DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

Standingtall

CommitedToChange wrote: »

Sigh, I think I'm going to have to start paying my student loans back in May, I'm above the deferment threshold by a stupid £300 meaning I'll be £2500 worse off a year - that's a huge chunk of my new wages so the decision is now pension and DMP for 9 odd years (assuming after loans are paid the extra money goes DMP) or no pension and pay off the debts in 6 years.

Sorry just needed to get this down so hopefully I can stop thinking about it and get some sleep.

Well, guess who was asleep by then but subsequently work up at 3 am. I have tossed and turned since but have now given up and logged in to here. It's going to be a long day:mad:

I also pay my student loan, a pension and my DMP. I think maybe you should consider how important your credit rating is, also if you have a OH with good pension provision. Personally, and this is only my personal opinion, I would start paying into your pension. Your creditors will wait but retirement will most likely be at 65 or 67 whethere you like it or not and you could have a very poor standard of living if you do not put that provision in place now.

My friend is in the old NHS pension and will retire in 10 years age 55. I have only little bits of provision here and there due to job changes, education and career breaks to raise family. I envy her so much and that is one of the few things I would change if I could have my time over again. I will no doubt be sat over my two bar electric fire with a rug over my knee, she will be on a world cruise:eek:

So, that is my opiniion for what it is worth. None of us have a crystal ball though and pensions are always dependent in stock market fluctuations. I have no doubt others may disagree but from someone who does worry very much about what retirement will hold for then that is my advice.

Joyanne

Hi everyone, just a quick update, studio sent me a statement which has £70 charges on it (lovely) but the day after I received nexts credit agreement to sign they sent me a statement with my reduced payment on it, so I suppose they've accepted even though I didn't sign it. I've heard nowt else from the other 11. I'm managing ok on the budget at the mo although i did overspend by £10 last week so will have to rein myself in for the rest of the month to try and make it up. Anyway onwards and upwards. Hope everyone else's dmp is on track.

fermi

Hi everyone.

It's getting to the time again where a new thread will be needed.

Is there any particular info, links etc that you think it would be handy to have for reference in the first few posts?

fermi

Joyanne wrote: »

Hi everyone, just a quick update, studio sent me a statement which has £70 charges on it (lovely) but the day after I received nexts credit agreement to sign they sent me a statement with my reduced payment on it, so I suppose they've accepted even though I didn't sign it.

Cheeky sods!

I knew they tried that one on a while ago, but didn't realise they were still at it. :mad:

Joyanne

fermi wrote: »

Cheeky sods!

I knew they tried that one on a while ago, but didn't realise they were still at it. :mad:

I know I couldn't believe it either.

BlushingRose

Oh, brilliant - phone bill has arrived, telling us that the DD for the phone will be going up from £22 to £31 after this month!

I wouldn't mind, but that's just for the phone, the internet is another £22.90!

We can't move ISP either cos of the place we live :-(

Edit: Update to say that Mr BR has now rung them and the increase has now been reduced to £26 so an increase of £4 instead of £9. They've also let us know when to use the phone so as to keep costs down as much as possible (we don't ring out much as it is)

sickasachip13

Well, I've been putting my paperwork in order and realised that Mr SAAC inadvertently took out some 'free' life insurance thing that then kicked in and started costing, that's another £9.99 pm that we've been wasting. I'm annoyed I didn't spot it earlier, but at least we know now.

Oh, I see we're going to be moving onto a nice new shiny thread soon. I'll have a look for some useful links etc later.

SAAC

Standingtall

BlushingRose wrote: »

Oh, brilliant - phone bill has arrived, telling us that the DD for the phone will be going up from £22 to £31 after this month!

I wouldn't mind, but that's just for the phone, the internet is another £22.90!

We can't move ISP either cos of the place we live :-(

Edit: Update to say that Mr BR has now rung them and the increase has now been reduced to £26 so an increase of £4 instead of £9. They've also let us know when to use the phone so as to keep costs down as much as possible (we don't ring out much as it is)

Hi BR:). Do you use your landline a lot? I know you have been worried about your budget so maybe this is one of the things you could get rid of, just use your mobiles instead. I realise it is not ideal but may well be worth considering, even as a temporary measure. Even better if you can use work phones!

BlushingRose

Standingtall wrote: »

Hi BR:). Do you use your landline a lot? I know you have been worried about your budget so maybe this is one of the things you could get rid of, just use your mobiles instead. I realise it is not ideal but may well be worth considering, even as a temporary measure. Even better if you can use work phones!

We don't use it very much, I've managed not to ring my family as much recently, although now I know that I can get an hour for 5p after 7pm, I'll try and remember to ring in the evenings now! I don't think we can get rid of the landline though as we need it for the internet.
Our mobiles are both PAYG and, to my mind, not that cheap to use for making calls on a regular basis.
Mr BR can use work phones, but I'm not currently working.

Jenjen

Grrr a family member has just paid me some money she owes me...into my old bank account. Its only £20 but it would have been nice to choose how it got spent rather than it being swallowed up into my overdraft.

I'm actually wondering whether I can still retrieve it as it has brought my overdraft back within its limit by £10 so i'm wondering if I 'accidently' did a £20 shop in tesco tomorrow if it would go through. I know HSBC would normally have authorised a transaction like this, they did many times in the past and I would put a debit card payment through the day before payday knowing the money would go in the next day. But I don't know if there will be some sort of flag on my account now to stop this happening. HSBC haven't contacted us at all about the DMP so far, or about the fact the account is overlimit. Do you think its worth a try or should I just forget about my £20?