Stop being a Wimp!... DMP Journey

Ellieseleven

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Debt Free 1st March 2017 in your signature looks sooooo good, Ellie:T:j


I hope you're getting used to your debt free life and able to enjoy every minute of it:beer:

Hello CBC,


I'm still adjusting to having money and it is a very strange feeling. I think we have had to do without for so long that I'm having difficulty spending (not something I thought I would ever say lol).


I hope things are good with you;)


Ellie x

Ellieseleven

So month 2 of being debt-free and I'm still trying to adjust. I find I have a knot in my stomach when spending anything and a little voice saying "can you afford that?" I think I have been conditioned for so long that it will take time to be comfortable when buying things that are not budgeted for:o


My elusive emergency fund is almost at £1,000 finally and I now have several Savings "pots" - I'm enjoying watching those balances grow:cool:


I'm still working to a budget and haven't had the urge to go on a mad spending spree but I have bought some new bedding:)


Take care and keep debt-busting


Ellie x

Ellieseleven

Thought I would update my diary with my progress post-debt:D


We've now had 3 months debt-free and I can't believe how much money I have left at the end of the month. I haven't changed my habits learnt during my DMP so I don't go on spending sprees and pretty much live the same but it is wonderful not to worry about money.


We are busy doing the house up getting it ready to sell so I have been spending money there but I have been able to save along the way and my ever elusive emergency fund now stands at just short of £900 so almost at my target of 1k. I have set up various other savings accounts and have an ISA and a wedding fund for my daughter (just in case:)).


I have bought a nearly new car:eek: but this is well within my budget and although my old car got me through the DMP, it had started to let me down. As I drive as part of my job, I had to have a reliable car (that's my excuse anyway). I was very nervous when applying but the loan went through with no problem and I got a great rate of interest:)


All of our defaults have dropped off our credit file and our credit rating was showing as good. I'm registered with Noddle, Clearscore, Martins credit club etc. and all were saying I could improve my credit score if I applied for a CC. I didn't really want to and I know credit scores are meaningless but I decided to apply just to see what happened...I got offered a credit limit of £8.5k:eek: - this is ludicrous, seeing as I have only just cleared a whopping amount and my credit rating was trashed. What a dangerous game this is for someone who may not have the strength to resist:mad: For me, I just remind myself what I have achieved and how I felt when struggling with so much debt so thank you but No thank you and I'll live with my "good" rather than "excellent" credit rating:cool:


Strange, in a way but I do miss updating my spreadsheets to see the debt dropping and checking the credit reports every month to see the progress I had made. Given a choice though, I definitely don't want to go back to those days.


I hope you are all making progress in your own battle with debt. Take it from me, it will be so worth it!;)


Take care


Ellie xx

[Deleted User]

Lovely to hear from you again, Ellie, and to read such an upbeat post:T. I'm absolutely delighted that life is so good for you at the moment, you so deserve it:A


I'm still trudging along trying to become debt-free but at the end of last year I decided to apply for one of those credit cards that are supposed to help repair credit histories. Obviously with my credit rating (still very poor on Noddle despite paying off a lot of debt):o I wasn't going to get much. I did get something though:j and as the credit limit is only £500 I'm hardly going to go mad with it and spend, spend, spend:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


I've set up a DD to pay the balance in full each month (no more going back to the bad old days of minimum payments which, even then, I could barely scrape together:o). I use it purely for things I have to buy each month anyway such as petrol, and I hope eventually my good repayment habits will be reflected on my credit file. Like you, though, I never intend to have access to lots of credit in the future. My fingers have been well and truly burned.


I have CCA'd all my debts and one has come back as unenforceable. There's another one that I'm hopeful for too. I'm too much of a wimp to just stop paying and walk away from unenforceable debts as some on the DMP support thread recommend so I'll try and negotiate a really silly, low repayment figure in a few months time and hopefully save myself some money and decrease my total debt balance:j. I'm managing my DMP myself at long last. Only took me 4 years to gain the courage:o. Trust me, Ellie, it's not you that's the wimp but me;)


I'll look forward to reading the next instalment of your happy debt-free life. Thanks for sharing. Take care:beer:

Eager_Elephant

Can't believe how much life has changed for you in the last few months.

