Eupho's attempt at doing her own DMP (Eeeek!)

Eupho

Absolutely.. they can't take what we don't have.

All we can do is try to handle in a firm and fair way.. stand our ground and not be bullied.

The more and more I have been reading on the forums.. the more confidence it has given me in TRYING to sort this out.. (somehow.. anyway)

I am still terrified.. but a little less than I was.. I am armed and ready with template letters.. and for now at least I will absolutely NOT speak to them on the phone (I have already asked them to contact me only in writing)

I don't think I would be strong enough to talk to them on the for as yet... I can see myself wimping out, panicking and making all sorts of unrealistic offers.. So sticking to 'mail only' gives me time to think about how I can handle it better.

Hmm I need to read back, why are you sending Egg formal complaints?

Eupho xx

CornishMaid wrote: »

You're not rambling! I honestly think it's incredibly therapeutic to write everything down - it kind of helps you to make sense of everything that's going on.

I can totally appreciate how you're feeling right now as I was in exactly the same situation 3 months ago: both my phones were on silent and I used to open the post with only one eye open cos it made it less scary :rotfl:

It DOES get better (apart from with Egg ) and it's such a great feeling to finally be pro-active in dealing with stuff. And Egg are currently receiving a huge amount of letters from me labelled in large type "FORMAL COMPLAINT" so hopefully they will start playing ball and if they don't, well, it just doesn't seem like the end of the world any more. I just keep repeating that famous mantra "... they can't have what I haven't got..."

As for the Recorded Delivery stuff the lady in my small local PO is so used to me sending letters to Egg, she just says "another one" when I go in and gets on with it!!! I think she knows the address off by heart now!

Anyway, my turn to ramble today! Wishing you the best of luck and sending lots of positive vibes your way :wave:

Keep us updated, CM, x

Eupho

fabfuture wrote: »

Eupho, great that you've made such changes in such a small amount of time - well done you! I had a thought on your Sky package. I phone family overseas and use a pre-dialing number and it costs 1p a minute - so can have the longest catch-up with my mum for about £1, so perhaps that might same you some?

Also, after a while you can just get out of the habit of feeling you have to answer the phone, especially if you have caller ID. DON'T tell your creditors your mobile phone number (they often ask for it "just for our records"). I have said in the past that I don't really use it that much or don't always have it with me, which is true, compared to other people. Also, if you can get a cheaper deal, then you could change your number and just give it to family & friends. It's like if someone knocks on my door, unless I'm expecting someone, I don't answer it. I also have a spyhole in my door so I can see who it is. If anyone has a problem with that, I could just say that is a security measure I take.

Great news too with your family working together on keeping your heads above water. Apart from the obvious immediate financial benefits, you're teaching them how to live within your means. Do you have family meetings, where you work out how to go forward, or perhaps even meal plan together? Was wondering if you sat down together to figure out a list of your favourite meals with mysupermarket.co.uk, so you could cost it all out, this might help you bond as a family as well as be a way of sharing the load of planning (so it's not just you) and budgeting. I'm also guessing that you might get some great ideas from your children too - they're all bright cookies. Good luck.

Thanks so much for all that FF :beer:

I've just saved the supermarket link and will have a look at that in a mo.

I have just been down to the 'food pub' to see about my daughter (14) getting a job there.. (she was very keen when we talked about it ~ Yay!) .. They want her to pop down and see them tomorrow.

I'm excited for both my older kids getting 'jobs' (as small as they are for now)
I'm happy for them that they will have some of their own money to spend/save as they want. They are both good 'savers' actually.. (unlike my youngest haha)

My eldest turns 17 in July and wants to start driving lessons.. so he is aiming to save towards those. Obviously, them getting jobs takes the pressure off me too supplying 'moola' .. which when I worked out it out a while ago.. is A LOT! :eek:

So that will help ME lots too. :T

As for getting used to not answering the phone.. It's only been a week but I think I am getting the hang of that already!.. HSBC are calling approximately every hour.. from about 8.30am-8.30pm .. The first few days I was cringing.. and felt so bad when they called.. Now I am just glancing.. and thinking.. :rolleyes: Write to me then! ..

we'll see.

