DMP vs Full & Final settlement and advice on SOA

icecube2009

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

You can do a DIY DMP, it can take creditors a while but some will accept easily.

F+F will definitely affect a credit file. Any outstanding money that hasn't been paid will sit on the file. The file is marked 'Satisfied (partial)' and it takes 6 years for the remaining amount to drop off. You say your friend did F+F's a 'few years ago' and has just managed to re-mortgage - this is probably because he was at default stage and the debts were with debt collection agencies.

Even with car parking in town and mobile phone contracts, there is still a huge amount you can save. I can see £100 a month in food bills, savings on car insurance, also on gas and electricity used, not putting away the £10 emergency money each month, I think you relly need to think about doing this first and then if you are still struggling, look at help from in laws, but if you accept any money from them now, I really see your situation spiralling down even more because your spending habits need to have the brakes put on and changes to your monthly outgoings changed.

There are lots of ways you can painlessly increase your spare money each month, it's just a bit of work really but I would say by this time next month you'd see real results.

we have been trying for months, think we are cutting down, then something comes up, for example last month the cooker blew up! If I could cut down by £200 a month (and to be honest the SOA i have done is being quite generous, but then the one on CCCS was more generous, I tried to put £300 for food & it said i had to put more!) we have only spent £59 on food this week, but even I i had £400 a month to pay my debts it still means a shortfall of £400 so we have to do either a DMP or a F+F

icecube2009

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

You can do a DIY DMP, it can take creditors a while but some will accept easily.

You say your friend did F+F's a 'few years ago' and has just managed to re-mortgage - this is probably because he was at default stage and the debts were with debt collection agencies.

.

sorry my mistake I meant to say my friend had remortgaged even though he has not long done d F+F (DIY) he did the F+F about 4 years ago, then the following year moved from a house that he sold for £150k to a house that cosr £250k to a much bigger mortgage, end of last year remortgaged again to borrow £40k for a loft conversion.

The other friend also did a diy, but he just wrote to them & told them what monthly payments he could afford & they all accepted, he said some of them he is just paying £1

icecube2009

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

I think your best option is DMP because you are up to date with your payments on your CC's and they are really unlikely to accept F+F's on an account which is not with collections or a debt collection agency.

but if it goes to DMP i have been told i would have to stop paying them anyway, and just offer a token payment of £1 until the DMP is set up, so might i not as well just stop paying the creditors & then in a few months offer the F+F?

Burlesque_Babe

You have to do what is best for you. From my experience, I gritted my teeth, cut everything back to the bare bones and cleared 25k in 18 months. It bloody hurt, but it was worth it to have the millstone gone and it's changed my spending habits and attitude to money forever. However, if you want to pay it off at tiny amounts each month, then that is also fine - but remember it will affect your credit file and you will never know the true story of the experiences of your friends.

Have a read of some other threads of other DFW'ers experiences.

I really do feel though that even though you have been cutting back, pulling in the belt is the place to start, swapping utilies/insurances etc along with selling everything that isn't nailed down such as CD's, old mobiles, clothing etc - basically everything around the house that isn't being used.

RAS

Hi

If you are both in very basic clothing etc, WHAT have you spent £35K buying?

And you need to check out the possibility of second hand uniform. I am sure the school has a scheme?

With respect to SOAs, there are different sorts. A DMP or BR assumes that you need decent allowances because you can get no more credit and have to hav e spare for emergencies.

The stark reality is that a high percentage of the population live on far less than the allowances and DFW SOAs are about living off what you have rather than what you would like to have.

With respect to the car - you are spending at least 63 per week on transport. How much would regular travel passes cost you? In my area £100 per month buys county wide bus and train transport.

Do you have equity in the house because it is more likely these days that companies will go to secure the debt via charging orders than accepting a F&F, if you have any equity.

icecube2009

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

You have to do what is best for you. From my experience, I gritted my teeth, cut everything back to the bare bones and cleared 25k in 18 months. It bloody hurt, but it was worth it to have the millstone gone and it's changed my spending habits and attitude to money forever. However, if you want to pay it off at tiny amounts each month, then that is also fine - but remember it will affect your credit file and you will never know the true story of the experiences of your friends.

Have a read of some other threads of other DFW'ers experiences.

I really do feel though that even though you have been cutting back, pulling in the belt is the place to start, swapping utilies/insurances etc along with selling everything that isn't nailed down such as CD's, old mobiles, clothing etc - basically everything around the house that isn't being used.

yes i do plan on doing some ebaying, but this isnt a long term income, once everything is sold that it!! we swapped utilities last year and have saved quite a bit by doing so, also swapped house & contents insurance about 9 months ago but will look at doing so again (even if just to get quidco cash back).

So what did you do? did you just save & pay everything off or did you go with some form of debt management? see its great to talk to people who have been there as like you say friends dont always give the real picture!

our initial plan was to do a DMP that was it, but then when I went on the CCCS site filled in the form it said i could only go on a low start one and i had read on a board on here that someone didnt have a lot of success (particularly from lloyds tsb whom half our debt is with) on a low start one & a lot of the creditors refused the offers made & threatened bailiffs! I cant cope with threatening letters & bailiffs I am not a strong enough person (mentally!! LOL), I want to sort our debts out to get rid of the stress not make it worse!so that DH came up with the idea of asking hsi parents for £20k and trying F+F's, hope thay get accepted & then no more dealings with banks etc, just owe the in laws which isnt nearlly as scary!!
Another option we did think of whilst not being able to sleep last night was if the in laws could pay off the car loan this would free up an additional £160 per month to go towards the DMP, BUT we wouldnt have no spare cash to pay the in laws back!!

