Stop being a Wimp!... DMP Journey

Ellieseleven

Just updated my signature and find that I'm in touching distance of the 40% mark:j

It's not been a bad month, I've been away a lot with work so have had to pay out a lot for expenses but I try to find cheap B&B's where possible and so far have found some really good ones for a fraction of what I used to pay in some of the bigger hotels.

My car now needs servicing because of all the miles that I have covered but I will be able to have this done next week if all goes to plan;)

OH has been quite busy recently and we have had some good news regarding regular contracts so that should keep us going for a little while.

My thoughts are now turning towards Christmas:eek: Think that I'm going to start buying presents soon so that I can spread things out over the next few months. I've already saved quite a lot of stamps for the supermarket which for me is a great help and I enjoy shopping armed with stamps instead of money (it doesn't feel as though I'm spending any!)

Anyway, onwards and upwards

Ellie xx

Chrisblue1962

Hi Ellieseleven

Well Done on getting to 40% or thereabouts. Keep on chipping away at it , it will soon be 51% then it's all downhill from then on .

BTW, my OH now back in work , albeit with an agency but job is actually with a Govt department so we're both hoping this job will "have legs" so to speak as opposed to her last couple of jobs.

Ellieseleven

Good news on the job front Chrisblue, you're certainly on a roller coaster ride!

Ellie x

getting_my_life_straight

Hi ellieseleven
I have just spent over an hour reading your diary, and thinking that is so much like our situation. I have now just started a DMP 2 months ago and get those panicky days , but also good days (esp when I can go and do a proper food shop) My OH is also a gardener and after 3 really bad winters it all came to a head last christmas, when I had a breakdown 10 days before with not a present bought. Anyway after christmas he started looking for part time work and got 16 hours a week at Tesco's. Started in Feb and fitted it all in over the summer with the gardens. Now weather is going to get cooler and wetter and work ease up, at least he still has that steady income coming in - not to mention 10% discount he now gets!!
Still get panicky feelings - like you sometimes feel guilty that banks etc are getting low payments, but had got into a spiral with PDL's and was having to reloan as soon as paid off - not a great way to live.

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to say Hi and hope you get through this winter OK.

Ellieseleven

Hi Gettingmylifestraight, thanks for your comments. Our DMP is 3 years in now and the panicky feelings are few and far between these days and I do feel that we were right to go down the DMP route although at the time it felt so wrong:eek:

My OH doesn't even contemplate trying to find a part time job in the Winter, so you are very lucky to have a partner who will have a go. My OH has his good points and his bad but sometimes I find him so frustrating:mad:

Luckily, I never went down the PDL route but had huge credit limits on my CC's instead which I used (knowing that eventually this would come back to bite me:o).

I'm trying to build up my emergency fund to get through the Winter but there are some pluses this year i.e. my mortgage payments are going to drop, I've saved on insurance and I'm now quite good at budgetting for the things that we need.

Hope that everything goes well for you, please do keep me updated with your progress

Take care
Ellie x

Ellieseleven

Another month gone and a step closer to our debt free date

We move towards the winter months which are the worst for us as OH's work drops off to nothing so it's always a bit scary whether we make it through to the spring but this year our fixed mortgage rate comes to an end so our payments will drop to the svr but it's not a bad thing at the moment as our fixed rate was 6.79%

Starting to think about Christmas so need to get organised and buy presents early, we've managed quite well for the last few years and don't feel that we miss out on anything.

Ellie xx

getting_my_life_straight

Hi Ellie
I am too contemplating the winter months ahead, but am enjoying the late warmth at the moment. Grass is still growing so needs cutting still!! I'm sure that you feel the same way with your OH's work as I do. My OH still has his tesco's job and has been doing loads of overtime, so we are lucky with that.
Good luck
xx

Ellieseleven

Hi Gettingmylifestraight,

Yes, OH is enjoying the late warmth and still has quite a bit of work to do so that is a comfort.

Our fixed rate mortgage comes to an end as well this month so we should see a reduction there (paying 6.79% fixed for 5 years has been tough!) and I've re-done all our insurances car, home etc. and have reduced those as well so I'm really hoping that we are able to get through the Winter in one piece:o

Take care
Ellie xx

Ellieseleven

I've just updated my signature and it looks so much better now that we've paid off just over 41% of our debt - such motivation!... Looking forward to 50%;)

Puzzcat

Hi Ellie,

Well I've read the lot, and very interesting reading it was as well.. You have had a right rollercoaster of a journey especially with your redundancy's and your OH's work/no work pattern.

I wish you well on the rest of your journey and will pop in occasionally to see how you are getting on...

Love Puzz. xx