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Can You Live Without Credit? Please Answer.

mikon
Posts: 638 Forumite
I am embarking on a DMP which means that the first month I do not pay the minimum amount to my creditors I will have a default marker placed on my credit file, even if they agree to a DMP payment. This will remain there for 6 yrs.
How do I survive without credit cards I know I will have my DMP arranged to ensure I pay my essential bills and have enough to live on and feed my 2 children. My worry is how will I purchase a vehicle when my existing one needs replacing, I will not be able to get finance so therefore will not be able to replace my vehicle. The amount of miles I do means I need a reliable vehicle not just a run around.
I will not be able to save as any excess income will go to paying off my debts.
So how do you survive without credit. I know some people say you do not need credit but does the world not exist because of debt.
Many thanks in anticipation.
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How do I survive without credit cards I know I will have my DMP arranged to ensure I pay my essential bills and have enough to live on and feed my 2 children. My worry is how will I purchase a vehicle when my existing one needs replacing, I will not be able to get finance so therefore will not be able to replace my vehicle. The amount of miles I do means I need a reliable vehicle not just a run around.
I will not be able to save as any excess income will go to paying off my debts.
So how do you survive without credit. I know some people say you do not need credit but does the world not exist because of debt.
Many thanks in anticipation.
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Mikon Riding the DMP Rollercoaster full of ups and downs but i will get to the end. :T
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.
:j
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.
DMP Mutual Support Thread No: 410 / DMP Without a Paddle No: 30
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Comments
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You can survive perfectly well without credit. I appreciate your income is pretty much accounted for after the DMP has been paid, but in answer to your query about replacing your car, save up! you can buy a perfectly decent car for £1500 to £2000 . That isn't a huge sum to save really.
The world may be built on credit these days, but look at the recession we are in now and the causes of it, do you think it would have been as bad - if it happened at all - if we hadn't lived our lives relying on credit?"If you are going through Hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill0 -
The one thing I am looking forward too and it sort of contradicts my original post is that I will not have credit cards and I will have to save its about time. Until now I have seen something in the shop and bought it on credit. My parents always taught me if something is worth having its worth saving up for and I guess they were right.
It will feel good having to save and living within my means. Cutting my cloth accordingly.Mikon Riding the DMP Rollercoaster full of ups and downs but i will get to the end. :T:j
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.DMP Mutual Support Thread No: 410 / DMP Without a Paddle No: 300 -
mikon, im sorry my earlier post was a little harsh maybe. But it is do-able, you have taken the right step in doing your DMP, at least you have no further hassle from creditors etc,..that peace of mind alone is well worth it.
Good Luck !"If you are going through Hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill0 -
Aspiring Writer. You were not harsh you are expressing the reality of the situation. I wish I had taken this step years ago. Although the thought of creditors ringing me at home and a work is worrying me and I hope they do not come knocking at my door as I have children.
But to secure a better future for my children me and my OH need to take this step now. Next week will see us setting yup separate basic bank accounts and closing our existing accounts. I guess it will good to live within a structured budget once again.Mikon Riding the DMP Rollercoaster full of ups and downs but i will get to the end. :T:j
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.DMP Mutual Support Thread No: 410 / DMP Without a Paddle No: 300 -
Im an oldie with grown up family we lived perfectly well when they were small had to save for what we needed not wanted there is a difference.Once you can get into the paying thing its not so bad
and yes i am learning again:T
good luckform filler extrordinaire0 -
The OH and I manage perfectly well without credit, and have in fact, found it utterly liberating. We now know that everything we buy, we can can afford and are not getting into further debt by doing so.
We have seperate bank accounts (my credit rating is ruined) and EVERYTHING we buy is paid for in cash. We also had to purchase a car, and believe it or not, managed to get a perfectly well maintained BMW 3 series for £600 on ebay.
There was a time when we thought that when the proverbial shoelace broke, that would be it, but through utilising the tips on this site and really putting in some hard work, we have managed well and have managed to build up a buffer zone.
It's hard, but it's worth it, and when you start to see the inroads you're maing into your debt, you will feel much better.
Chin up - loads of lovely people on here to help and support.
T xx0 -
I agree. We paid £500 for a car. We've driven it for probably nearly 3 yrs. It has needed some garage work, but old cars are a bit easier to fix, if you are handy you can get out there with a Haines manual and do some stuff yourself. You go to scrapyards for parts and get mates to help.
Our last 3 cars have all been paid for in cash. You save up for a long time towards the replacement and get what you can afford - hence the £500 car. You look at them carefully and treat them with respect. I love that little old car. It had low mileage when we got it and we've done probab ly 8-10k miles per year in her. You just need to look carefully for the right old car.Debt at highest: £8k. Debt Free 31/12/2009. Original MFD May 2036, MF Dec 2018.0 -
This site has been fantastic over the past week. I have been sheltered from our debts whilst my OH she has been worrying herself sick for the past 4 months and is now is ill as a result of the debts. She poured her heart out to me last week and I sought help from this site and National Debtline as well as CCCS.
The thought of embarking on a DMP is daunting and worrying as we have always had an excellent credit rating and pride ourselves on paying our way in life. That is why the thought of having my credit rating trashed is frightening but the fact the we will not have to worry and not have the stress of scrimping and scraping month in and month out seems worth it. I am also worried about the stress the calls and letters from creditors will have on my wife but I guess their entitled to chase their debt and we want to pay them just the interest element means we will never clear them. So the journey we are about to embark on is daunting but in 6yrs when we are debt free we will be stronger and better people.Mikon Riding the DMP Rollercoaster full of ups and downs but i will get to the end. :T:j
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.DMP Mutual Support Thread No: 410 / DMP Without a Paddle No: 300 -
I too have bought my last couple of cars for less than £350 each. The first was a dream. I worked out it's cost per month over it's life with me including purchase, mot's, tyres, any other mechanical needs (so excluding petrol, insurance and road tax). It cost me £5 (yes five) pounds per month!!!
The second was a nightmare but it was partly flukey mot failure (brakes would not pass mot at one station but would at another so after a complete new brake system still fail had to remot at the one it did pass at) and partly my own fault (took it to the most expensive and picky mot station in town! Der!). But "Satan" runs and drives like a dream and has never let me down!
The beauty of buying such old cars though is that when you'r ready to get another one, you scrap it and put that cash towards your next one. I'm hoping to get £100 for mine when I scrap it. So 3 years excellent reliability for £250 (plus about £600 for the hellish mot's). You live and learn though.
PooOne of Mike's Mob, Street Found Money £1.66, Non Sealed Pot (5p,2p,1p)£6.82? (£0 banked), Online Opinions 5/50pts, Piggy points 15, Ipsos 3930pts (£25+), Valued Opinions £12.85, MutualPoints 1786, Slicethepie £0.12, Toluna 7870pts, DFD Computer says NO!0 -
The problem is I am driving a £22k vehicle now private plates so to come down to a £500 vehicle will set alarm bells ringing amongst my family and friends. I know this sound stuck up my own ars* but I am one of those individual that has to maintain an image albeit the image I have been protraying over the past year has been beyond my means its difficult to readjust, its easier to go up than it is to come down. I guess my image needs to go out the window and my OH health and well being needs to be my priority.
Sorry for sounding a stuck up pompus, I'm not if you knew me.Mikon Riding the DMP Rollercoaster full of ups and downs but i will get to the end. :T:j
LBM April 2010. DMP Start June 2010 - 11% of debt paid at June 11 to 11 creditors
DFD In the Far Far Distant Future.DMP Mutual Support Thread No: 410 / DMP Without a Paddle No: 300
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