Resurrecting myself... to enjoy life again

RisingJoe

So. Here goes.

My downward cycle started back in 04, when i got my first job (18Yrs old) and bought a new car (bank loan), then was given (quite how i cant remember) a Credit card from my bank (Lloyds TSB). As you can imagine the access to "Free" money meant i was more encouraged to spend it. and in the last 6 months - year i have been working towards a position i can successfuly pay it off. Anyway. After getting hacked off with Lloyds and moving to Abbey i have started climbing again and am extremely thankful to Abbey for helping me realise how bad a situation i was in (for my age), i havent ever missed a payment so havent got a particularly bad credit history, but got into more debt than i would have liked. Now at the age of 23, i have set my self the deadline of 1/11/09 to be Debt free so i can rent a house with a good friend in time for Christmas (its a big target for me)

I am one of those people that feel really guilty everytime the phone bill or bank statement comes through the door. And need to clip back on spending to improve my saving / repayments.

Jan
- applied for a new loan with Abbey (without PPI) to replace my Lloyds Loan (with PPI) £5800

Feb
- Cancelled PPI on Credit card
- Sent letters to Lloyds Tsb regarding misselling of PPI on Credit card and Loan

March
- Enjoyed my only holiday this year (Prepaid)
- PPI Claims still running

April
- Volountary Redundancies looming at work... but keeping my head down and focusing
- Paid for car insurance in full, saving me £80 per month for future months

I know my diary wont be as interesting or as helpful as some of the others on here. And that my level of Debt is menial compared with most others.
I have spent the last 3 years living with Grandparents (silly as it sounds) and feel as if I am now invading their space. And long for a day i can wake up in my own (albeit rented) space.

So Far :-
Argued price fo Car insurance down from £842 to £588
Started the ball rolling with PPI Reclaim
Looking at replacing car with an equally valued Diesel

To Do:-
July - Re arrange Mobile contract at lower rate


Any Other suggestions of pointers would be great. I will update this whenever something new occurs.

Jo_R_2

Good luck with your quest - sounds like you did some good arguing to get your car insurance down that much!

Wordsmith

Good luck, RisingJoe. You have such a positive attitude!

beanielou

Keep posting!
You are off to a great start

RisingJoe

Hi All,

My Car insurance got off to a good start with a Company Called Bell (specialise in low no claims people) they sent me my renewal at £842 (monthly payments at 19.9% APR)

i changed ot a one off payment and saved about£170, then argued it was cheaper elsewhere (i had definitely looked around but couldnt get it cheaper as i needed the 3rd party other vehicle cover)
Anyway, after about twenty minutes (they called me back so i even saved that money haha) they came back to say they would match the price as long as i renewed there and then (the price match was £650) then i decided to argue that, becasue their renewal letter said save 10% by paying in one payment rather than by direct debit, so they had to reduce it further.

The positive attitude has to be there. or i know i will struggle to achive my target.

I work in a commercial management role and as such "should" know better. a lot of my friends and colleagues are in much worse positions that me, but at face value wouldnt believe me if i told them i was no betterthan them (they are still over spending a large amount etc) so my postivitiy is (slowly) winning them around ot sorting themselves out.

Still waiting for a reply to the PPI claim.
But todays good news is that my payslip has a £15.00 increase..... every little helps.

RisingJoe

Ok... bit of a horror story this afternoon... called Abbey to make two extra loan repayments (they said when i took out the loan that i was able to).... they wont let me. so i have 1k sitting in my bank.... that i am trying not to touch.

abbey are taking me seriously i have asked them to listen to my origional application. which they have agreed ot and wil call back later.

Damn i thought abbey were on my side... my first problem with them ever....

RisingJoe

Okay,.. todays update.

Spent over an hour on the phone with Abbey last night, eventually getting to the "throw the phone stage" so admitted defeat (my god it is hard ot repay extra payments with them)

Anyway. am going to save it for now and wait until it will cover the whole loan.

Still waiting on PPI claim/s

RisingJoe

Okay. to update from the weekend... spent saturday lazing around doing odd jobs and sorting some bits out for a car boot sale.
then caved in and spent £8.00 on a 9hole round of golf with a few friends (needed it though as i felt so relaxed a less stressed when i got back)

Sunday went for a long walk and then set about planing my "money saving projects" :-)

This weeks project is to dissasemble an oak table and strip it back to wood, then linseed oil it (currently its varnished and looks tatty)

Still awaiting news on my PPI claim from Lloyds Bank but am looking forwardo t hearing what they say. gut instinct is the FOS will have to deal with it. but we will see.

Let the sanding Commence tonight

RisingJoe

Ok.

Went home last night with fingers crossed hoping there was a letter waiting for me from Lloyds TSB about my PPI claim...... but there wasnt.

my heart sank and unfrotunately spent the rest of the evening trying not to get worked up.

my PPI claim is the main thing stopping me at the moment. and the only thing stopping me from being independant. Im so frustrated that Lloyds are being like this. they have 3 days left of the 8 weeks they are allowed.

On the slight upside, i spent the evening with another friend (not yet logged on here... but needs to be) and started re-finishing my oak dining table. which i must say looks lovely and worn.

So. now im at work. having got fed up of thinking "have the replied... is there a letter at home" for the last 7 weeks. thankfully the "R" word has stopped being thrown around (redundancies) and my boss is talking about investing in me (further ICES courses and registration).

Other than those few good bits im still living at home. with extreme pressure from some friends to spend loads, and slowly pulling people around to being more thrifty. but feeling crap about it.


I really wish they would wake up to the real world before thye end up in a bad situation..................

RisingJoe

Ok, Called Lloyds to see if they were aware they only had a few days left to reply.

they said that the issue was still being investigated. so i made it clear i had a prewritten complaint to the FOS ready for their response.

feeling like an argumentative week this week.

Started the "TopCashback" system yesterday afternoon, and so far so good. just trying to get used ot it all.

savingholmes

Hi Joe it sounds like you are taking the right steps. Well done on your car insurance! That is a major achievement. Well done to on the payrise!

When we first start our DFW journey it can be frustrating as we want to make quicker progress or the roadblocks that appeared before can seem annoyingly large - but it does get better and you will get there in the end. If you are stuck with your loan - then just save up what you would have overpaid - it will then help you when you do finally come to move out on your own!

On the loan thing - this is standard practice - and why this site generally recommends the credit card dance instead as you can snowball ie target payments better so that you pay less interest overall and there is nothing stopping you overpaying! At least you know for next time! (if there is one!)