Light bulb moment, and it ain't gonna be pretty......

Faye449

fatlad9 wrote: »

hi, ive just had my lightbulb moment last week, so just wanted to say good luck - almost everyone here is really nice, even if the harsh comments help!!

I know you have, I've just read your thread ;-)

Honestly, how do we get ourselves into these things?! gah!!!

Thank you. Good luck to you and hope you get sorted out too. Now your on this forum I reckon you'll be just fine :-)

Faye449

soooo got a bit of an update.
Finished my consultation phone call doo-dah with CCCS and they've been great. My pack with all my letters for creditors is on its way.
have spoken to a few of them already to let them know whats happening, Egg were fine, said they'd note the ref no, stop calling me and wait to hear from me via letter as did nationwide.
I called capital one and spoke to a foreign call centre (oh joy) and the adviser reluctantly took the details and then told me that if I didn't bring my account all the way up to date by end of march they would put a default on the account, send a bailiff after me etc etc but there you go, and Barclays responded by referring my debt to mercers but nevermind you can't have it all!

Went to Morrsions in my lunch break today and spent the princely sum of 13 pounds which will last me a week and also managed to get T-mobile to reduce my phone bill from 65/month to.................15!! Woo! they were really good actually, I explained I didn't need the blackberry bolt ons anymore as I didn't have the job anymore and was struggling to pay bills as I had lost my job and they took the bolt ons off straight away with reduces it to 40/month then said if I send them a copy of my redundancy letter they will drop it right down to their lowest tariff of 15.

All I have to do now is remind myself that just because I have saved 50/month doesn't mean I HAVE 50/month!

Moneytroubles_2

Hi Faye, well done on the mobile tarrif thats amazing

Also glad your on your way with CCCS! Shame that you couldnt get all on board but at least its a start xxx

InaPickle

Hi Faye,

I've been reading your diary but haven't had the chance to comment yet. Well done as you seem to be going about things the right way. I can understand your frustration at being in debt as it's not as though you have been galavanting on expensive foreign holidays, rather just scraping by. Best of luck with the Ebaying and have you considered signing up to do mystery shops etc.? Every little helps!

misscousinitt

Hi Faye

Just popped by to say good luck.

Great job with the phone bill! Thats wonderful news.

I know you are in arrears with gas and elec - but try to limit what you use to keep your new payments down in the future - there are loads of tips on the OS board.

Kepp chipping away and you will get there...you have made a great start.

RuthnJasper

Great update Faye - please keep us posted honey. We're all rooting for you.
xxx

Faye449

Thanks All, the support on here is great. Am feeling strangely positive about everything. Also realise how lucky I am that I have the chance to pay things off faster than some using my commission and quarterly bonuses. Which reminds me, new job is going really well, enjoying it loads! Can't wait to get out there and start selling, I go 'live' 1st April :-)

Had to buy a few things for work yesterday but can claim them back on expenses so it was nice to get a shopping fix knowing I'll get the money back.
On my way home I passed a Aldi so decided to drop in and have a nose as its close to work so I could do my shopping there but it really wasn't that great. Granted I only looked at the stuff I would buy and didn't do a whole shop comparison but the Tesco Value range looked to be about 1/3 of the price of a lot of things so I shant be going back! Wonder if Lidl is any better..................?

Have spent a sunny afternoon in the garden with dogs (as you do lol) and I just can't wait to get my bl**dy debts paid so I can get my garden done properly. Charlie Dimmock I aint but a few plants and bushes here and there would be nice. Oh well, one day.........probably the day after I have got the house finished too lol but it will come. And then I'll go on holiday ahahaha!

RuthnJasper

Hi Faye,

Glad to know you're still keeping positive. Jasper (dog) and I have just "celebrated" our first year without TV anniversary. I couldn't afford the licence, and I didn't watch enough to justify the spend. Jasper was the most cross, as he LOVES (seriously) watching cookery programmes! But I can still see the programmes I want on the 'watch again' sites on the internet, like the BBC Iplayer (you only need a licence if you watch them in 'real time').

Today was the first day of Spring and really lovely weather where I live, so Jasper sat with me in our little garden all morning. I read my library book (free) with a cup of tea (almost free) and Jasper barked at the Cat Across the Road (free, though Jas. would pay to be allowed to do it). A perfect morning!

KEEP GOING FAYE! (and Fatlad too). You're doing the right thing.

Big hugs.

Ruth & Jasper xxx

RuthnJasper

P.S. I know what you mean about the "strangely positive" thing. It's a sick old moment when you stop to take stock of your debts and decide to face up. But SUCH a release of your burden... I haven't felt so positive in AGES myself. Yes, life is reasonably sh*t just now - but I am actively doing something to solve my problems and - from the moment you start to do that - you can see the end in sight. Surely there's nothing better than that...? (Except possibly a few hours alone with a certain Mr. Clooney).;)

Hugs again!

R&J x

Faye449

Hello All,
Hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine?
Thought I'd pop on with an update (it helps me to do this too as writing it all down keeps me focussed and organised!)

Re the DMP and my creditors:

HSBC are being uselss. They haven't responded to my letter but keep constantly ringing so my phone is now permanently on silent. Made the mistake of answering it once last week and I shant be doing that again. Some nitwit woman with 'language barrier' issues kept repeatedly asking questions about budgets etc which I clearly explained to her are in the letter etc. In the end I just told her to stop ringing, read the letter and write back.

Barclays aren't much better. They keep texting telling my debt is being dealt with by Mercers which I already know (duh!) and haven't responded to my letter. I have also had a letter from power2connect who apparently are going to 'help' them get back in contact with me. Even though I've written to them. P2C say they will visit me. Well they will get a short shrift if they do.

Capital One have written me a letter saying they are unable to set up a payment plan for me as I didn't indicate which one I required ie short term or long term. Do I have to do that or do I just continue making the token payments as per my CCCS DMP? I don't trust Capital One not to try and tie me into something.
They then sent me a 2nd letter asking for an income/expenditure form. Well they got that with my CCCS paperwork so I'm not sending it. They have also asked for wage slips which I don't want to send them. Do I have to?

Egg also keep ringing but I'm ignoring. Haven't had any correspondence re my credit card yet but they returned the token payment re my loan saying they were unable to determine the customer.

Nationwide have written saying they don't accept my proposal and asked me to phone them which I shant do (getting rebellious aren't I?! my attitude now is that I can't give what I haven't got ) and that they will seve me a default notice (thought I already had one anyway) and refer me to their debt recovery team who will CONSIDER legal proceedings. Well let them.

I'm still have a nightmare with the council tax bailiff. Council as trying to sort out my unapplied benefits etc but the bailiff isn't letting up. Haven't actually seen the guy yet but he hand delivered me a letter saying that payment was due in full in 24 hours and that no other arrangements are acceptable. Well he can naff off as well. He has hand written on the letter 1000.50 IE. God knows where that figure came from as my arrears is 750 and it will reduce when the council sort themselves out anyway (they are aking aaaaaages though!)

Had a bit of a nightmare lately with a debt collectors letter for a parking fine I didn't know I had from over 6 months ago that I need to serve an OOT for.............and thats all the bad news!

The good news is that my work have been fab and are going to get me an estate for my company car so after my 3 month initial period I can def get rid of my car! It needs a bit of money spending on it to be 'saleable' but hopefully not too much.

And I finally got myself sorted out and organised my wardrobe. Found LOADS to sell on ebay, listed half of it last week and so far have made 200! need to get the other half listed asap............Currently need a donkey to carry it all to the post office!

Ought to set up a savings account and put the ebay money in there to start my F&F fund. Do you get credit checked for opening a savings account?