:wave:

Eupho

jayss wrote: »

Well done on keeping positive and working so quickly through an action plan. :beer:

Thankyoooo :beer: :wave:

(tho I am somewhat petrified!) :rotfl:

Eupho

Today too I am opening ANOTHER bank account.

I have already opened a new 'safe' account.. (few weeks ago) and moved all my household/wages stuff on to that one.

It has a saving account I can stash spare money into .. and an ISA account I opened.. (as yet with virtually nothing it in) ... I was hoping to use those extra accounts to help me budget money better by dividing it up. (those are all with SMILE.. and I can see the balances all online at the same time together)

Anyway.. the other (4th) account I'm opening now.. is a basic Cashminder account with the Co-op..

Funnily enough.. I tried to open a current account with them and got refused.. (hence getting basic Cash minder account now) ...YET!... 3 days before I had applied to get and ISA account with SMILE... and got accepted.

Anyway.. I dunno if I am allowed an ISA? ... I dont care what it IS.. I just wanted something else I could split money into.

Sooo.. I am about to have 4 accounts.

SMILE ~ as my wages/ household DD bills etc account. (one not to 'spend from' .. only to transfer money from)

Savings account - that I want to use for shopping/petrol/general spending. (have to draw the cash out tho.. cant use the (link) card as a debt)

ISA ~ for flinging in dribs and drabs to save towards paying extra to my creditors.. and/or saving towards 'Full and Final' settlements.

and the 4th (Basic cash minder) which has standing order and online banking option.. to use ONLY for paying my DMP payments. I will keep paying money in there each month.. and set each of my creditors up with a Standing Order.

Hey!.. I read yesterday (on here) .. That its a good idea to pay them by SO .. because the payment is automatic.. they cannot refuse to cash it.. (or whatever)

Eupho

fabfuture wrote: »

Was wondering if you sat down together to figure out a list of your favourite meals with mysupermarket.co.uk, so you could cost it all out, this might help you bond as a family as well as be a way of sharing the load of planning (so it's not just you) and budgeting. I'm also guessing that you might get some great ideas from your children too - they're all bright cookies. Good luck.

I have just watched the demo on the mysupermarket website.. That looks GREAT!.. I'm going to try that out later.. thanks so much for that! :beer:

Eupho

(all letters and token payments sent on 15th May)
Sent them all recorded.. and all with the token payment.

So those 'cashed' .. I know for sure have been read. (by someone at least) haha.

---

Barclays Bank Overdraft.

Halifax Card
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

HSBC Card

Barclaycard CASH card

RBOS

HSBC Loan

Barclaycard
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

Egg
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

Cahoot Loan
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

DFS Hitachi

Morgan Stanley
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

Capital One
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

Cahoot account
21/22nd May cashed token payment.

hypno06

Things look as though they are starting to take shape for you. Remember, it may be a battle to start with, as they all try and talk you into paying more, but just stick to your guns, take a deep breath before you talk to them, and you will be ok.

Oh, and we have all told fibs to creditors when we are in a panic.......you are not alone!

Eupho

hypno06 wrote: »

Things look as though they are starting to take shape for you. Remember, it may be a battle to start with, as they all try and talk you into paying more, but just stick to your guns, take a deep breath before you talk to them, and you will be ok.

Oh, and we have all told fibs to creditors when we are in a panic.......you are not alone!

Thankyooo for the encouragement Hypno

I woke up this morning in a slight mini panic... :eek: When it sunk in a little more HOW long this would take for me to pay it off. (if I leave it, and they accept my offers as they stand)

At the moment, the offers I have made to my creditors are at about the minimum I could offer (pro rata though) ..

I knowww I could tweak my SOA a little tighter.. to perhaps another £100 surplus per month. But I wanted to try it this way first to try and get the 'Lay of the land' on how I will cope... then when I/they review it in a few months, hopefully I will have a better idea of how much tighter I can make it and offer more.

Also 2 eldest kids, 16 + 14 are getting little jobs for their own money. I plan on trying to increase my income etc too .. (plus I am trying to reel in money I am owed here and there)

Sooo.. I'm trying to keep that in mind today... and not let the idea that 25yrs to pay this back is 'right' .. Thats just worst case scenario. (I think.. haha!)

