DMP - Budget item queried by creditor, CCCS want to shut down plan!?

MyLastFiver

Just in case this is not a wind-up...

OPer, for the sake of your future, drop the donations now, keep a record of what you would have paid, then increase your donations to repay this once you are solvent.

God will not sell your debt on to a DCA

heppy23

thewad wrote: »

Be nice if the person who posted this answered some of the questions.
Or is this just a wind up post?

John

I thought that but the OP has quite a few posts. If it had been their first post I would have steered clear.

kendalls_cave

I have a DMP with the CCCS and also have given 10% to the church in the past - however I was told to lower the amount given to church as it wasn't fair on my creditors.

As for the church - yes it is biblical to give 10% but it's not to be done under obligation. And tithing isn't just about giving money, but also about giving time etc. Gosh hope that makes some sense sorry

maureenjscott

hi
Just a quick message to thank everyone for their input.
No its not a wind up - I'm heavily pregnant and loaded with the cold on top of all this so literally just getting the chance to read all the answers - didnt' realise it would be such a debate.
I am heading to bed now and will address some of the points that have been made and questions that have been asked of me in the morning.
thanks again,
maureen.

miss_missy

hi maureen
im glad it wasnt a wind up and hope you can understand why i could have wondered about it
i hope you feel better in the morning but have to say i still think you should talk to your church about reducing the money you give them and as i put in my first post maybe you could pay more once your out of debt to make up for the money you need to reduce by, for example if you say reduce by £20 you keep a log of how many months then once your debt free increase money to pay it back

take care

OrkneyStar

kendalls_cave wrote: »

I have a DMP with the CCCS and also have given 10% to the church in the past - however I was told to lower the amount given to church as it wasn't fair on my creditors.

As for the church - yes it is biblical to give 10% but it's not to be done under obligation. And tithing isn't just about giving money, but also about giving time etc. Gosh hope that makes some sense sorry

The lady is a LDS (=Mormon), I am not sure if they have any more strict rules about tithing, specific to their 'denomination' iyswim. Our Church goes with the Biblical 10%, as you say, but noone forces us to!

maureenjscott

Hi there, thanks for bearing with me through this, thought today would have been worse - awoke at 6am to a complete power cut-the whole area in darkness! House freezing and a good few inches of snow! argh! But all back on now thankfully. I want to address the points made, sorry for long posts which wil follow and thanks for all the help and advice.

Obviously my first port of call is my Bishop (Church Ward leader for my area), his is an unpaid, voluntary post and we will be able to discuss at length the situation after meetings this sunday by which time he'll have been able to seek advice from further up.

Tedsd - thank you for your remarks re articles on google, i have had a look at a few and found these two which perhaps more clearly explain my Church's teachings on the matter and I fully expect this to be the advice that i recieve on Sunday from my Bishop. - http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b8f876e6ffe0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 and
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=beaa47f765adb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Madison wrote: »

What does it say in the budget guide about giving to religious organisations or charities? I'd imagine it has a 'must be justified' clause in it.

Hi Madison - not sure where to find budget guide - is this from CCCS themselves?

thewad wrote: »

Will the church bail you out if you can't afford the rent?
You owe people money but you'd rather give it to the church, think you need to get your priorities in order.
Great move by the church though promising blessing if you give them 10% of your income, bit like pay per view pay per blessing.
Wonder who's making money out this scam.
Sorry if I'm not sympathetic but I think you can see where I'm going.
For once I'm on creditors side here.
What happens if, in the last week of the month you have no money for food?
That 10% would have fed you instead of lining someone's back pocket.


John

John - The LDS Church has an extensive welfare system in place paid for mainly by the honest faithful tithes of its members and yes, last summer when our income was halved and we struggled, we did receive financial assistance from this programme (which we do not have to repay, i might add). Its not that i would 'rather' give money to the Church, its not an obligation and yes it is voluntary, however, as i tried to explain in the original post, the times when we have not paid are the months where we struggle for money/food etc. By paying an honest tithe for me and my family, we showing that we have the faith in the Lord that our needs will be met and that He will provide a way for us to be able to live and reduce our debts.

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

I do have to agree with this point. Would the church help to pay for food out of the tithe money?

