DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

Daffykjs

icecube2009 wrote: »

another problem i have had is my gas & electricity went up from £80 a month to £130, when i did the dmp i didnt realise they had only been estimating it for months so I was in arrears, so we are now another £50 down, and my wages have been on average £50 -£100 less since we started the dmp

mine went up just after it started too (not by that much tho, that's huge)! and i got them to change it. have you told the dmp company (or are you going it alone?)?

you need to make sure that you have enough to live on and that what goes to creditors is simply what is left after it all! and not stick to the dmp payment even if it's not working! the good thing about the dmp is that it is more flexible than other options!

ianmak

bigmommamuppet wrote: »

Afternoon Peeps,

Needing a bit of advice please... Don't know if I've had my proper LBM moment yet or whether old habits are creeping back in to my life. But basically we’ve hMain areas of overspending are food (we spend approx £350pm for 4, and entertainment/ going out- haven’t told anyone we’re on a DMP so trying to carry on with life as normal… which I think is the main problem, for example friends want to go out for dinner on Saturday, babysitters, taxis etc, will cost best part of £200:eek::eek::eek: if not more, but stupidly we said yep no probes…..defo have to cancel this..)

Therefore any budgeting advice would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks

Becks

Basically, although the DMP enables you to carry on as before, and lead a normal life, that does still mean one on a budget! I really believe that there are a lot of people still in our former positions, in a lot of debt, who haven't got to our LBMs yet.

As we all know, our SOAs doesn't include going out or entertainment (It does, but prob not as much as we spend). I catered £20 a month for entertainment, and if I'm not careful, can spend double that in one night.

I still struggle with my budget, and live to my means every month, regardless of how much money I have. I'm not sure that'll change anytime soon. And I can't suggest how to get around this, other than to say nights out and carefree spending on music and dvds, or new bathrooms, I think is how half of us ended up in this position. I know most are not and cannot do this now, but tally up all spending you have made outside of your budget. You'll be surprised how much this amount can be...

Chin up everyone, we'll get there eventually!

icecube2009

Daffykjs wrote: »

mine went up just after it started too (not by that much tho, that's huge)! and i got them to change it. have you told the dmp company (or are you going it alone?)?

you need to make sure that you have enough to live on and that what goes to creditors is simply what is left after it all! and not stick to the dmp payment even if it's not working! the good thing about the dmp is that it is more flexible than other options!

I havent told the CCCS as we have only been on it for 4 months and just getting sorted really so I didnt want to reduce payments unless I really have to as feel it may cause problems. We are set to be on a DMP for ten years anyway and thats if they all stopped interest so it will probably be more like 20!

2spicy

bigmommamuppet wrote: »

Afternoon Peeps,

Needing a bit of advice please... Don't know if I've had my proper LBM moment yet or whether old habits are creeping back in to my life. But basically we’ve had a major set back this morning. DH went to put petrol in the car and his card was refused (we still have a debit card but no O/D facility). We only have a balance of £21.35 therefore his transaction of £39.51 was refused, so had to borrow cash from petty cash at work and go back to the petrol station to pay his dues. V. V. embarrassing, DH not good with this sort of situation at the best of times so he'll be in some mood when he gets home. :rolleyes:

I do have some money coming to us so it’s only a cash flow problem this week. But I was planning to use the extra money for my emergency fund (which is sitting at 0) but yet again I need it to live on. Therefore in theory we’ve overspent again this month (3 in a row). Can’t seem to keep control of the spends and I’m scared that we’ll slipping back into the deep hole of not having enough to live on.

Already have 2 accounts, 1 for bills, 1 for spends, but it’s not making much difference. I keep a spending diary which to be honest doesn’t help me curb the spending either. I have also tried splitting my budget up into chunks i.e. X amount for petrol, food etc. but again I overspend on nearly everything each month.

Main areas of overspending are food (we spend approx £350pm for 4, and entertainment/ going out- haven’t told anyone we’re on a DMP so trying to carry on with life as normal… which I think is the main problem, for example friends want to go out for dinner on Saturday, babysitters, taxis etc, will cost best part of £200:eek::eek::eek: if not more, but stupidly we said yep no probes…..defo have to cancel this..)

Therefore any budgeting advice would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks

Becks

Were in the same boat.

