started my own thread & its absolutely the best thing I have ever done!! I now feel so positive and motivated about everything, its really turned me around - and thats only in a couple of days!!! Long may it continue!

Good luck with your DMP x

maiseymoo_2

Hi,
Not been on for a while, hubby had a serious accident, major injuries and stress! :eek:
Anyway, I have kept up with my payments as agreed with Lloyds and then 2 days ago I had a letter from them which was odd so I rang collections to see what was going on. She said they had had a letter from CAB implying I didn't need to be on a payment plan, so they suspended my 3 payment plans. When I asked to be put back on them, she said ok, but the payments were higher and they wouldn't freeze the interest. I have spoken to CAB, they havent sent LLoyds a letter since march. What now, should I stop paying them anything (and give the extra to my other creditors) or should I keep paying the previously agreed payments and ignore the new increased payment? :eek: If I pay the originally agreed payment, it won't cover the intrest they intend to charge. I want the debt to be sold on to an outside agency, so that I can have a proper fixed amount to pay back, an end date and a repayment book (at the moment, I just give them the money over the counter and they give me a little slip receight. :mad:
Anybody, got any ideas?

maiseymoo_2

Hi,
Just thought I would share a little bit of news with you with all. I sat down last night and worked out my when all my individual debts would be paid off. It was going ok...
Argos hopefully be paid by end of 2009 :T
GEmoney C Card paid by 2011
Lloyds C Card paid by 2021
LLoyds consolidation loan paid by :eek: 2078 :huh: I will be :huh: 101 years old _pale_

Ah.. that was when my DMP book went flying across the living room and I thought to myself why bother I may aswell go out tomorrow and buy my new kitchen floor and whatever else I want as I will never get out of debt so I may as well splurge

Then I calmed down, had a cup of tea and went to bed :embarasse Today I am ready to keep at it. No trips to DIY stores for new floors, I am going to clear out the understairs cupboard and list things on Ebay. I can then use this to help reduce my little overdraft (£150) I run up when OH had is accident and everything went unavoidably pear shaped for a little while.

maiseymoo_2

Good morning,
Thought I would post a little update, I have decided to post updates weekly, it will help to keep me motivated and encourage me if any of you out there wish to drop in a reply

Since I have written last, I have...

:cool: had a letter from the MP I wrote too, stating he was appalled and had written to Lloyds on my behalf, (he also said they would procbably write back to him saying it was none of his buisness, but it was worth a try)

the next day, LLoyds rang and agreed to put me back on the originall reduced payment plan and freeze the interest again

:mad: the next day I had a letter from LLoyds threatening court proceedings for non-payment (I am still paying my originally agreed reduced payment)

:rolleyes: next day I had a letter from the MP forwarding me a letter from LLoyds, stating they took the complaint very seriously and that they would be looking into it.

then finally I had the 6 month reduced payment plan confirmation letters from Lloyds. Not holding my breath though, They will probably cancel them on a whim in the next few weeks!!

So as you can see, a busy week of letters.

On a brighter note, I have put £4 in my sealed pot challenge pot.

I have cleared the understairs cupboard, stuff going on Ebay today. I know I said I would do it last week, but I got toooo tired

I have changed my electric & gas supplier, cheaper tariffs and £10 less direct debit per month. I have also changed my TV, phone and broadband supplier, better deal and a saving of £16 per month :T

So that is a saving of £26 per month. Where shall I put that... Sealed pot challenge for xmas, in a debt or a trip out for the children once a month?poor dabs never go anywhere anymore.

Anyway, time to sign off now.
hugs to all xx

MissKJ

Well done Maisy moo, you have kept your sanity and dealt with it well, you should be pleased with your self. It isnt easy and every on has bad days, but each time you sell something/ arrange payment on something you are one step closer to your goals. Good luck and keep going!

fabfuture

Hi Maiseymoo, just read your thread and sorry to hear of your being messed around by Lloyds. Someone close to me had been in worse financial hardship than me & spent ages being bullied by a few financial institutions, until they realised that she would not answer the phone to them and really did not have any more money and all her creditors were being paid a very low amount. As long as you keep paying them something, even if they tried to take you to court, I believe that they're likely to get thrown out because you are paying something.

Sorry you got to the point of thinking of throwing yourself off a bridge. Glad you've got through that ... and you're making plans for the future. I've been seriously working on my debts for the past month. At first, it seemed that it wasn't making any difference and I just kept finding more money going out of my account I wasn't expecting - or PayPal and clients dragging their heels with paying me ... but it seems to be slowly turning around. Very slowly, but feel more in control. Don't feel I've wasted any money this month and am fired up for an ebay session this afternoon. Also done plans about paying off things.

Is there any way you could increase your income in any way? Taking in ironing, selling things on Etsy, cooking meals for busy people? If you were able to have, for instance, an extra £10 a week that you could throw at your debts, would you be able to work out a debt-free date (with a snowball calculator)?

Good for you changing your suppliers on things for good savings. I don't know what you should do with your savings ... but perhaps having that bit of money on one side - mad money - for an outing or something to look forward to once a month. Since you're in this for the long haul, having nice things so you don't get to saying 'sod it, I'm going to have a blow-out'.

Do you also do meal plans and use something like mysupermarket.co.uk for checking prices & latest specials? I've been doing meal plans and shopping from a list (with lots of supermarket own extra value items) in the past couple of weeks and it really seems to have saved me heaps, even just cooking for myself.

prada_man

hi maisey

excellent diary & very well done in starting the debt reduction

im a newbie & only been on here for 1 week but find this place a real source of help & inspiration & ive already made some new "virtual" friends:j

ive also started a diary & gonna post bits & pieces during the week but do a weekly summary :A im also gonna keep smiling & at times include some of my sarcastic humour :rolleyes:

the real thing that has struck me is the amout of money i actually waste on buying unnecessary things :eek: now for me every penny is a prisoner :rotfl:

im defo gonna be debt free when im still in my 40s

looks like a long haul for many of us.... :mad: & we all want to be debt free right now but im using the following to motivate myself:

it's a marathon... not a sprint

we may lose some battles... but as long as we win the war

best of luck in ur debt free quest :cheesy: