DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

Daffykjs

that's great NW. can't believe they took so long. Natwest guy couldn't quite believe it when i kept saying I WANTED them to default me. kept telling me how bad it was!

Anyway, some good news on my part too! Just updated my signature and am now under the £40,000 mark. admittedly in reality I'm probably not, due to some still charging interest and the whole Natwest fiasco, but on paper it looks good and feels like a mini milestone. I really need to check the real totals to see where i actually am, but even with the interest I think next month will truly be under the 40K mark!

small things eh!!

saskia1

morning all!

i haven't posted for ages - been on the dmp for 2 months & ... dare i say it... seems to be going swimmingley well!

to all the newbies who are thinking / dreading doing a dmp - please don't! i honestly wish we had done this 5 yrs ago (wouldn't have a secured loan - another storeeee)

thought i would post an update on how my dmp is going...

creditors accepeted dmp = N Rock (loan 22k) M&S (cc 8k) RBS (cc 5k) Cap 1 (cc 3k) Bcard (cc 3k) Abbey (cc 3k)
Lloyds cc & Egg cc (both bals 8k) are 'requesting' larger payments thru the dmp - well they can request all they like!!

i have defaults on my credit file - but i don't care!! well i do in a way but our LBM was truly horrendous - could have lost my job over being in financial trouble - but thankfully it didn't come to anything as bad as i imagined.

i think what i'm trying to say is please please don't be scared entering into a dmp - you can see i have quite large debts and yes - the first few months once you've cancelled d/debits & send token payments - the phone calls will be non stop - BUT - stick to your guns - you can only pay what you can afford.

Me & hubby have a much better quality of life -we budget & actually paying for treats with hard earned cash is such a wonderful feeling i will NEVER NEVER have credit for anything again!! (not that i could get any at the mo :rotfl:)

needless to say my hubby was made redundant a month ago - we have a payout which will be his salary for 6 months - he works as manament sales roles and there seem to be plenty of those about - so fingers x he isn't out of work for too long & we can throw soem of the payout towards the debt!!

sorry to waffle on -i think this forum is wonderful & i everyone on it - is too!!!

sas x

munkiemunkie81

Good luck for the job hunt Hope your hubby gets real lucky!

Thanks for your words of encouragement too i'll be keeping that at the forefront of my mind.

londonfraggle

saskia1 wrote: »

morning all!

i think what i'm trying to say is please please don't be scared entering into a dmp - you can see i have quite large debts and yes - the first few months once you've cancelled d/debits & send token payments - the phone calls will be non stop - BUT - stick to your guns - you can only pay what you can afford.

Me & hubby have a much better quality of life -we budget & actually paying for treats with hard earned cash is such a wonderful feeling i will NEVER NEVER have credit for anything again!! (not that i could get any at the mo :rotfl:)

needless to say my hubby was made redundant a month ago - we have a payout which will be his salary for 6 months - he works as manament sales roles and there seem to be plenty of those about - so fingers x he isn't out of work for too long & we can throw soem of the payout towards the debt!!

sorry to waffle on -i think this forum is wonderful & i everyone on it - is too!!!

sas x

So sorry about your hubby losing his job but am v impressed that you've both kept your heads cool and calm! I think being on a DMP (I'm just in the process of getting mine set up) makes you feel quite empowered. For the first time in years I actually feel strong enough to cope with my debt as opposed to burying my head in the sand and shoving the bills and letters into a drawer! I have been able to be strong with my creditors, sending them token payments and explaining that I'm doing all I can now and will be treating them all fairly etc. through the DMP. Barclaycard were big meanies yesterday - weren't listening to me and kept telling me that I HAD to make a payment there and then. But I just stuck to my guns - told them they would be receiving a token payment anyday now (sent them all at the weekend) and that the CCCS would be in touch. Eventually they got the message! It's hard going and no one can pretend this is easy, but how I wish I had done this 1,2 or even 3 years ago. Anyway - we're all doing it now and for that reason alone I think we are all pretty darn amazing!

Good luck for your hubby's job hunt!!

Fraggle x

pinkpower

Chin up .. its not that bad.
We had the endless calls and dispite telling them the same infomation time and time again, it only really stopped when the DMP kicked in or we complained.
Have you had the "can we have an interim payment of £XXX.XX" ?
We used to have them ... telling they could stop the calls for a week fi they could have a payment. We stayed strong and just told them no, try next week....

Good luck were all here for support

Thanks 2Spicy - in fact I got another call after I posted, but again all they did was note that I was on a DMP and would make a note that I shouldn't be called. So far they haven't asked me for money!! I'm looking forward to seeing the first payment going from my CCCS account - then I will really feel like I'm on the way!

londonfraggle

munkiemunkie81 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm a newbie Sad to say it!
After many foolish years with money and a marriage break up i'm forced to take up a DMP thats going to leave me happier but probably struggling.

Can I ask what amounts people have allowed for entertainment? Its me and my 2.5yr boy. At first i filled out the plan thinking self punishment (blame the hubby for that!) and i dont deserve to have entertainment but now - two weeks into separation and full time care for my boy i'm thinking that was possibly foolish ? or has someone managed it, is it reasonable to allow yourself some oney for fun, i thought not given that its my own stupid fault for continually bailing my husband out of trouble??

I need to change my budget anyway as my £440 childcare bill is now £487 and my darling husband is refusing to help with that too.

