Newbie Here, Procrastinating

Sassers

Don't worry - I eat in times of stress too! As for you opening the letters and noticing things that you've been overcharged for or that firms haven't done, such as your insurance. I had that as well and it made me as mad as hell......at myself! And then them. And that also got me more motivated than ever.
lol. I can laugh about it now but it really did teach me a lesson. There aren't many people willing to give you cash for free or not a lot of effort, but they're more'n happy to try and take it from you!
Funny enough, as a result of tackling the post and all its problems dealing with debt companies and firms - it made me very savvy and aware of the law and what they can and can't do to you.
In fact I've gone from being a nervous wreck to a totally different nicer more confident person......*

You CAN do this - and I'm sure us MSE'rs will be cheering you on.

Love Sassers x
PS: sometimes the odd glitch will pop up. Like this one.....opened an ebay account to sell some stuff. Got an email last week and when I checked the account, it had be suspended. Why? Because I owed them 4p. lol. Four pennies taped to a latter saying up yours (in a nice way) is currently winging its way to Paypal. lol)

pipsi_2

Keep all letters dated within the last six years, it's important that you keep everything for this length of time. I would suggest getting a few files from the supermarket and once you've sorted everything into piles of stuff from each company, put the letters from each company into date order starting with the oldest with the most recent at the top and put them into files, use subject dividers to keep each company separate, this will make it all a lot easier to deal with. I have files for everything, it makes it a lot easier to keep track of everything. I also made a spreadsheet on my computer listing all of my debts, what the minimum payment was on each one, what the interest was etc. I then prioritised starting with the higher interest ones first. Those with no interest or little interest as less important so i only offered a small payment each month for these and offered a higher payment for debts with interest. i then list how much i want to pay each month, i did my own snowball calculator to work out how long it will take me to pay everything back, i should be debt free in 2 1/2 years at the current rate i'm repaying. However as my business grows and my income grows i will make larger payments so should be able to pay off sooner. One of my debts is my graduate overdraft so each month whatever i have left over goes into this, it means i pay less interest on the account and if i really do need money for something (such as emergency repairs for my car etc) i can use this account to pay for it. So although i'm paying off my debts i do still have a facility if i need it.

MrsTinks

Imagine - I used to not open my post for the same reasons... now I don't open it till the weekend if it's a bill or statement - why? Because I check all my accounts online at least 2 times a week
So there IS hope
Don't shred your old statements just yet - you might need them to work out if any incorrect charges have been added...

barbiedoll

It's funny isn't it, how a pile of evil post can throw up one or two surprises? Cancelling one of your household insurances will save you a few quid instantly. Cancelling your PPI and reclaiming the premiums you have paid = a few quid more. Just by opening (quite) a few envelopes you have already taken the first steps to becoming a DFW :T:T

It's really hard to get your head together and to admit the scale of the problem to yourself, most of us have been in your shoes at one time or another. Getting some cheap cardboad files is a good idea, I nicked an old ring binder from work and I keep all my statements and letters in there, in date order. I keep each creditor separate and once a month, on payday, I sort out anything that needs doing, eg, chasing up a creditor who hasn't replied to my last letter etc etc. (I do it on payday because I'm usually in a good mood on that day :rotfl:)
If nothing needs doing, I set myself a goal. Last month it was getting out my SOA and seeing if there was anything else I could cut down on. (Blagged free evening and weekend calls from Virgin by threatening to leave )
As others have said, take it one step at a time. Deal with one creditor at a time and one letter at a time. You know you'll get lots of help and advice here so don't panic if you get "scary" post, we know how to help you to deal with this. Good luck and don't give up!

rak2

I know this is a bit of a daft thing, but when I have cleared this mountain of mail and the place is tidier, I will open my front room curtains and let the light in. I haven't opened them for months in case people could see in and see what a mess it was.
It just all spirals doesn't it?

rak2

OK I have been reading and hopefully heeding what you have all wrote.
For today, I am going to finish up opening and sorting the mail. Then take a break.

