A fresh start

Karmacat

Oh Seaxwyn, how disappointing after all the effort you made when you decided to go for it. I hope the phone call next week turns something up.
xxx

hypno06

I'm not really sure how it can be "too complicated" - at the end of the day, you are struggling on your wage to pay debt that is in your name. Seems quite simple to me!

I hope they come back with a solution, or that you come up with a workable alternative before then x

taxi73

None of the ccs etc deal with self employed...it's a business one that deals with the s/e...can't remember the name of it though...that was the casewhen i looked a few years ago.

hypno06

Payplan were certainly able to help me when I was self employed, although I didn't go down that route in the end.

Their DMPs are free still, even though they have changed status.

taxi73

it's good that they will help s/e now then

chevalier

Seaxwyn wrote: »

Thanks taxi. I certainly hope your insurance money comes through with no hitches. I feel very resistant to getting a DMP. None of my debts are high interest (except the overdraft, grrrr to that).

It's only money and so long as I can keep on keeping things together I will. I've got lots of other things to be grateful for. My kids are all happy and healthy and that's the main thing.

Hi Seax sorry to have not been around for a while, but I thought i would answer this even if someone else has answered it already. The thing is mate, that you are NOT keeping it together. Sorry to be harsh, but not being able to do basic things like school trips, buying presents for kids, etc is not how you should be living. Personally I would go on a DMP just for the down turn in stress it would cause me.

CCCS or Payplan allow you a realistic amount for things like food, which you could stretch to cover other things.

I personally think that maybe you don't want to face doing a DMP because then you would really have to accept that OH won't ever be able to help you. And you could avoid a DMP if he could just see that he needs a regular 40 hour a week paying job.

Like I said sorry for dropping in and having a go, but I felt that it needed saying.

I really worry that you will make yourself seriously ill if you keep on putting this much continuous stress on your body. You are always stressed, there is not let up. You can never relax. It is NOT healthy.......

*get coat and skulks out again*
chev

tyllwyd

Hi! I've not posted in a while but I do pop by and check how things are going for you. I read the other day that you were struggling to get CCCS to help. I do think chev has a bit of a point - you always seem to be working and always juggling to try to keep things going. Now that you've got a salaried job (am I right in thinking it is full time?) I can't help wondering if it is worth keeping up the self-employed side of things. If you stopped doing the freelancing, would you be able to go onto a DMP? I can't help wondering if you are stuck in a catch 22 - by freelancing, that stops you sorting out a DMP and trying to get interest frozen on the debts - but all you have got time to earn with your freelance work is enough to pay the interest on the debts. I don't suppose it is that simple, but if you accept that your OH is not going to be able to get a full time job to help, the debt you have got is just too much for you on your income alone.

Good luck with everything! I'm spending most of my time on the house buying board at the moment - my OH has got health issues, so we are trying to sell up and downsize to cut down the mortgage, but it is a dreadful time to be trying to sell a house at the moment.

Karmacat

Hi Seaxwyn. I've no idea about DMPs and all the rest of it. But I can hear that chev is urging you to take this really seriously. It sounds like you may be in the emotional state I was in before I decided to move - after all, my move is basically because I don't have the income to live in my town, so in selling up and downsizing to somewhere more affordable, my income becomes *just* about sufficient. Again, I'm not saying you should do that, but what I am saying is to have a long hard look at the reality of your situation, as chev advises - I'm just trying to work that out right now actually. The SOA figures you did in the last week or so showed that you had a £600 shortfall every month, I think .... but your sig says you've paid off over £2000 since 1 January this year. There's a chance they're both right, of course, but they don't quite sound it. What *is* the reality of your situation? Are you in a squeeze that could be resolved by giving up self employment for the moment, as chev outlines?

I hope this doesn't sound horrible, its meant as a kind of question, and definitely as support.

chevalier

One other suggestion would be to just tell them about your fixed income as regards the DMP as the freelance work is not guaranteed. In that respect it is like overtime. You don't count that as income for DMP purposes, just the basic income. that way you could pay off your debts with your fixed employment wages, and use any freelance money to build up an emergency pot, or a holiday pot, or a replacing the car pot, or a getting OH a qualification pot.....
and thanks tyllwrd and karma for putting what i wanted to say a bit better than me:)
chev

Seaxwyn

Chev and Tyllwyd, how nice to hear from you! Tyllwydd, sorry to hear about your husband's health problems. I will have a little hunt for both of your posts to see how you are doing.

Thanks for the straight talking advice too. I may still be mired in deep denial but I am very reluctant to enter a DMP as I think it would make my life MORE stressful. At present I have good relationships with all my creditors, I never have phone calls, threats, or demands to pay up. From what I've read here all of those are to be expected if you take a DMP. I would hate for that to happen, and especially to cause anxiety to the children, for my parents to find out, etc etc.

But I will do the phone interview on Tuesday with an open mind. There may be other options as well as DMP, eg remortgaging (we have a lot of equity in the house).

Meanwhile, 1st July and my debt stands at £29962.80. That is £20.75 less than last month. But still more than in April, and worst of all my NatWest OD is now £2,331. It's hard to see how I'm going to get out of that.

Karmacat, the big drop of nearly two grand this year mainly happened in January, as a result of doing lots of freelance work in December. Even I am not in too much denial to see that it is not really reducing at present.

Well well, better get on with the day. The CCCS interview is on Tuesday morning. Thanks for all your really sensible advice, which I am going to read again.