I'm hoping to have my DMP started in October just in the middle of trying to sort out a new bank account and get all this months D/D's paid etc before i tell my current bank about the DMP

If you could all also kindly send my husband thoughts of flea infested armpits that would be great!

I'm sure i'll be back pronto when i get my first scary letter!

munkie

Hello - well done you for taking the first big step! I'm like you, just setting mine up and waiting for direct debits etc to all go out.

Regarding the budgeting - have you spoken to CCCS or Payplan? I'm with CCCS and they were v helpful about amounts for budgeting. With a kid I'm sure they'll be super supportive. My counsellor also told me it was important to have some entertainment budget as everyone has to have some life and fun and to not budget for it just means you'll struggle every month.

If you're feeling brave why not post your budget on here and people with much better knowledge than me will come along and give you advice. It's really helpful - especially from people who have been on a DMP for a while so really know what's what!

Anyway - you've taken this first scary step and if my experience is anything to go by I can promise you things will only get better and easier from now on!

Fraggle x

sandalwood_2

Haven’t been on for around 3- 4weeks due to OH giving birth to our beautiful daughter, first baby for us so as u can imagine a shock to the system re lack of sleep and such like,but all is great

Update on DMP,had to cut the payments down by £400 for the forceable future due to OH only on SMP,this was easily done via Pay plan, had next call and say that the offer that Payplan had gave them was not enough and-PP offered them £4.04,they said that if we paid £5 they would hold of any charges and interest, told pay plan this but they said all creditors have to be treated fairly and if they paid the extra % to next everyone else would want the same, which would amount to us finding another £50 for PP,so,I called next myself and have agreed for me to pay £1 direct them over the phone every month to keep to the agreed terms, told payplan and they said this would be fine-but other creditors might find out that I am giving them special treatment...didn’t really know how to take that but for the sake of a pound I am willing to take the risk(bit of a rebel!!!??!)

Natwest are still charging interest on all accounts-thanks for that
Natwest c/card have agreed to refund me 2 x charges of late payments!?!?! Dunno why it was on there anyway-wish they would refund the rest of the charges-this will be a fight at a later date no doubt
MBNA/Virgin were fine with the original payments on DMP and stopped interest and charges, but now the payments have gone down a great deal I am just waiting for the defualt notices to come through
Haven’t heard from the others, but I am sure I will

I am a lot more positive since my daughter was born, more important things to worry about than money,dont get me wrong, still have a bit of a stress, but no way near as much as I did.
I know that my credit rating will be shot to be pieces for a good few years and we will have to move in the next 2 years due to us only having a one bed place, but, doesn’t matter, if I am unable to get a mortgage again for a while, will just rent, no great shakes....
I wish I had started DMP a lot sooner....but s**t happens, just need to crack on with what I am doing


Just thought I would give everyone a heads up-and a big hello to the newbies-welcome to the thread

icecube2009

Hi all
I posted a couple of days ago about my hours being cut at work & having problems sticking to my DMP budget, we dont hev any money for entertainment, never did budget for that so life is very boring too!
Anyway things are going from bad to worse really, I have been sent home from work again today after just 3 hours, not needed, in the last 2 weeks I will have worked 32 hours, I need at least 30 hours a week to be able to afford to pay my DMP! so I am considering going back to self employed childminding, which I did for 15 years prior to getting the job (and probably should have stuck with!) but would be self employed affect the terms of my DMP?
Thanks

bigmommamuppet

Daffykjs wrote: »

In all honesty i feel like i've have a second LBM!! i just wasn't looking at it honestly and was seeing extra that wasn't there and spending like it was there!

I WILL get control of my money!! And it WILL be sooner rather than later!

Daffy

I've also had my 2nd LBM, hope that's the final one. We've been struggling for the last couple of months and have been doing exactly the same as you. Not including everything in our spends. So DH and I sat down on Monday and have worked out next month's budget, and WE ARE GOING TO STICK IT!!! OR ELSE!!!

So from the 20th Sept my budget will be:

DH Pocket Money: £80
My Pocket Money: £80
Kids PM & Clubs: £65
Birthdays & Xmas (thought we better start this soon): £75
Entertainment: £160
Groceries: £350
Petrol: £300
Savings/ Emergency: £200

- no planned extra bills this month (fingers crossed).

We've never split it up before, and it seems a lot on paper but usually by week 3 we have v. little left and I've never managed to save anything. :rolleyes:

So here's to our 2nd LBM and good luck for next month. If you need help/ encouragement give me a shout.

Becks

bigmommamuppet

JillyOJolly wrote: »

I am sure when that money comes in every month or week (however you are paid) you feel like a millionaire after struggling the month before and your brain automatically switches to the here and now of what you need and thats when you overspend and need to target your curbing and at that time you are less likely to be tight with your money. Splitting up your money is a great idea, but you need to consider that the month is a whole 28-31 days long one and you dont want to feel the way you did the month before, but that buzz of having money overrides it. I know, I been there.
JOJ

You've hit the nail on the head, and I have to stop the boom/ bust attitude and treat everyday the same.

We're limited to 1 supermarket and petrol station in our town, next nearest are 25-30 miles away but seeing as I drive to the 'big smoke' everyday I have started to get petrol/ drop into Aldi's etc. on the way home and it's making a differance.

DH would never go for telling anyone about our DMP, so we'll just have to keep up appearances. Mind you I have cancelled our night out for Saturday (no way could I spend £200-£250 for a meal- that's just for the two of us but would have included taxi's etc. but still that's v.scary money)

Here's to happy and successful budgeting:T:T:T

Becks