have taken the 1st step!

westieangel

last night DH & I agreed that we have a problem & this morning i phoned the national debtline the charity one.
they were really nice & v helpful too. i was so upset (does anyone else feel ashamed & stupid that it got this far?) but she was great. she suggested some things we can do, some of which i've done already. we're going to get new bank accounts cos i didn't realise but cos we have loans with our bank they can take money even if they've agreed not to! so i've applied for that.
cos we've got no money at the moment we can't even afford printer ink! so need to print off stuff elsewhere to complete. have also stopped some DD & once we've done our budget & explained it to them they'll give us some letters to get breathing space while we decide the next step.

i feel so much better already! feel as if a weight has already been lifted!
am dreading completing the budget form, hope it's not as bad as we thought! uuurgh

immoral_angeluk

Congrats for taking the firsts step! National debtline have a very good reputation so I'm sure you're in very good hands

Fitzer2000

Well done Westie, to both you and your OH. You'll find a wealth of help and advice on this forum.Also, don't feel ashamed, you've taken your head out of the sand and are facing up to your situation and you should be congratulated for that. If you can post a Statement of Affairs here I'm sure you'll get some really good advice on how you can make savings. Thanks again for posting.

debtaholics

We are also the same we contacted Payplan last night and have had another two calls today to discuss our mess and believe me you are not the only one feeling ashamed :eek:.

3Dogs

Rather than being ashamed, you should be proud that you are taking action. So well done to the both of you.

If you can post a Statement of Affairs (SOA) on here, it will help you to prepare your budget for National Debtline, as well as allowing people to offer advise. You can do it using http://makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Good luck for the future

verystupidwithmoney

Congratulations :beer:

Be proud you're now on the correct road. Browse the forums for lots of tips to save here and there! I was skeptical on how much I could actually save but it really is amazing. My biggest tip would be too cook from scratch more. Often I cook once and have three-four meals from a single cooking session. It saves time, money and it becomes fun! :cool: However, some of my initial cooking attempts ended up in failure, but you learn in time!

Never 'just' go shopping. Plan a head! I mostly use online shopping now and I take 1-2 hours doing it and planning (and googling for vouchers, the other day I spent over 52 pound and received a 7.50 online discount with a simple google).

The shame thing is normal - I felt just like that. However, once you're in a routine and you see your debts falling the feeling subsides into a good feeling!

Congrats again!

AnnieG

You've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of... and yes, you should feel proud that you're taking steps to fix the problem. With the help of this site you CAN do it, although it will feel difficult at times, there are plenty of people here to help and support you.
Keep smiling :j