It's all got a bit out of hand

katsu

BeenieCat wrote: »

going to keep my Barclays acct open for now as i want to keep my additions account i have loads of stuff insured on it plus RAC cover works out cheaper than doing it individually.

Look at Martin's tabs on the main site - you can get similar cover to full RAC for £60 or less per year. Also, if you have contents insurance you may not need the other insurances. Double check this account is really worth the money they will charge you.

Poosmate

Hi Beenie, I see you are very experienced on the MSE boards so as you are probably aware getting into debt and getting out if it is a huge learning experience.

We all fall off the wagon or forget our way in our quest to become debt free at some point. Sometimes we have no choice but to add to the debt.

Our debt free journey is full of successes, regardless of how much debt we start with, are in, or how we manage it. Your first success in your current journey is recognising your mistake of not continuing with your DMP with CCCS, your second is taking the bull by the horns and planning to restart a DMP and your third is, of course, posting on here! See, three successes under your belt already!

You can do this. You can organise your own DMP. You owe it to yourself and to your baby. You should, in true MSE fashion, be getting as much stuff for your baby for free through freecycle/freegle(?). Your baby is not going to know how much money you do or don't spend on them at this stage so make the most of it and bust that debt!

Good luck

Poo

miss_missy

hi Beenin
dont be put of with cccs and payplan saying they cant help youve worked at it before and youll manage it again think of it as doing it for you baby thats what we did its amazing what people can and will do for their children
it might help if you post an soa

also is this your first child if so be careful what you buy alot of the stuff for babies and young children is not needed i should know as i bought everything going for my first and most either not used or barely used
as the op suggested use freecycle as much as possible and ebay and carboots for anything else i sold alot of my babystuff at carboots for next to nothing and some of it unused

good luck

miss_missy

forgot to say also by doing your own dmp your have more control and that certainly worked for me im not on a dmp but we have more than halved our depts in 3 years and i just love seeing all the figures coming down and get great pleasure from making a payment i think ive actually become a little obsessed but i do love the feeling that i am now controlling every aspect of my finances.

angelaf_3

Hi Beenie
If you can't face doing the dmp yourself check if you have a CAP centre near you. They are a christian dept management company who help people for free. You don't have to be a Christian, the Christian bit is why they do it and it is one of the debt management companies recommended by Martin.

You can check it out here http://www.capuk.org/help/needhelp.php.
Good luck and well done for the start you've made and congratulations on your addition

BeenieCat

Katsu - thank you i think i will. My conts insurance doesn't cover accidental damage though. I've got the TV and the Wii insured (can't remember what else if anything?), also mobile phone insurance (am on PAYG so don't get a new phone every year) and full RAC inc. home start. Costs me £15 a month but it reduces the interest on my overdraft too apparently but no idea by how much.

Poo thank you so much for your post, it's a real kick up the backside and makes me even more determined to do this. I've been on the forums a while but have mostly avoided DFW because i was hiding from it.

When i first started my DMP with CCCS it was a huge relief, i'd been getting behind with everything and was paying out so much money to each creditor every month, so when i started making smaller payments i could breathe again. This time it's a bit different because i've just not made any payments since last year, so anything i'll be paying from now on is extra, rather than less! It means my determination to sort this is less than it was, but reading the support is helping.

missy, it's my 2nd baby, i have a 6yr old too. My OH of 3 years left when i was 5 months pregnant and never gave me a penny towards setting up for baby. I had been made redundant around the time i got pregnant so was on benefits so got things from boot sales and freecycle and friends, so it didn't cost much really. But the only one thing i did want to buy new was a cot bed, as it'd be in use for 5 yrs and that was what the £120 was for that Barclaycard have just taken.

I have a spreadsheet for bills and stuff which i like doing so hopefully will really into the DMP when i start it. I need to try and fix my printer it didn't like the last lot of ink i tried in it lol.

Angela, i spoke to CAP before the CCCS about 3/4 years ago and i had made a start with them but i didn't like it, it left me feeling uncomfortable. In a way it was good they took control i felt that's what i needed but i didn't like to need to ring them everytime i wanted some of my own money, and they said they wouldn't preach at me but they did and they made me watch video's about Christianity and i beared it at first but i think i'm better to try and do this on my own, i want to clear my debts not have them running my life and that's how they made me feel.

katsu

BeenieCat wrote: »

Katsu - thank you i think i will. My conts insurance doesn't cover accidental damage though. I've got the TV and the Wii insured (can't remember what else if anything?), also mobile phone insurance (am on PAYG so don't get a new phone every year) and full RAC inc. home start. Costs me £15 a month but it reduces the interest on my overdraft too apparently but no idea by how much.

Just as an experiment... This account costs you £180 per year. You could get the breakdown cover for around £60. So, is it worth £120pa? Only you can really decide but I would ask: can you not add accidental damage to your contents insurance - how much would it go up? What if you insured specific items only for accidental damage? If your handset is cheap, what benefit does the insurance give you? As it is PAYG, a thief cannot give you a big bill and you could replace the handset for £10. Overdraft interest - you need to ask the bank about that or look in the blurb.

I don't know your situation so this isn't advice to cancel the features, I'm just suggesting you check you can't spend say £120 not £180 and be £60 per year better off.

Cleosmum

I had an overdraft a few years ago and I got the bank to reduce it by £20 each month and that helped with the dipping back into it from time to time

miss_missy

sorry you have had so many things to deal with while you were pregnant but at least you have 2 lovely children to help you through when ever im feeling down i cuddle one of mine i that puts me back on track
i am sorry about the cot but why not try and get something of freecycle and save up for a nice bed for little one once there 2-3 yrs make sure its an account away from your debtors
why no post an soa and see if people can help and most of all sort out a new back account
you can do it and once you get to grips with sorting it out you will feel much better even if all you can pay to everyone is £1 a month at least your trying to pay them and i believe that if anyone trys to take you to court that courts always prefer to see that you are trying to pay and not just leaving it and rememeber that you can pay what you havent got
take care and give your little ones a cuddle its amazing how that can cheer you up

BeenieCat

Katsu when you put it like that, it's not really worth it is it?

Definitely need to make a to-do list for things like this to make sure i sort it. Who knows i might even get some cashback. Need to sort pet insurance too, i've been utilising the PDSA which is helpful...

I have expenses coming up that i need to save for, but no set date - i need my dog and cat neutering is just one example. Plus i need to decorate my house because i'm on the list for an exchange and it wouldn't be accepted if they saw the bare plasterwork in some places Does anyone know if i can account for this kind of thing on my expenditure form that my creditors will see?

It's all so confusing... I have no idea what is considered an acceptable expense and what's not. I.e i have a package with Virgin, so is the phone line ok but not the TV? I need to do some serious homework...

Cleo that is useful to know, thanks. I will add a 'ring Barclays' re. that on my to-do list...

And the cot - well i have been hoping my ex would see sense and pay something towards the baby but i've just found out he's got no job now!!! :mad: Apparently the agency he was working for have no more work atm... Typical after i've just sorted the CSA application, that money would have helped...