Best thing to do ... take the money out of the account and put it in envelopes or tins at home. Lable every tin and only spend cash. only use cards to withdraw cash each month.
We used to use our cards and still managed to go over, these days, if the cash aint in the envelope, we cannot spend it

bigmommamuppet

Quick update...

Feeling slightly more positive, I've spent all afternoon, going over and over my figures.

Once I have this month out of the way then it's a fresh start from next payday (20th).

I have gone through all my figures and have set aside a realistic budget on the amounts I have spent since being on my DMP, 5 months of bank statements/ transactions is a rather boring and eye opening job to trawl through.

I've split the amounts into groups i.e food, petrol, entertainment etc. I have a spreadsheet to track the amounts I'm spending. I prefer to pay by card, as like icecube I fritter away the change/ cash I think I have spare!!

New Rules:
- I won't pinch/ borrow from one group to offset the other. When it's gone it's gone.
- DH & myself have a small amount of pocket money each month that I will withdraw as cash and is ours to do whatever we want with.
- Any spare at the end of the month, even if its pennies will be going to my treat fund. (I'm going to try and build up a fund for treats as well as an emergency fund)
- Leave debit card at home to restrict internet shopping (tend to buy things online when bored at work)
- Say no to all invites that I can't afford, explain that I'm saving for Xmas or something!!

Here's to a new way of budgeting.

Becks

DevonGirl

bigmommamuppet wrote: »

Afternoon Peeps,

Needing a bit of advice please... Don't know if I've had my proper LBM moment yet or whether old habits are creeping back in to my life.


Therefore any budgeting advice would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks

Becks

Hey Becks / BMP (and to the others who have replied to your message) :wave:

Just to say, no it's definitely not just you!! I started my DMP a few months back and while on paper it does seem to cover living costs, I'm finding it really really hard to stick to! I had my 6 month DMP review and in retrospect was too honest about everything and (ashamed to admit it ) wish I'd been a bit less honest and overplayed my living costs...

I see from your 'Quick Update' message that things are looking brighter - I hope that you succeed with your new spreadsheet plans - please keep us DMPers up to date on how you're doing!

DG
p.s. great idea 2Spicy about putting the cash in the envelopes!

Brussel_Sprout

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this board but think this post will be my new online home!

I've been paying into my DMP with Payplan for my credit cards since October 2006, I was paying my Natwest Loan through them aswell but they played silly beggars and wouldn't ever accept tthe payments etc. so i now pay them directly.

I got a letter from Triton Credit Services (Natwest bully division) last week informing me they were increasing my direct debit by £21.75 per month, without even checking with me! Apparently because I owe them so much money and have been paying into an agreement with them for over 2yrs they can increase it as and when they want! Needless to say I rang them and re-negotiated and ended up increasing it by an additional £5 a month - I wouldn't mind but thats now £480 a month just to Natwest!!!

With that in mind I've had to contact Payplan and re-jig my payments to them as for the past few months Ive been struggling to live with what Ive got left, so I've reduced my payments to them and will now £181.35 per month, instead of £236.35.

It doesn't help us when the price of Petrol/Diesel keeps fluctuating, food prices keep changing and when I do go out I feel so guilty for spending teh money I dont even have that much of a good time!!

I cannot wait for my debtfree day, which will be in late 2011 - just sold some bits on ebay, £21.96 in my Paypal account, going to sell some more stuff and build that account up until I've got £100, thats my target then perhaps by that time I'll use it for Christmas pressies, or maybe even treat myself to a new hair cut!!

Sorry, for wittering on, can't talk to anyone else about all this as only my partner knows, and not having ever been in this situation he sometimes struggles to understand!

I never realised that there were so many peoepl in the same situation, and although a bad situation it makes me feel a little better!!

Keep smiling everyone

ianmak

Welcome Sprout!

icecube2009

Daffykjs wrote: »

oh and go to the docs! it might be something simply sorted and with no off sick time needed! Fingers crossed for you!

Just got back from doctors, he seems to think its inflamation of the bowel and is looking for IBS, Crohn's & Imflammatory bowel desiese, all a bit worrying!

Brussel_Sprout

Icecube - guess what?? I have IBS and its stress related. If you need any advice etc. then just PM me and Ill help you out.

Most IBS is stress induced so as easy as it sounds eliminate the stress and hey presto you feel better.

As soon as I receive a letter or phonecall and I get the panicked sick feeling, I can almost feel my body go into defence mode and I have an IBS few days.

It will all be ok, and it sounds more scary that it actually is!!