Burlesque_Babe

icecube2009 wrote: »

So what did you do? did you just save & pay everything off or did you go with some form of debt management?

I paid it all off.

I took my budget back to the very, very minimum. I had a 7 day, 3 meals meal planner which I shopped for this and nothing else. I batch cooked, I used up leftovers, I froze what was left after that. No takeaways, no social life (at all). I used vouchers for money off in the supermarkets. I did daily click throughs, I put any purchase through quidco. I took on a second job and worked evenings and weekends. I ebayed, I phoned all my CC's and asked them to reduce the APR's. I did the same with my secured loan. I joined challenges. I didn't buy clothes, I only put petrol in when it was really necessary. I used sites such as pigsback to save points through clickthroughs and every £10's worth of points Igot I changed into a Boots/John Lewis voucher and then in turn used those for birthday presents. I shopped when I knew the food would be reduced.

I started with the highest APR card and paid that off. Then the money that I was paying on this I moved to the next highest APR and started paying that off even quicker. I used the snowball calculator to keep me focused on a debt free date.

Keep a spending diary, put everything spent in there. Don't buy any magazines, newspapers, food in canteens. I negotiated with people like Virgin and got very cheap package deals. I went to PAYG and then just kept the phone for emergencies only.

I basically obsessed and DFW became my second home. Every day, there is something you can do, even if it's a tiny something. There are some excellent challenges - try the Supermarket challenge on Old Style to reduce the food bills. Set up a sealed loose change tin for coppers/5p coins, join the Payment a Day thread - this was set up after I became debt free.

I'm not alone though - have a look through the debt free role of honour for some inspiring stories and have alook through some diaries for the enormous strides others are currently taking. I had the last 5k paid off through some back pay, otherwise I would have had to keep at it for longer, but once you have a battle plan, you will see it really getting you through it.

I had 2 defaults and a CCJ so I had nowhere to go - no 0% deals for me and horrid APR's on my mortgage and secured loan. However, over time, a default dropped off, then the other and things slowly become more accessible. I have had a 'clean' credit file for aound 9 months now after the CCJ falling off over 5 years after it was satified and it will make an enormous difference next time I come to change mortgage company in July 2010.

icecube2009

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

I paid it all off.

I took my budget back to the very, very minimum. I had a 7 day, 3 meals meal planner which I shopped for this and nothing else. I batch cooked, I used up leftovers, I froze what was left after that. No takeaways, no social life (at all). I used vouchers for money off in the supermarkets. I did daily click throughs, I put any purchase through quidco. I took on a second job and worked evenings and weekends. I ebayed, I phoned all my CC's and asked them to reduce the APR's. I did the same with my secured loan. I joined challenges. I didn't buy clothes, I only put petrol in when it was really necessary. I used sites such as pigsback to save points through clickthroughs and every £10's worth of points Igot I changed into a Boots/John Lewis voucher and then in turn used those for birthday presents. I shopped when I knew the food would be reduced.

I started with the highest APR card and paid that off. Then the money that I was paying on this I moved to the next highest APR and started paying that off even quicker. I used the snowball calculator to keep me focused on a debt free date.

Keep a spending diary, put everything spent in there. Don't buy any magazines, newspapers, food in canteens. I negotiated with people like Virgin and got very cheap package deals. I went to PAYG and then just kept the phone for emergencies only.

I basically obsessed and DFW became my second home. Every day, there is something you can do, even if it's a tiny something. There are some excellent challenges - try the Supermarket challenge on Old Style to reduce the food bills. Set up a sealed loose change tin for coppers/5p coins, join the Payment a Day thread - this was set up after I became debt free.

I'm not alone though - have a look through the debt free role of honour for some inspiring stories and have alook through some diaries for the enormous strides others are currently taking. I had the last 5k paid off through some back pay, otherwise I would have had to keep at it for longer, but once you have a battle plan, you will see it really getting you through it.

I had 2 defaults and a CCJ so I had nowhere to go - no 0% deals for me and horrid APR's on my mortgage and secured loan. However, over time, a default dropped off, then the other and things slowly become more accessible. I have had a 'clean' credit file for aound 9 months now after the CCJ falling off over 5 years after it was satified and it will make an enormous difference next time I come to change mortgage company in July 2010.

Thing is I think even if I did scrimp totally for a few years by the time interest all goes on to the cards I am back to square one. I just need someone who can guide me through all this, I have hear or read so many different stories & opinions its all becoming one big mess!!

icecube2009

OK, so I really would love to be able to pay up everything without resorting to any type of debt management, but dont really see this as a viable option. But if I wanted to give it a go, where would I start, How do I go about asking creditors to stop interest for a while & would they do that? If we could get it down by 12 K, even & then do a DMP, £32k sounds much better to cope with then £42K!

Burlesque_Babe

icecube2009 wrote: »

by the time interest all goes on to the cards I am back to square one.

and so was I - my lowest APR's when I started were 29.9% :eek: I called them all and said I was doing a bit of financial housekeeping and what was the APR? I then acted shocked and said even though I was a happy customer, I would have to move to another company. Some slashed the rates (1 down to 12.9%, 2 went down to 14.9%) and a couple didn't so they were the first I concentrated on.

Trust me - the scrimping hurts, but it starts to snowball and if you look at every aspect of your spending, there are ways to improve the situation.