Tomorrow, I will start on my SOA, particularly the incomings and what I owe in debts. I think that will knock me out tomorrow!
Then I will go on to my monthly expenditure, making a list of what I think I can cut back on and what I need to deal with, some of which have already come to light.

Sorry, just kinda talking to myself here. :rotfl:

So by Wednesday or Thursday I hope to have an SOA I can post here and something I can go to one of the debt counselling services with. :eek:

Ellieseleven

Just popping by to say Well Done Rak2 for going through all that mail, I'm sure that you will feel relief! I tend to open mail as it comes but just with one eye open and from a distance:rotfl:I'm not quite sure what I expect to jump out from the envelope and if anyone saw me they would think that I was nuts:o

Well Done again, enjoy the rest of your day and then carry on tomorrow;)

Ellie xx

foxgloves

A big well-done for opening your post. It feels so horrible at the time, but you will soon actually start to feel better & a bit stronger because you have made that first step. Knowing exactly what you owe to whom is the first step in tackling it. I always used to open my post (when I was overspending & not even remotely trying to budget) but my bad thing was bank statements. I'd open them, have the quickest of quick glances at the balance, kid myself that it's not as bad as all that, then neatly file them. Because I never properly looked at my statements, I didn't spot when companies were making errors with my money. The biggest one was when despite not spending as much as usual, my balance got worse & worse every month & by the 3rd month, I was actually worried I must have been spending & blanking it out. Sat down with latest statement & discovered that my mortgage dd had gone out twice. Went off to the Building Society to have a bit of a strop.....they then told me it had gone out twice for the previous 2 months as well.......no wonder my overdraft was rocketing. I always go through statements line by line now at the same time as setting our monthly budget and only recently, I found another error on a payment. It's really worth doing & can become as much of a good habit as not opening post used to be a bad one. Good luck with it all x

Hannah_10

I shredded 17 full size bin bags the day after I got out of hospital the last time. No word of a lie. Not because I'd been in hospital for ages, I'd only been gone two weeks, but because I had let it all go for so long. I had just had enough of looking at it, had enough of being frightened of it, had enough of knowing it was there. My spare room was getting like a shrine to avoidance and I could no longer even see the outside of the closed spare-room door without feeling bad.

You wont get this advice from the debt charities or from anywhere else sensible but as I'm not either of the former... Sometimes it's all you can do to shred the lot and make a resolution that having cleared down the decks you will start opening whatever comes tomorrow. One day at a time. Sometimes the pile itself is far far too big now to face. Better to shred it and start affresh than to never be able to start anywhere. Only you know if it's really come to that.

A slightly better option would be open the post, but shred anything over 2 months old. You don't need the baggage of every single sheet of paper hanging over you (when many will be unhappy ones anyhow) the last 2 months will give you what you need to know. If you can face it then stick the older stuff in a crate for a braver day even- it will come.

If you're gonna cut back to the minimals (everything but the last 2 months) then get copies of your credit files too, it'll cst you £11 to get the three if you do it with postal orders (inc. the £2 statutory fee each, the postal order fee and signed for first class post). If you have a credit card you might be able to see them free online then hit print. They really are SO much neater a way of knowing what trouble you're in that the post-mountain.

When you can get started you will feel better for it. Many many of us have been there too, facing down a post mountain of whatever size. It's worse looking at it than it is opening it I promise, once you get into the swing of it it's not that bad. Oh and the pile gets WAY smaller because you don't need the envelopes and some of it will be junk mail too. You don't have to READ the post as you open it, just file it. Check the date, check the company- that's it. Then you can do one file at a time after that.

You don't have to take on the full emotional weight of this all in one go. You just have to make piles of letters from each creditor. They only need to be the last 2 months worth if the rest is too weighty. You can do it.

rak2

Thanks so much to each and every one of you who replied. It really makes a difference. But I guess you know that.

I've opened all the mail now, including a black bag full with stuff going back to 2007. I found mail in various bags around the house, in the kitchen and also the bathroom. Now I have nothing hiding and you are all right. Even though all I have done is open the mail it's a relief.

Next stop tomorrow, finding out exactly how much I owe. I already know there are more on some of the cards than I estimated. What a surprise....:o