Debt Bemusement - Help/Advice request.

Beaded_Lady

Thanks for the kind welcome everyone

tawnyowls wrote:

Just in case the company get awkward and make things difficult for you - head them off at the pass by informing your creditors that you feel you're now able to control your debts yourself and you will be continuing with the payments as agreed. Presumably you pay a sum of money to the DMC and they then dole it out? If so, make sure you set up DDs to pay the creditors directly from your bank account. If you do that, you probably won't need any help from CCCS immediately, but probably worth contacting them anyway.

You could try applying for a 0% credit card anyway and see what happens.

Are you paying the maximum you can afford at the mo? Could you add anything more onto it, maybe even get an extra job just for a few weeks? Have you anything you could sell on ebay or similar?

I think taking your advice i'll firstly contact my DMC for a current figure (giving me the option to pay it off) then I shall contact each of my creditors explaining that I can control them and setting up DDs from my bank.

I will also try applying for a 0% credit card.
Any advice on this one, good options??

As for your questions, I am not paying my DMC the maximum i can afford at the minute as I didnt feel they were managing my money too well, so have been saving a little extra on the side, £500 in total (my original plan was to save up enough to pay off in full when the sum was smaller)

I have recently been trying to sell a few bits on ebay, just to give me a little more money to play with, and my current job really doesnt give me much time to fine a 2nd income, although my current wage should be enough if i manage it correctly.

On a side note, I am feeling VERY positive right now thanks to all this help!! :beer:

milliejon

Hiya from me too! I've only been on this forum for a couple of months, and I've had so much help from everybody on here.

Good luck with sorting your debts out.

Beaded_Lady

milliejon wrote:

Hiya from me too! I've only been on this forum for a couple of months, and I've had so much help from everybody on here.

Good luck with sorting your debts out.

Well I've been stressing for months, and although my debt may not be as much as some it is holding me back from a number of things, mainly leaving home (hardly paradise) and getting a place with my boyfriend, it also feels like a huge weight around my neck.

But my boyfriend advised me to seek help on here, and I think it could be the best thing i ever did. Thanks for the welcome and well done on giving up the smokes, something I did a couple of years back, and never regretted for one moment.

milliejon

You'll feel so much better about the debts soon. Especially when you can pay an extra £37 each month off them.

I am doing my own DMP with the help of the National Debtline. I've been on the plan for about 20 months now, and have already payed 20% (or so) off my total debt.

Good luck and speak to you soon.

southernscouser

If your thinking of settling some of your debts early make you sure you aks them what your balance is, but then ask them if they can offer you a full and final settlement figure. This is often a reduced rate, for example, only 75% of what you owe!

Beaded_Lady

southernscouser wrote:

If your thinking of settling some of your debts early make you sure you aks them what your balance is, but then ask them if they can offer you a full and final settlement figure. This is often a reduced rate, for example, only 75% of what you owe!

I shall certainly be doing this, fingers crossed they give me a nicely reduced rate to enable me to pay this off.

As asked above does anyone know of the best place to apply for a 0% credit card, or similar to allow me to pay this off?? As i think I could be needing this...

lynzpower

things to look at on a 0% card

1. is there a balance transfer fee? SOmetimes it can work out as a negligible amount of money, the larger the balance is you want to transfer, the more negligible the BT % is. (sorry this is confusing, butis sometimes 2%,2% of 2000 is £40 when you think what you will save on interest, its not a bad figure.

2. length of the contract. is it 6 months 0% or 9? Obv you want the longer the better

3. read martins article on credit cart tarting, all you need to know
er, thats it

JulieBarlow

Beaded_Lady wrote:

I shall certainly be doing this, fingers crossed they give me a nicely reduced rate to enable me to pay this off.

As asked above does anyone know of the best place to apply for a 0% credit card, or similar to allow me to pay this off?? As i think I could be needing this...

I haven't got too great a credit history and didn't think I would be accepted for a 0% balance transfer card but I was accepted by the M&S card (I think it's called One or More but it's the black one!) and they gave me a credit limit of £6000 which I believe is quite high so they may be a good one to try.

Beaded_Lady

Thanks for the credit card advice, I shall be looking into that shortly.

Today, I spoke to my Debt management company, to ask what figures i currently stand at, they said they would contact the settlements dept and will update me by the end of the week, i plan to call again thursday to remind them and again on friday morning, hopefully when i have this info i can dump them.

Tomorrow, I'll be seeing my boyfriend, where we plan to write to my creditors explaining that I can now manage my debt and asking for full and final settlement figures directly.
:j

beanielou

Hi & welcome on board
You are doing so well, u will have it all sorted in no time