New house....new me.....new start.....

romylou_2

Ooh Choc, thats a tough one.....

I would say that as long as they are not imposing deadlines and penalties, it may be the way to go. Would your lifestyle allow you to scrape the money together that they are requesting??

At the end of the day, the decision should be based on what you can happily afford (while maintaining some sort of life) Good Luck.

jtr2803

That's such a hard decision Choc, the eternal dilemma of a DMP!

It really depends on how strict you can be on yourself to not spend it. Do you have one or two smaller debts you could save to pay off early and possibly get a reduction? You could almost test the water that way! At least when you are paying extra bits off here and there you actually see the total coming down.

I guess I was almost forced into my savings pot because I can't overpay on my DMP but if it was on CC's I think I would have to keep plugging money at it, it definitely helps with the interest and it would be more motivating to see it coming down I think?

It's been raining cats and dogs here all day

Choc-addict

Thanks guys, been thinking about it over the weekend and just like romylou has said, needs to be a balance in that I need to have some kind of life so i'm going to do a bit of both.

I only have one credit card that is charging normal interest and I already have a standing order set up for far more than the minimum so that's a start The rest are on reduced or no interest as been passed to dca's or internal collections which helps my situation some more. I pay a large chuck of my salary to debt approx £850 per month so I know it's going down by a nice sum each month and I now need to be settled with that I think, rather than keep worrying all the time.

So, in light of the above, I am going to concentrate on saving for some settlements, this could save me a few hundred per creditor and also allow me to get back to a reasonable level of outgoings in time, rather than the £850 chunk that I am paying now! I'd be happier if it was £500 or less, that would be managable on my salary and allow me to continue to clear debts at a quicker pace and also live a 'normalish' financial life....whatever that may be....can't remember :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Will need your support guys as i've never been good at saving.....expert at spending though :eek: I would love to be debt free, or almost within 2 years so i'm setting myself that target together with clearing debt in full one by one.....wish me luck

Back to work for me......have a good day all

Choc-addict

Work systems are down so took some time to check online banking, work a few things out and so far today have achived the following -

1. Upped my payment to Lloyds CC (only one charging full interest rate) to £150 per month, which is approx £60 more than minimum payment due.

2. Transferred some money to my online ISA which now has total of £43.16 in it, this is the start of my savings fund to settle debts early.

I'm really happy with this as not only have I started my savings fund off i'm also now paying over £900 per month towards clearing my debt and should hopefully really start noticing the difference what with upping my payments to a few of the others last week. Choc is a happy and very positive girl at the moment

On another note, need to look after myself more as having a few probs with arms again and also put on a bit of weight so embarking on a more healthy lifestyle. Had me a healthy breakfast of chopped banana and strawberries topped with couple of spoonfuls of natural yog - delicious!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

jtr2803

Your brekkie sounds fab! Well done on getting some more in your ISA and paying so much off your debts every month. Once I got to a few hundred in savings I was desperate to see it go up by another £100, then another, then another! I am very excited about it maybe hitting the £1,500 mark before the end of this year

Choc-addict

jtr2803 wrote: »

Your brekkie sounds fab! Well done on getting some more in your ISA and paying so much off your debts every month. Once I got to a few hundred in savings I was desperate to see it go up by another £100, then another, then another! I am very excited about it maybe hitting the £1,500 mark before the end of this year

Thanks lovely, it's def a boost to see it going up! You'll get there so soon and if you keep going I can see you debt free sooner than you think!!! Fab!!!

pinkarsenalprincess

:jJust had a little read of your diary.
Wishing you every success for on your path towards a debt free future

LittleMoog

I finally found you! I thought it had been a bit quiet on your other diary for a while :rotfl:

Great guns on the saving/overpaying, fingers crossed for some good settlement offers from the DCAs I'd say go as low as you dare, i'm sure I heard of someone on the DFW having a 25% offer accepted Worst they can say is no, and then you can work your way up if required!

Have subscribed, so I shouldn't lose you again

Choc-addict

pinkarsenalprincess wrote: »

:jJust had a little read of your diary.
Wishing you every success for on your path towards a debt free future

Hi Pinkarsenalprincess, thanks for popping by!

julespickles wrote: »

I finally found you! I thought it had been a bit quiet on your other diary for a while :rotfl:

Great guns on the saving/overpaying, fingers crossed for some good settlement offers from the DCAs I'd say go as low as you dare, i'm sure I heard of someone on the DFW having a 25% offer accepted Worst they can say is no, and then you can work your way up if required!

Have subscribed, so I shouldn't lose you again

Hey!

I think you're right, I have read that people offer really low amounts - i'm willing to try anything to clear these asap and get back to a 'normal' financial life....whatever that is!!!

I've been a bit bad of late but right back on wagon after discussion with OH this morning....after the move money is tight (you know the feeling!) so need to get back on track!

LittleMoog

I do indeed! I'm slightly horrified by how much we've spent in the last 3 weeks, but it was all necessary and we're so much happier now we're settled in our new home (I can stretch my legs out in the sitting room and not knock into the tv cabinet, luxury! :rotfl:) that I'm regarding it as an essential spend. Only a couple of bits left to get, including a new mirror for bathroom, as the existing cabinet fell off the wall while we were away at the weekend!

We've added a few months to our DFD, so now in full debtbusting mode to try and knock 6 months off DFD in order to meet our target of end 2011. It's only an extra £3900 or so, piece of cake right?! :eek:

I'm definitely looking forward to being able to use the money we currently pay to debts each month for something more useful/enjoyable! In total we're paying £1115 every month, and that will increase to £1160 in the new council tax year (paying 6 months over 4 months after moving, despite the fact that i sent them all the forms the week we moved in :mad:).

I'm really looking forward to being able to save that much each month towards buying our own house one day