A quick question

troubleddude

After reading many threads on the forum i finally took the big step to admitting i have money problems and went through the cccs website.

My question is, i am currently up to date with all my loans & CC's (just!) but in the advice leaflet that cccs gave me they advise to stop all direct debits now. This means that i will fall behind on payments before i have a DMP confirmed.
I know it probably sounds stupid but should it matter or should i try and make the payments?

Any help/advice appreciated!

psychopathbabble

Do you definitely need to go on a DMP? Just curious as I thought I should but after doing a statement of affairs (link on the forum somewhere) I realised I have enough left over to attack the debt, just needed to be more strict about my finances.

As for the question, I can't help as I haven't gone down that route yet. Good luck with whatever you decide.

niccatw

Hi troubleddude

I agree with pyschopathbabble. I'm in the same position as you and jsut managing to make my payments every month. I decided to get a second job and be much more strict with my budget before going down the DMP route. So far, it's working out well, and this month I had a enough of a surplus to pay off more than I expected to. :j

I guess it depends on how close to the edge you are with the payments, how secure your job is and if you think it'll cause you more stress not to be on a DMP, but I'd be inclined to pay if I can and work on my SOA and budget to see if I can go it alone.

Good luck whicever route you decide to take.

troubleddude

Hi psycho
I was managing my debts just right up untill i lost 12hours a week at work putting me down to 58hrs a week. I thought i could hold out and sold my car, then sold that, then sold that and now have a £500 banger. For the past few months i have lived of just £25 for food etc and its now got to the stage were my ground rent/ management fees are due along with a few other items.
I have even tried selling my house, but its not worth what the mortgage is on it.
Basically i have managed my monies badly, not looking at what could happen and living on the edge. Its my fault for being stupid.

pure_dead_dopey

Hi Dude

If you definitely have decided to go down the route of a DMP, then yess you need to stop your DDs as they will be paid throughCCCS in the future. They recommend that you send a token payment each month until your DMP is up and running. Ours only took one month. You will also have to make sure that your bank account is seperate from all your debts, so if you owe money to your current bank, you need to set up a new Bank account to get your salary paid in to and to pay your priority bills from. The co-op cashminder is good for this. Well done, it will get easier, I promise

troubleddude

Thanks Dopey,
I have an simple account with NatWest that i plan on swapping my mortgage, wage etc over too.

psychopathbabble

Ok, just thought I'd check. Please don't put yourself down.... everyone has been there, we all make mistakes. I'm currently living on £10 a week for food and £15 for everything else... I've had trouble managing it the last couple of months but at the moment I'm seeing sense and really trying to stick to my budget.

It's hard work, but you will get there! Stay positive. You are taking the steps to slowly reduce your debt. Getting your head around it is the first and hardest step, which you have done!

Also, I'm sure you thought about it but have you a spare room you can rent? Depending on where you live you can get up to £450 a month.

GeorgeUK

Here's the link for the SOA calculator incase it's of use.
https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

troubleddude

Hi Pshyco, I have really been tight when using the SOA thing as i would like to pay off my debts as quickly as possible.
As for renting a room out, i never really thought about that but its worth a shot and could help me to get things sorted even faster. I will have to look into that on Monday.
Thanks for the link George

niccatw

Hi troubleddude

I rent out my spare room. I went onto the Shelter website to look into it, and also got a occupancy agreement from there. http://www.shelter.org.uk/

I'm lucky in that a friend needed somewhere to stay, so I wasn't worried about who I was sharing with. Although I could probably charge more - but, to be honest, I'd rather he sticks around for a while - and making sure I'm cheaper than the competition is my way of doing that!


As psycho said, stay positive. It does get better. Though I appreciate, when your living on fresh air, it's tough to keep that in mind! We're all rooting for you

troubleddude

Cheers niccatw, thanks for the info.
I'm sure i'll feel better once i get it all up and running.
Thanks again for all the help guys!