Are you selling to downsize or are you and DH going your separate ways?

Can't believe that a credit card would offer you such a large limit - that could be a recipe for disaster for most people.

I am still not battling much of my own debt but have been trying to sort DH's debt out and he has paid off his smallest debt and part way to the next - am hoping this will look good when we apply for a mortgage later this year.

CP2016

Hi Ellie, thanks for the update - glad to see that all is going well on the other side

Ellieseleven

Hello everyone,


Great to see you are doing well CBC - keep it up, the time will pass and you too will be debt-free. Well done on CCAing your debt's, I know what you mean about walking away from unenforceable debt. I think it's just the way most of us feel about paying money back and none of us are really wimps we just don't want to let other people down (even though some of these companies don't give a jot about us!) With knowledge comes power and the longer you deal with debt and the effects, the more wise and powerful you become;)


Good to hear from you too EE - we're doing the house up to sell and will probably go our separate ways. Attitudes are very different these days but I can't forgive some of the stunts whilst struggling with our debt:( Fingers crossed for your mortgage:)


Thanks for the good wishes CP2016


Ellie x

Ellieseleven

Tomorrow it will be 6 months since our debt-free date! That time has passed so quickly;)


I still check my credit rating from time to time and now find it is Excellent!


Life still goes on pretty much the same but now I have some savings and guess what?...I now have £1027 in an emergency fund!!!! I tried for so long to reach £1000 without success as there was always something to take my savings:( Now that I have reached this amount, there is no way I want to draw any of it out and my next target is £1500


I've saved for some new windows in the house as the originals were ready to fall out - all paid for in cash:) I have savings accounts all over the place for different things:o


I still pinch myself that I don't owe any money and once the bills have been paid I have a healthy amount of money left over every month.


I respect money and will never forget the lessons I have been taught, those feelings of anxiety, dread, foreboding, panic, helplessness etc. etc. will remain with me for always and I will never allow myself to get complacent with money again;)


Take care all and keep going with your own fight against debt. With determination you will get there in the end:T


Ellie xx

Eager_Elephant

Thanks for popping back with encouragement for those of us still on the clearing debt trail.

You have done so well and that emergency fund is fabulous!!!!

I didn't want to come across as nosy when I asked about you and DH but I know in the past you had hinted that things weren't great and the debt free challenge is a tough one especially when one of a couple is not taking the hardships in quite the same way.
It sounds like a new chapter of the book of life will start very soon and I bet you cannot wait - hopefully you will have enough money to buy a little place of your own.

[Deleted User]

I'm sure we're all keeping our fingers crossed for a truly happy ending to your story, Ellie:j:j. You've been through so much and it's perfectly natural to evaluate things like relationships especially where you've had to keep the show on the road practically single handedly for many years.


I love the way that you have learned a whole new approach to money. I'm still plodding on towards debt freedom and know I too will never take money for granted ever again. Although being in horrendous debt and on a DMP seemed like I'd hit rock bottom I feel that many positives have come out of it. It's made me grow up financially and I thank my lucky stars now for even the smallest of 'treats' such as bring able to buy a second hand book from the charity shop occasionally like I did today. In the mad, bad old days I'd have happily walked into Waterstones and come out with a huge bag of brand new books all paid for with plastic and without a thought for the cost:o. Reading is my only 'vice' and nothing used to beat the feel and smell of a brand new hardback. When I was struggling even to buy food at the start of my DMP I had to resort to the library or car boot sales and some pretty tatty books:eek:. Even the charity shops were too expensive for me but with really careful budgeting I can now afford the occasional charity shop book. Everyone wins:j


I look forward to reading the next happy chapter of your debt-free life. Take care of yourself. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do:beer: