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

kaths101

Isis_79 wrote: »

My husband and I have started the scary process of putting a DMP in place this month too, so I'm in!

We've sent off the DMP paperwork, changed our bank accounts and have written to all of our creditors.

We’ve not heard from anybody yet apart from Egg, who started calling persistently since the second we cancelled our DDs (we've simply screened and ignored their calls).

Now we face the seemingly impossible task of making it through the month without using any credit…and I really can’t remember the last time we were able to do that!

This seems like such a scary decision to make. It’s not easy to put your hands up and admit you’re in too much debt to manage it by yourself any longer. I can’t help feeling as if my pride’s been dented as we’ve somehow failed. Anybody else feel similarly? We have been hiding our difficulties from family and friends. Perhaps it’ll get easier; a small part of me also acknowledges how brave we’re being, and at least we’re getting in control of our debts rather than allowing things to continue to spiral.

It’s reassuring to find we’re in no way alone in any of this!

Hi :wave:, Im probably at the same stage - you have been very brave.. i feel as if a huge weight has been lifted and havent even done anything yet!
Im with Egg too and havent cancelled the D/D though will have to over the next few days - as it goes out on the 16th.. not looking forward to that one!!
I had my first month last month without credit (for over 10 years) and its a great feeling - yes you cant have everything you want but it actually feels good to say hey i cant afford that so Im not going to have it! I had to put some unneccessary shopping back last week in morrisons as I had £50 in cash took a calculator with me and just spent £50 - before I would have said stuff it and put it on the credit card!

Its not easy, and we have been the same regarding family and friends - one of my friends knows but my family actually think we are quite well off!! Little do they know Im in 32k of debt!! :eek: - I have gone past the dented pride feeling but did feel that when I realised all my credit cards were full and i couldnt afford ANYTHING!! You havent failed!! this is a great step to be taking and taking control of your life - I keep imagining what it would be like 2-3 years down the line if I had carried on as I was and had not sought help from the CCCs _pale_ I dread to think!

You are not alone - we will all get through this! Good Luck

VicB

Hi isis_79

Totally agree with Kath, you have 100% done the right thing. I was living with my head buried in the sand for SO long and my life wasn't going anyway. Now I'm getting my life back together (starting DMP 1st March) I can finally look to move in with my lovely BF and build a life together. Something I couldn't imagine doing when I was struggling with debt.

I do feel stupid, but do you know what? I'm not the only one to get themselves in a mess and unfortunately I won't be the last. Be proud that you've held you hands up and admitted you've made a mistake and you're dealing with it. :T

Only one of my friends knows and she's been great, completely understanding and has never judged me.

It feels a little scary going out without any credit cards as back up but also rather liberating, I won't live on credit anymore! :j

Welcome Lisai0U you've taken the first step by coming on here and talking about your debt. The best thing to do is a SOA (statement of affairs) or go onto the CCCS website and complete their Debt Remedy, their advice and help is really invaluable.

Good luck and keep us posted!

girlypink

Hi Lisa,

personally i think the best way would be to do a SOA either on here or on CCCS website this will put you in the picture of how much you have left over at the end of the month for your debts. You say its about £100? You could speak to your loan company and ask about upping the time frame but you have to think about logically, theres no point in getting more credit if you can still only pay the minimum payments only each month you will end up paying off your debts forever. Perhaps speak to someone at CCCS over the phone let them know your query and see if they can give any suggestions? Theres also a board you could possibly PM one of the CCCS people and check what they think?

Im so dubious about taking out credit to pay credit i have been doing that for the last 12 years and just got to a point where they wouldnt given me anymore! im turning 30 in the next few months and i wish i had sorted this all out 10 years ago and i'd be debt free by now! instead im going to be in debt till im about 36

As for the credit report thing, if a company "defaults" you this stays next to the bill for 6 years from the time they put it on. If they mark down that you are on an arangement to pay or DMP this will stay on for 6 years after you have paid it off in full. Hope this helps (only know as i was asking the same thing on here before) :rotfl: i guess in theory its better to have a default on there than anything else as that will probably disapear quicker. Its all very confusing.

Hope you are all having a good DFD

misscdc

hello everybody, i started my dmp in january and have been pretty scared about the consequences, but i would like to join you all and get some support if i can
good luck :T

misscdc

well i know its silly but i am reaaallly embarassed about it, i have an alright job but went a bit mad with cc's then consolidated then spent on the ccs again, naughty i know, trying to live a life that was more than i could afford.
well then the money ran dry and i knew at xmas i had to do something, i was making minimum payments trying to make ends meet, so i went to the cccs after reading the forums on here, and set up my dmp, paid my first payment and hey ho, here i go.
bad news is i told boyfriend everything and he walked ! so i am all alone in my sorrowful state but, to be fair i havent had much hassle from my creditors (famous last words) i dont know if that was because i started a dmp before i got into any arrears with them ??
just want to say thank you to all the people who write on these pages as i got the courage to deal with my situation from all of you :beer:

lisal0u

Hi,

Thanks for all the useful advice! I have phoned cccs and they were very helpful. The only thing that puts me off is that you have to declare a dmp to all of your creditors and I dont really want to do this.