Anyhooo.. I dont know why I am laughing.. its a 'down day' today.. :rolleyes:

I love your diary btw Hypno! :T

hypno06

When I first started out on the DFW road, my debt was at £100k plus my mortgage, and we looked at all the options, DMP, IVA, even bankruptcy (although that would mean losing my job and not getting back into the same line of work again)...the debt free dates were waaaay off, whichever way we looked at doing it.

Eventually we went for the "knuckle down and do it yourself", not because that is what we could afford to do - a DMP made far more sense in that respect, but simply because of my career.

My point is (when I finally get round to it), that although at this point, the end seems a long way off, with determination and effort, you can bring it forward quite considerably.

I have been saddled with huge APRs - I still have a loan of almost £11k at 24.9% (thanks, Barclays), so the TOTAL amount I am repaying is far more than the original £100k.....I use this as a motivator, rather than let it depress me. The quicker I pay it, the quicker Barclays have no hold over me...

So: Hyps top tips for bringing that debt free date closer than 25 years....

• See what you are doing as positive - you are getting back in control, and that is very powerful. Once you are in control, the world is your oyster.
• Join the "Make £10 a day" challenge - if £10 a day seems too much, then do £5 a day. This challenge starts every month, and has been going for about a year now - there are some fab ideas - all workable, to get a few extra £££ coming your way. those extra £££ can go towards your debt/full & finals, or can help your shopping budget go a bit further.....whatever you do with it, it is a win/win situation!
• Put your debts into the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com and play around - see what a difference it would make if you could scrape together an extra £50 to throw at the debt each month......it helps as a motivator to get on with the "£10 a day challenge".
• Never think "its not worth it"......filling in a survey for 50p, selling something on ebay for 99p, doing a dooyoo review for 50p...too many people think it is not worth the effort for a few pence "after all, 50p is not going to make any difference when I owe so much".....much of my progress has been down to these 50ps.......look after the pennies etc.
• post on your diary daily - when you are having a down day, it helps. The support is here. And if the board is moving so quickly that your post gets pushed down, instead of feeling like you are being ignored, go post on another diary that is at the top of the board, or on the daily chat thread......there is always someone about to laugh/rant/cry with!

Eupho

hypno06 wrote: »

When I first started out on the DFW road, my debt was at £100k plus my mortgage, and we looked at all the options, DMP, IVA, even bankruptcy (although that would mean losing my job and not getting back into the same line of work again)...the debt free dates were waaaay off, whichever way we looked at doing it.

Eventually we went for the "knuckle down and do it yourself", not because that is what we could afford to do - a DMP made far more sense in that respect, but simply because of my career.

My point is (when I finally get round to it), that although at this point, the end seems a long way off, with determination and effort, you can bring it forward quite considerably.

I have been saddled with huge APRs - I still have a loan of almost £11k at 24.9% (thanks, Barclays), so the TOTAL amount I am repaying is far more than the original £100k.....I use this as a motivator, rather than let it depress me. The quicker I pay it, the quicker Barclays have no hold over me...

So: Hyps top tips for bringing that debt free date closer than 25 years....

• See what you are doing as positive - you are getting back in control, and that is very powerful. Once you are in control, the world is your oyster.
• Join the "Make £10 a day" challenge - if £10 a day seems too much, then do £5 a day. This challenge starts every month, and has been going for about a year now - there are some fab ideas - all workable, to get a few extra £££ coming your way. those extra £££ can go towards your debt/full & finals, or can help your shopping budget go a bit further.....whatever you do with it, it is a win/win situation!
• Put your debts into the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com and play around - see what a difference it would make if you could scrape together an extra £50 to throw at the debt each month......it helps as a motivator to get on with the "£10 a day challenge".
• Never think "its not worth it"......filling in a survey for 50p, selling something on ebay for 99p, doing a dooyoo review for 50p...too many people think it is not worth the effort for a few pence "after all, 50p is not going to make any difference when I owe so much".....much of my progress has been down to these 50ps.......look after the pennies etc.
• post on your diary daily - when you are having a down day, it helps. The support is here. And if the board is moving so quickly that your post gets pushed down, instead of feeling like you are being ignored, go post on another diary that is at the top of the board, or on the daily chat thread......there is always someone about to laugh/rant/cry with!

Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou.. :kisses:

That was the big fat virtual hug/kick in the pants I needed today.

I WILL do/try/keep in mind those things.

Thanks Hypno. :T