Starting my DMP on 1st Feb... Anyone want to join me?

ljm23k

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Hi all, I've spent the weekend being in floods of tears thinking we were going to loose everything as OH not drawing a wage at the momment and then reading the entire thread almost from start to finish (I've only managed to get to page 71 so far tho!). It's a real inspiration to know that people can work a way out of this!
Sorry if this question has been answered already but I've just plucked up the courage to ring CCCS (got a bit of a phone phobia, can't talk to people I don't know on the phone) and they say they can't set up a DMP for us as we can't even meet day to day living expenses!! What do we do now?
Our income at the momment is £1256, this includes my wages, child benefit & tax credits. According to CCCS our outgoings are £1476m before any debt payments are met!
However, I only pay around £160 per month for food, and we don't buy any new clothes etc. The lady at CCCS insisted we had to put "realistic" figures in, and changed the food bill to £239 per month! She also upped other things on our budget, which then made it go over our income. I went through the figures again after our call finished and I can take £291 off of their budget!
So where does that leave me now? How do I even start trying to do a DMP on my own? I wanted CCCS to be a bit of a security blanket for me, I'm not sure I can do this alone. Has anyone else tried to go it alone? Thanks for reading a bit of a ramble but I'm starting to panic again now...

Hi DizzyDizzy, I joined this thread late too and spent a weekend reading the whole thing. Like you, I hate the phone so I invested some money I got from a refund on truecall (google it if you haven't heard of it) which has allowed me to control my phone calls and call my creditors when I have enough courage. Obviously a lot of people can't afford to buy one of these at the mo but if you are a real phone phobic like me, its worth it.

I was in the same position a year ago and for a few years before that (thanks to tax credit overpayment being repaid), more going out than coming in and I foolishly buried my head in the sand and continued living the good life on credit and paying credit with credit, causing my debt to double in a couple of years. Its only since last April that my income has returned to normal but it came too late to avoid a DMP. On a plus side, at least the interest and charges has been frozen by the creditors that have replied so far.

There was something on the news last week about new rules over debt coming into force after Easter allowing you to pay 1.00 to each creditor as a token of goodwill for up 6 months until you set a DMP (I think that was it) so don't panic yet!

VicB

tedsd wrote: »

Hi again VicB, check out the main board there's some interesting posts about HSBC.........

Thanks Teds, will do.

Just frustrating because you think you're getting somewhere and then it all goes a bit pear-shaped....although I did think they'd be tricky, I was right about that!

DizzyDizzy

Hi again, fell apart for a little while but pulling myself together again! I can easily get our budget under £100 below our income, but I got the impression that the lady at CCCS wouldn't accept that. Don't really feel up to calling them back this afternoon to try to argue the point.
Spoke to OH at work, he suggests trying the CAB in the morning to see if they can do anything. We are claiming as much as tax credits as poss at the momment as I rang the tax credit people last week. OH thinks it will pick up at work next month and get better but nothing is certain; and that doesn't help right now. I thought I was doing so well, I've applied for a new bank account and cancelled the DD's but now got completely stuck!

ljm23k

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Hi again, fell apart for a little while but pulling myself together again! I can easily get our budget under £100 below our income, but I got the impression that the lady at CCCS wouldn't accept that. Don't really feel up to calling them back this afternoon to try to argue the point.
Spoke to OH at work, he suggests trying the CAB in the morning to see if they can do anything. We are claiming as much as tax credits as poss at the momment as I rang the tax credit people last week. OH thinks it will pick up at work next month and get better but nothing is certain; and that doesn't help right now. I thought I was doing so well, I've applied for a new bank account and cancelled the DD's but now got completely stuck!

Why don't you try the online debt remedy on the CCCS website instead? When I filled it in it queried some expenses but I could override it anyway and it was accepted. BUT that may have had some thing to do with the DMP being in my name only and my DH pays most of the household expenses....

Are the debts in your name or joint? With the online debt remedy at least you can tweak it here and there until it works, eg if you can save 100.00 on food and it won't let you, you could always not enter a non priority expense, BUT you still need to make sure you have enough for your priorities

DizzyDizzy

Thank you to everyone so far, sorry I haven't even said thank you in my replies yet. It doesn't help that I'm 8 months pregnant and just started maternity leave which has really kicked this whole thing off (as well as OH not paying himself).
I've done the online debt remedy thingy, but all it did was tell me to ring one of their counsellors, I couldn't see anywhere where I could actually turn the figures into a DMP and get started? We owe a bit of money on last years council tax which as a priority debt may have meant that I had to speak to a counsellor.

ljm23k

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Thank you to everyone so far, sorry I haven't even said thank you in my replies yet. It doesn't help that I'm 8 months pregnant and just started maternity leave which has really kicked this whole thing off (as well as OH not paying himself).
I've done the online debt remedy thingy, but all it did was tell me to ring one of their counsellors, I couldn't see anywhere where I could actually turn the figures into a DMP and get started? We owe a bit of money on last years council tax which as a priority debt may have meant that I had to speak to a counsellor.

You probably were told to call them because you had more going out than coming in or because your OH is self employed?

Congratulations on the baby, at least something positive in the near future to look forward to!

pure_dead_dopey

OMG, I go out to work for a couple of hours and you put on three pages!!!

Welcome Dizzy, I see the team are looking after you really well, I think they are right, the token tango for a couple of months to sort yourself out then redo the figures when hopefully baba is born and OH paying himself again. I'm sure there is a letter somewhere for the token payments, maybe on national debtline, mine are all different as we're Scottish.
Sit down and have a cup of tea and think it through, its all on that link that Ted found for you, its very interesting.
happy Birthday to the wee man, was he yours Candypop?
Well doen that True woman, did I see a post saying you were going to train at the CAB, I'd love to, wish I had the time, maybe when I retire to be a lady of leisure (aged 345yrs and 2 months).

How is the coleslaw?

Bought a cheaper cut of meat to make a wee stroganoff, thought I'd cook it for longer, been cooking for approx 2 hours still bouncing when I attempt to cut it, saved a couple of quid on the meat, have increased global warming trying to cook it!!!!

true27

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Hi all, I've spent the weekend being in floods of tears thinking we were going to loose everything as OH not drawing a wage at the momment and then reading the entire thread almost from start to finish (I've only managed to get to page 71 so far tho!). It's a real inspiration to know that people can work a way out of this!
Sorry if this question has been answered already but I've just plucked up the courage to ring CCCS (got a bit of a phone phobia, can't talk to people I don't know on the phone) and they say they can't set up a DMP for us as we can't even meet day to day living expenses!! What do we do now?
Our income at the momment is £1256, this includes my wages, child benefit & tax credits. According to CCCS our outgoings are £1476m before any debt payments are met!
However, I only pay around £160 per month for food, and we don't buy any new clothes etc. The lady at CCCS insisted we had to put "realistic" figures in, and changed the food bill to £239 per month! She also upped other things on our budget, which then made it go over our income. I went through the figures again after our call finished and I can take £291 off of their budget!
So where does that leave me now? How do I even start trying to do a DMP on my own? I wanted CCCS to be a bit of a security blanket for me, I'm not sure I can do this alone. Has anyone else tried to go it alone? Thanks for reading a bit of a ramble but I'm starting to panic again now...

Hello sweetheart - never fear, True27 is here

Right, first thing you need to do is get your bum down the CAB. They don't have "set" figures like the CCCS do. What they will do is set the DMP up for you and then you take over and make the payments.

Biggest piece of advice? Be brutally honest with your budget. You need to have an emergency fund, you need money for clothes (even if its only socks!) and you will need lots of chocolate and wine to make life less boring!

I'm going it alone, I've been sending token payments for a few months while we build up an emergency pot etc. I feel so much better knowing that I have control over my budget and if I don't want to spend £240 on food then I don't have to!!

Don't go anywhere, you're in the best place and if you choose to go it alone, then I will hold your hand xx

true27

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Hi again, fell apart for a little while but pulling myself together again! I can easily get our budget under £100 below our income, but I got the impression that the lady at CCCS wouldn't accept that. Don't really feel up to calling them back this afternoon to try to argue the point.
Spoke to OH at work, he suggests trying the CAB in the morning to see if they can do anything. We are claiming as much as tax credits as poss at the momment as I rang the tax credit people last week. OH thinks it will pick up at work next month and get better but nothing is certain; and that doesn't help right now. I thought I was doing so well, I've applied for a new bank account and cancelled the DD's but now got completely stuck!

Oops, sorry hun, didn't see this post!!

Unfortunately, unless you can fulfill the CCCS figures AND make your budget £100 under income then the CCCS isn't the right road for you. CAB however, is.

Biggest problem with CAB is because they are volunteers, there is often a waiting period for an appointment - but ring up and get booked in asap. As soon as you have a date then we write a letter to each creditor with a £1 token payment and say you'll be in contact again after your appointment.

true27

DizzyDizzy wrote: »

Thank you to everyone so far, sorry I haven't even said thank you in my replies yet. It doesn't help that I'm 8 months pregnant and just started maternity leave which has really kicked this whole thing off (as well as OH not paying himself).
I've done the online debt remedy thingy, but all it did was tell me to ring one of their counsellors, I couldn't see anywhere where I could actually turn the figures into a DMP and get started? We owe a bit of money on last years council tax which as a priority debt may have meant that I had to speak to a counsellor.

I should really read the whole thread before I start replying :rotfl:

Congratulations on the bubba !! If I were you, I would be writing your budget two months in the future, ie when bubs arrives. If you can manage on £160 now, once bubs is here then you need to add nappies, milk, fresh veg and other baby periphirals and that will very quickly push you over budget.

With the council tax arrears, ring the council and ask to spread the arrears over the next 12 months so you have an arrangement in place.