The kitchen payment is 0% already and will be paid off in June but with a dmp I will have to mess about with the payments when I would rather get it paid off if you see what I mean. This is the same with my car, the payments end in November but I will still have a lump sum of £3500 to pay. I want to keep my car as long as possible to get some free motoring out of it rather then starting again and putting that £3500 to a new car.

Im considering getting a second job to help 1 or 2 evening or weekends to save up the £3500 to pay off the car.

This bloomin house has turned into a money pit!

My SOA is as follows:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615.14
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.00
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.50
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.40
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219.70
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.30
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230.53
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.98

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Odds & Sods

Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.75
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615.14


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,523.16




What I would like to be able to do is reduce the interest on my credit cards so that I am making a dent in them and reduce the monthly outgoings of my loan.

I know Im teetering on the edge so I need to do something! I hate money I should never be allowed any ha ha

pure_dead_dopey

evening all, to the newbies well done, it will be OK (I think). Been in the frozen North (and I literally mean the frozen North) and have spent ages reading all the good news tonight when I got back. Been a good couple of days for acceptances, long may it continue. I was hoping the OH would have dealt with it all when I was away but no phone calls and only one letter, from Amex and they've already defaulted me and stopped interest. I'm worried about Halifax/BoS, we have a lot with them and they are just ignoring me so far sending ordinary statements as I haven't missed a payment until 26th Feb......

nataz

lisal0u wrote: »

Hi,

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615.14
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.00
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.50
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.40
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219.70
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.30
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230.53
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.98

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Odds & Sods

Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.75
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,615.14


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,523.16

Hi and welcome to the group

I've had a look through your SOA and it doesnt really make sense, do you share a house? Seems like your TV, food etc are quite low.
I have read your posts and agree that you seek advice from CCCS, however, I think you need to really think how debt free you want to be. I was in a similar position as you in that my two loans were due to be paid off this year, and I was on 0% for a lot of the other debts. The crunch was that although these debts would soon be gone, the lack of money in the meantime meant my overall debt would have gone sky high as I couldnt afford to keep making the minimum payments and live (I have two kids and couldnt risk loosing everything). In my opinion its better to spread your debt over a longer period than struggle on in the short term.
As far as your car is concerned, Im not too sure on how best to deal with that. If I were you I would seriously consider the possibilty of getting rid. If you are thinking of working extra, why not put that money to a cheaper car that will see you through the hard times to come, but wont stop you from dealing with your debts?
I would agree with fellow posters that taking out debt to clear debt is the worst thing you can do. Its a vicous circle and trust me you just end up in a worst place. 25K is a lot of debt to brush under the carpet. Yes the banks may stop interest charges and accept a lower payment, but you have to realise that this will probaby still go on your credit file just the same as a DMP because you are breaking their terms and defaulting on the debt. Taking out the loan over 7 years will only just end up adding unnecessary interest to it.
I hope that has given you plenty to think about, any questions just fire away, we're all in similar postions.

nataz

Isis_79 wrote: »

My husband and I have started the scary process of putting a DMP in place this month too, so I'm in!

We've sent off the DMP paperwork, changed our bank accounts and have written to all of our creditors.

We’ve not heard from anybody yet apart from Egg, who started calling persistently since the second we cancelled our DDs (we've simply screened and ignored their calls).

Now we face the seemingly impossible task of making it through the month without using any credit…and I really can’t remember the last time we were able to do that!

This seems like such a scary decision to make. It’s not easy to put your hands up and admit you’re in too much debt to manage it by yourself any longer. I can’t help feeling as if my pride’s been dented as we’ve somehow failed. Anybody else feel similarly? We have been hiding our difficulties from family and friends. Perhaps it’ll get easier; a small part of me also acknowledges how brave we’re being, and at least we’re getting in control of our debts rather than allowing things to continue to spiral.

It’s reassuring to find we’re in no way alone in any of this!

You're defo not alone. You deserve a huge :T for making the leap into debt freedom!!
Only my mum knows about our debt problems. Its too much to tell everyone else, but being on here and talking to the fantastic people at CCCS and given me and my OH the confidence to tackle it head on.
Its like most things, the hardest part is taking the first leap. After that everything is a piece of cake :laugh:
Any questions fire away.
Oh and you'll soon realise from previous posts that Egg are a complete pain the the ****!!!!

nataz

tedsd wrote: »

Glad you popped in, thanks for that Nataz, really frustrating having to hang on til then but yes I'd appreciate being able to hang about to give and get support and to perfect my Aldi trolley skills.... do we have any criteria for this yet?

No probs tedsd anytime

Ummmm will have to put thinking cap on On the subject of Aldi, does everyone elses store just have one till on at a time or is it just me????