As stated above the Welfare system in place within the Church would indeed give us money for food/heating/bus fares etc whatever we would need in such circumstances.

gonzo127

just a thought when you speak to your Bishop, might it be worth inquiring if they could pay the £250 to get this creditor of your back and then up your donations to the church by the coresponding amount, ie the extra £5 a month, of course this would also HAVE to be agreed by the CCCS as in theory you would be taking out further credit (from the church) which would more than likely go against the CCCS rules however due to the nature of your donations and the way the benifit system works of your church there MIGHT be a possibility that it would be acceptable

maureenjscott

gailey wrote: »

but one point maureen did mention is all creditors good.
apart from one with small debt quuering it which threatens to ruin dmp.
could you not find £250 somehow to paythem off as they the only creditor causing trouble over it?
then you can pay dmp to othercreditors and your church.

Gailey - I was under the impression that i cannot pay off any one creditor while on the DMP as that is then unfair to the other creditors. Being pregnant I am due for a maternity grant which I would be more than willing to pay the creditor with just to get rid of them!

My main concern is the fact that the last budget change was in October, however, they have waited now till almost the end of February to query the tithing. This has been on the budget for the entire duration of the DMP and in fact also reduced in Oct in line with reduction of income.

kendalls_cave wrote: »

As for the church - yes it is biblical to give 10% but it's not to be done under obligation. And tithing isn't just about giving money, but also about giving time etc. Gosh hope that makes some sense sorry

Thanks KC - yes its not an obligation, however, I have explained in previous post my reasons for paying a full and honest tithe.

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I have tried to suggest things for Maureen to do, so will reiterate the main things incase they are lost among the other stuff:
1. let us see the SoA and see if we can make any suggestions ? How long will the DMP take ?
2. approach an elder- what might they suggest ?
3. pay the creditor anyway, they might just be trying their luck especially if it is a small debt ?
4. And this is from a purely non- Money Advice stance, but she and her husband should pray together, even if just to get some peace about the whole thing.
All the best Maureen.

Thank you for all your comments OrkneyStar, I appreciate your being able to see this from both sides of the arguement. To address your points - 1) I am not going to post an SOA at this point, I have reduced everything on my budget as far as humanly possible - we dont drink/smoke/socialise to any great extent/have no car/no pets. Someone mentioned Sky - we have Virgin but have been with them for years, have several discounts in place and pay very little for what i see as a normal expense (ie i have two kids who watch the cartoons, we use the broadband for our studies, and if i cancel the landline we would lose a discount thereby increasing the price!) I have used price comparison sites to reduce electricity and gas and recently got further reduction on our contents insurance. Other than eating beans on toast for ever, we have also reduced our shopping bills as far as we can.
2) Meeting with Church leader on Sunday
3) They remain on the DMP at present and will continue to get the payment until circumstances change.
4) Absolutely! Regular personal prayer, prayer with DH and family prayers all in place.

fermi wrote: »

Hi.

I've sent a PM to the CCCS advisors who post here asking them to take a look at this thread.

thanks Fermi!

thewad wrote: »

Just supposing I was paying £1000 a month on a DMP.
Just suppose I suddenly become religious.
This religious fervour makes me put £25 per week into collection box.
Would they knock my DMP payments down to £900.
I think not and with good reason.

John

No John, they probably wouldn't, however, this is something i have been doing for several years since joining the Church and has been on the DMP for the entire duration, it has never been questioned up till now. The last change was in October (a reduction) and they have taken almost 5months to question it (18months if you take the whole dmp into account) - this is what i take issue with!

pure_dead_dopey wrote: »

A loving God would never want you to do without the essentials of life to pay a tithe, and you say the church has helped with stuff for the baby, so surely a "holiday" from your tithe is along the same line? The other argument is that if both your partner and you are doing degrees etc, your earning potential will increase in the future and you'd be able to make it up then?:)

He is a loving God and our family do not go without the essentials to pay a tithe - we pay a tithe faithfully knowing that the essentials will be provided. I have posted a couple of links in the previous reply that may explain this better.

thanks

maureenjscott

gonzo127 wrote: »

just a thought when you speak to your Bishop, might it be worth inquiring if they could pay the £250 to get this creditor of your back and then up your donations to the church by the coresponding amount, ie the extra £5 a month, of course this would also HAVE to be agreed by the CCCS as in theory you would be taking out further credit (from the church) which would more than likely go against the CCCS rules however due to the nature of your donations and the way the benifit system works of your church there MIGHT be a possibility that it would be acceptable

didn't think i'd be able to pay off one creditor over the others regardless of where the money comes from. Think this is against CCCS rules.
thanks.