DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

DevonGirl

bigmommamuppet wrote: »

Hi Mozzy

I'm also struggling a bit with budgeting got off to a great start in the beginning but the last couple of months has been a nightmare. Even had to use Tesco Clubcard Voucher (£10) to put petrol in my car on Monday as I didn't get paid until today and didn't have enough to get to work.

So I'm doing the opposite of you I'm going to work to a monthly budget and a jar system.

I have a Tesco shop (£226 :eek:) arriving shortly. Note to self I need to hide the treats etc and only put 1 weeks supply in the cupboard at a time. And then I'm off to withdraw the rest of my cash and put in jars. £30 Birthdays, £50 Entertaiment etc. Hope this works as I really don't want a month like last one where I had £40 to live on for 3 weeks.... Not a good feeling.

Becks

P.S Things ticking along nicely on the old DMP front no calls or letters for months. No one loves me:D

I'm so relieved to hear it's not just me who's having trouble grocery budgeting!! I'm on month 5 of my DMP budget and despite CCCS giving me a healthy and fair amount for groceries, I'm just finding it so hard to break habits in the supermarket and making my budget stretch. Every month so far I've ended up with about £10 in my pocket for the last 2 weeks. Have stopped the 'drop into Tesco's for a few bits after work' routine, as I found each 'drop' was costing around £7 to £10. Have been buying Value/Basics ranges but I just can't believe how I'm getting through it.... i rembember the good old days of being a student when I could go into KwikSave and come out with 4 carrier bags worth of food for about £15!!! :rotfl:

ianmak

snowymalone wrote: »

Here Ian, where's mine ?

Just coming to the end of the second month of our DMP. It's taken a lot of adjustment, we're trying hard to be disciplined about it, and we always knew August would be tough (kids home, etc) but we've managed OK. We've got £70 to last a week for everything, so we're auditing the freezer later on, and we're going to see if we can get through just buying fresh bread and milk and veg for seven days. Then, on the day before pay-day, we'll go out without whatever's left (minus a tenner in case of emergency.) And whatever's left from that will go in the sealed pot.

Tell you what, though, it's all worth it for the weight lifted from your shoulders. Nasty letters have dried up, no more stomach-turning few seconds at the till not knowing if the card will be accepted or declined, but most of all we know precisely where we are, and that's a nice feeling.

Here you go, was waiting for you to post before giving you a number, I don't give these out to just anyone, you know.

snowymalone 337

yellowpinky

ianmak wrote: »

Here you go YP.

yellowpinky 336

Thanks Ianmak!

Also thanks everyone for the info about the Payplan Cover - yes, now I read it, it's not going to be for free is it? It sounds good but at the moment I want all my payment to go toward my debts, so will tell them I'll pass on the cover.

Well I don't know if I've done the right thing. I had one of those letter from Alliance and Leicester saying you must ring us so I thought I will and give them my PP reference etc. I wish I hadn't, it was horrible. The woman questioned why I'd used my card so much (well, I had, for everything) and said they'd be looking into it, and asked how I was able to make minimum payments up until last month, and I said I'd just borrowed but just couldn't do it any more. I have no idea if what I said has made things worse or not. She asked me what I'd been spending on, and I didn't know if she meant just recently until I stopped using it, so I said food and bills (which again, it was). I bl**dy wish I hadn't phoned up now, I was just trying to do the right thing and inform them of what was going on. Sorry for this rant, it's just terrified me. Apart from that it was the usual stuff about defaults and DCA's, which I'm used to now! I think she might have said they would put the interest on hold but wasn't sure as was in a bit of a state by then.

Re: PPI reclaiming, Kudox, I've see there's a lot mentioned about it and threads covering it, but so far was just concentrating on getting everything sorted out, so this looks like one of my next projects now. I'll read TP's posts and Martin's section on it too.

MoanyMoney, sorry to hear things are rotten at the mo.

YPx *quaking*

quagmire_sw

Hi all

Well, things are progressing with our DMP.

All signed up to PayPlan and our first payment goes to them at the very start of September.

Sent token payments of £2 to our 6 creditors for August. By checking various online services, at least four of them had credited the amounts (postal orders) to our accounts which was very efficient of them!

Only had one phone call so far and that was today - from HSBC. It was a very short and simple one....

---

They asked if I was 'quagmire_sw'

Yes, that's me

So and so from HSBC calling. Before continuing, they need to perform some security checks. Can I tell them my date of birth?

No, in this day and age I cannot be sure who I'm talking to so not divulging such information.

Okay, HSBC understand that. Can I tell them two parts of my DOB and they'll tell me the other?

No, obviously a catch-22 situation but there is no way I am going to take such a risk as I cannot be sure you are who you say are.

That's fine. We understand. We will write to you with what we need to discuss.

Thank you - goodbye!

---

I was of course polite and to the point and it was over within seconds and very painless.... let's see what the letter says when it arrives!

More updates as I get them!

Cheers

JoJoB

Hello everyone, OH finally has his payplan telephone interview tomorrow! I am very pessimistic about all our creditors accepting the dmp, but you never know eh?

I just have a couple of questions relating to the soa that I don't seem to be getting answers for anywhere else so would appreciate your input:

How much grocery allowance is deemed "fair" by payplan and cccs? We are 2 adults and a 1 year old child. Do I include nappies and wipes in groceries, or in child-related expenses?

And how much travel is within the guidelines? Oh has a hefty commute bill of £300 per month. Naturally this will be queried but I was thought maybe I could put the groceries at max allowed and trim some off the travel figure. Or is this not a good idea?

So far for groceries I have put £270.

Toffee_Penny

Taa Daah! :j Evening all! I have had the bestest news ever this week;

I have won my PPI case with Lloyds TSB :j:j:j

I had a letter from the Financial Ombudsman to say that Eisis Ltd (whoever they are) have not accepted liability but are willing to refund ppi as a gesture of goodwill The best of it is this is just for loan number 3, the live one that I have on my DMP. I contacted the Ombudsman to ask if loans number 1 and 2 were included, but I think there was a bit of a mix up with my letters and the FOS said it was just for the one loan. So another letter went straight to Lloyds to complain about loan 1 and 2, I gladly paid the 4 odd quid so they got it the next day too! I can't see how they can deny ppi mis-selling on one loan if they have offered a refund on another. So, so chuffed The FOS said it could take up to 12 weeks for a refund, I don't mind as it will knock down the DMP a bit more.

Realised I had a Lloyds TSB credit card too a few years back and sent a SAR to them. Guess what? PPI was on that too! :mad: So have sent a letter to Lloyds about this too! We now have outstanding ppi claims with the FOS for Barclaycard and MBNA.

Things are going well for us at the minute, I have increased my hours at work starting September and OH has a few more houses to build. Our hardest times were over Christmas and the New Year when OH looked like his work was going to stop. I was at my lowest so I am certainly not counting my chickens just yet. This DMP has made me realise just how stupid we were with money and if we had a £ for every time we said to each other 'if only we did it sooner....' then we would clear our DMP a hell of a lot quicker :rolleyes:

Our DMP is due to finish September 2017, when we first started it was December 2023. A tad bit of ppi back and the creditors being 'kind' :rolleyes: stopping further interest and charges has helped decrease our total debt from nearly 53k to 41 and a bit! Still massive but the pressure has gone, I don't feel scared anymore and I certainly don't shed tears over creditors and DCA's like I used to.

I just keep thinking that my youngest will be 16 by the time our DMP has finished. I can't wait to tell my two about one of the biggest mistakes me and Dad have made so they don't follow in our footsteps of being in debt for years into their adult lives

Sorry if I have waffled and bored you all but I feel like we are getting somewhere finally. We are making a dent in the debt and I just keep thinking Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria. That's what keeps me going, my little dream of going on holiday abroad without the help of the 'flexible friend' Yep the thought of that holiday oh and those boxed pack of 6 cream cakes you get in Tesco, yep that's what keeps me going alot of the time

Don't let the sods get you down, there is light at the end of the tunnel even if it does seem distant. I wish you all lived near so we could have a massive bbq/party while the weather is nice, although you'd have to bring your own booze, I'm on a DMP don't cha know :rotfl: I reckon there's some right party animals on here, you all sound so proper when talking about money!

Take care all of you xxx

Rachel

Plain_Stupid_45

congratulations Rachel.... am really pleased for you.

I've had some brill news today too.... I decided to claim on my credit card charges with HSBC. I sent a letter from Martin's template on 5th August... and guess what....... today I've had a letter back saying as a gesture of good will they are offering me a 100% refund!!! It amounts to £356.51... its actually 40pence more than I asked for and it includes interest at 8%.... am just really chuffed. Another bit off my DMP too.

I am so glad I found this site and the forums... I feel like I'm living again and I have money left in my bank until payday next week. Its been a long long long time since I've had that.

Good luck everyone... think you're a great bunch.

L XXx

suze72

Well done TP and PS:beer:
You have given me inspiration to get on with all my claiming!
I have PPI to claim back on several old loans which I'm hoping will be relatively straight-forward.

However, I would really like to claim back unfair charges from HSBC but I did this about 3 years ago (for the same accounts) and got the whole lot back, so not sure they would look too kindly on another claim. I know it was stupid to get back into debt again but they have been so pig-headed about my DMP that I now owe significantly more than when I first started it due to all the charges!:mad: Any thoughts on this?

They have finally now passed my debt on to Metropolitan who I will be phoning tomorrow so fingers crossed the charges may finally stop as from what I have read on here they seem to be the understanding face of HSBC.:rolleyes:
I'll let you know how I get on,

Sue.x

yellowpinky

Glad to hear some good news TP and PS! Good luck to those claiming :j

Sorry to bump but any thoughts/experiences on Alliance & Leicester/MBNA and DMP's? I know from reading around they're b*ggers but have had horrible evening after the phone conversation tonight and was going to ring HSBC tomorrow to do the same thing (I've been spacing the calls out!) but frankly now don't want to talk to any of them on the phone again. M & S and Post Office so far were great.

Just remembered some more of the conversation now - after all the interrogation about how I'd used my card, she said that if I kept up £72 per month payment (a lot less than the minimum I was on!) they would keep the account open for 10 years - which I've worked out is how long it would take to pay it all off, just under £9000. I said at the time Payplan would work the payments out but after I got off the phone I worked it out that I would be paying eighty odd pounds with PP anyway. What did all that mean exactly?

sarahb7538

Can i join please

I am about to start my DMP with CCCS in October

Has anyone any advice about dealing with Vanquish and Additions as creditiors in a DMP. I have a few main stream creditors as well but i feel these are the two that will be the worst !

Also what is the best way to make a token payment. I normally do everything online but i have heard cheque payments might be better, but i can't find my cheque book anywhere...do you think it will be ok to make the token payment via online banking?