Stop being a Wimp!... DMP Journey

Ellieseleven

Hi Puzzcat,

Thanks for reading, it has been a rollercoaster but this experience has taught me so much! I plodded along for years (approx 25!) using credit cards and for the last three I have had to rely on "Cash" and living within a tight budget:o We manage quite well most of the time but the Winter is always the toughest due to the nature of OH's business but we're still here to tell the tale and I do feel after 3 and a bit years that we are now making inroads into our debt and soon we will hit the halfway point and then it will be all downhill (fingers crossed):)

Ellieseleven

Rang to find out how much our mortgage payments will go to from November 1st as our fixed rate is coming to an end and was so pleased to find out we will be £83 per month better off:j This means we will be on the SVR but still much better than we were paying (no offer of a better rate but never mind, maybe in the future?). I'm going to put this money into our emergency fund until our next review with SC which will be in Feb, then this amount will bring our DFD that bit closer.

Puzzcat

Hi Ellie, that's a decent amount to be stashing until your review, any idea what this additional amount will reduce your dfd by?

We dropped by about £100 when our fixed ended in June but knowing I was entering a dmp I fixed ours again for 5 years so still worked out £70 less a month than before.

Keep going...:D
Love Puzz. X

Ellieseleven

Hi Puzzcat,

Yes, it will knock off about another 6 months bringing our DFD into 2016 (just!:o) but even so 2016 sounds so much better than 2017 - our original date when we started the DMP was 2021 which seemed such a long way off at the time and we have managed to cut that as we've gone along. Ideally I would like to finish the DMP at the beginning of 2016 (that's my aim)

Many of our accounts have been defaulted and most drop off in 2016 so all in all I'm feeling very positive for the future (and I will never have credit again!)

We've paid back just short of 20k up to now - I set myself milestones along the way to keep myself focussed and on track and I try not to look at the bigger picture although it's now coming into focus a lot more as we approach the half way mark:o


Ellie xx

Ellieseleven

Another milestone is coming into view this month and that will be to owe 25k - a massive achievement when we owed 45k+ just over 3 years ago:o Next month should see us dip below 25k which I feel is good for my motivation as I have been a bit fed up with all the debt-busting this month:o

Sometimes I feel as though all I'm doing is working and paying stuff without any respite (which basically I am) and sometimes it does get me down, particularly at this time of year as OH is now well and truly fixed to the sofa watching TV for most of his waking hours!:mad:

I do try to be upbeat and most of the time do manage it but occasionally I just sink into a black hole of doom and gloom. I always try to think of all the people worse off than me and that usually does the trick:o Reading the news and listening to the radio at the moment, there are plenty of people worse off than us:(...at least we have our health and our family, which I am truly grateful for

I've also noticed that the number of food banks around where we live is increasing dramatically which in the 21st Century, you would think would be unheard of:o

Checked my Noddle file and have 1/5 status and all accounts defaulted apart from BC who show arrangement to pay

Anyway, onwards and upwards - must get my act together for Christmas, still have some presents to buy:p

Puzzcat

Hi Ellie,

Lovely to see the figures going down. Just a thought on the Barclays arrangement to pay, as I understand it these are worse than defaults as they remain on file for 6 years after you make the last payment, rather than 6 years from issue date. BC are known for doing this and people on here have challenged them as they are only suppose to be temporary (up to 6 months) markers.

There is info on the threads if you have time to search!

Love Puzz. X

Ellieseleven

Hi Puzzcat, yes I have been tempted to challenge the AR from Barclays and think that it is something that I will look into. Most of our defaults will drop off in 2016 which will only leave BC so you are right it is worth doing

Thanks x

Ellieseleven

This month has been a month of despair and realisation for my OH...FINALLY!!!!!

Things have been really tight for us recently and up until now I have managed to provide and ensure that OH hasn't ever gone without his "comforts" (anything for a quite life has been my motto as I can't stand the arguments) but I got to the stage where he just carried on as normal spending money on cigs and booze whilst I go to work without a penny in my purse. Each day I would get home to find that he had watched TV all day long and little else:mad::mad:

I have always said that as long as he did any jobs around the house that needed doing, I was happy to carry on and support him but ENOUGH is ENOUGH and he was really taking the Michael SO...

I have laid the law down and said that I'm not prepared to carry on the way we have been doing:

a) his business is dead in the water so he is going to look for a job - HALLELUJAH!!!!!

b) I will no longer support his smoking and drinking habits whilst I manage on fresh air - he has stopped drinking (although I suspect that he is having difficulty keeping this up as he was drinking daily and is now very snappy and moody) but is still smoking. I have stopped giving him as much money so he is limited as to what he can spend. This does appear to be spurring him into action but not sure how long this will last;)

I am usually quite upbeat and try to be positive but recently all positivity has left me and I have been really down in the dumps, probably on a par with just before the DMP but I continue to try and look on the bright side and here are the things that are keeping me on track:

1. My family are all healthy and well
2. My grandson cheers me up with his beautiful smile
3. My children are happy with their lives
4. I only need enough money to pay my bills and to live
5. I have a good job when many people don't
6. I have a roof over my head and a comfortable home
7. My debts will go below the 25k mark at our next payment
8. I have no individual debts over 4k anymore (at the highest there were a couple over 6k!)
9. There are many people in the world far worse off than me
10. My OH may, just may get off his backside and get a job!

Merry Christmas to all my cyber friends and here's to a happy debt-busting 2014:xmastree::xmastree::xmassmile:snow_laug:santa2:

Puzzcat

Hi Ellie,


Sorry to hear you have been having a tough time lately.. and :mad: to your OH... If its any comfort, mine does work very hard, but also plays hard and has much more available spends than I ever did... He is currently sitting on the sofa watching the tv.. sound familiar... This is after I left him sleeping this morning whilst I did the christmas food shop at 7.30.... I have suggested he may like to hoover but he's forgotten about that..conveniently...and he's off to stay in a swanky hotel this evening for his works christmas do, whilst I play mum taxi....


So your not alone in your OH troubles, albeit slightly different to mine...


Well done on the under 25k, that is fab news and should be celebrated with a little glass of something later..


Hope you and yours have a wonderful christmas and lots of good things happen for us all in 2014...
Love Puzz. xx

getting_my_life_straight

Hi again,
you are where I was this time last year, gardening business dead in the water and me having a virtual nervous breakdown. Things are better now with OH having his part time work and I totally feel for you . I used to come infrom work and try not to feel resentful when he had been in the warm all day smoking, playing xbox and not a lot else was done. As you know he now has part time hours in the supermarket. We have also been lucky to get a couple of substantial PPI claims up held (is this something that you can do?) I am now in the process of reclaiming credit card charges back.
I really hope that your OH gets another job quickly, if he maybe wants to keep gardening, maybe a part time job might be the answer. This was our saviour in the early part of this year and my OH's mood also improved, as working by himself meant he didn't see anyone else - now he works with other people and enjoys the social aspect of the job.

I really, really hope that everything works out.

xx