A New House For Her , A Rugby Shirt For Me

andy1886

Christmas come and gone and survived with no drama or crisis . On the work front we face the prospect of shutting shops and losing jobs or a cost cutting drive to secure jobs but obviously a reduction in wages for staff . I am currently writing a letter to the directors with my views on their proposals . At the end of the day I need my job so if it is on a reduced income then I shall just have to reduce my dmp payments which obviously will increase its term . For the time being I am watching every penny even more carefully than before .

andy1886

Check up at dentist , clean bill of health , £20 . Currently on target with my finances to have enough to cover dreaded car tax , mot , insurance and service in April . With insurances rising without justification I really don't know what premium to expect this year .
Wobbling a bit on the healthier eating front but determined to correct this and stay on track with it .
Trying to put the uncertainty on the job front to the back of my mind . There is very little I can do about it and I won't know the full details until April at the earliest so lets get to the warmer weather then deal with it .

andy1886

First month of 2012 nearly out of the way and unfortunately my pay for the month doesnot cover the bills so already using fund put away for cars to survive the month . Looking to the future I have decided to try to go down the fixed rate route when we renegotiate the mortgage deal at the end of November . Hopefully it will be for 2 years and with the money I save I will set a goal of paying off all my creditors when this deal finishes . After that we can seriously think about putting the house on the market and moving house .
At work I have had some reassurance that the cuts won't necessarily come in during April so not to worry about it and carry on until I hear something definite . I have suggested some ideas that I feel make it fairer so will carry on until then .
I have also continued to lose a few pounds so my weight loss has begun but still some way to go on that front , hopefully I'll be several stones lighter by the time we move house .

andy1886

Approaching the end of the month and hopefully the bad weather is gone and sunny skies are approaching . One car had a puncture the other week and the other would not start so one new tyre £40 , one battery £60 . This is the car fund being eaten into already . Hopefully I can earn enough overtime between now and April to replace this or it is down to juggling again .
Lost 7lbs in weight so far this year which has stalled this month but will be getting a supply of fruit and veg today so will kick start for the rest of this month and try to get going again . Today is the beginning of lent and I am thinking of giving up bread until easter as this is my big downfall , see if this has an effect .

andy1886

Been speaking to Barclaycard lately regarding my account to them and I am now thinking of putting a complaint in to the Financial Ombudsman . The reason is this . I increased my payments on my dmp in May 2011 . In November Barclaycard reviewed my payments and under their terms and conditions because my payment to them is greater than 2% of the outstanding balance they have reinstated interest . This means that a payment of £36 to them is having £18 swallowed up in interest . I understand this is how a credit card works and how they make their money but my complaint is this . I am on a dmp and have openly declared my financial situation to my creditors . Because I have defaulted to creditors I am unable to get any new credit and under the terms of my dmp I am not allowed to . I am happy with this and fully understand this . By charging me interest Barclaycard are doubling the amount I will repay them , doubling the time it will take to repay them but I am stuck with this arrangement . I am unable to shop around or move this debt elsewhere . This is my complaint with them . I have also explained to them that to get out of this situation I am being encouraged to lie to the CCCS about my financial situation , if I do my review next month and fake an increase in my outgoings I can get my payments reduced therefore reduce my payments to Barclaycard below 2% and have no interest charged . This saves me money , about £1000 during my dmp but is not in the spirit of my dmp nor what I want to do but is tempting and surely a saving of a grand whilst in debt is what money savers would recommend .

andy1886

Done my review for the dmp with CCCS and told the truth . This means I will continue to pay interest to Barclaycard unfortunately but once I am debt free , looking for a new house , mortgage etc I will make sure I never use Barclaycard or any company they own again and will write them a letter at the end informing them of this and each and every time I receive any marketing from them .
March / April is car time . It has passed its mot and had a service £130 , tax ready to go £115 and looking for best insurance quote , currently £250 . Budgeted £500 so a fiver change !!! Treat myself to some petrol , live the high life me .
Work wise we are approaching summer so extended opening should come around after easter , longer hours , overtime hopefully , but also pay review . Not expecting a rise but hopefully the status quo remains and jobs are secure and can look forward to the next 6 months , working hard and saving up for other car in October . Fixed rate mortgage deal finishes then so I can review our circumstances then .

andy1886

Just finishing a week off work with the flu so house bound for most of it . Lost some more weight though . My car was due its service which it passed with flying colours , cost £90 .
Twins look like they could be back in education in September which although 4 months away is progress I presume .
Extra hours available at work when I return so grab the hours where they are available .
Counting down until November to come off fix rate , target to pay off the debts in the 2 years following that and then continue to pay mortgage down until we are allowed to move once credit file is restored and mortgage companies will lend to us again .

andy1886

Mobile phone contract up soon so I thought I would ring them to find out when . Eventually spoke to someone very helpful who got me a new basic handset and all the calls and texts I am likely to use for just £8-32 a month for the next 24 months , less than I am currently paying .:j

andy1886

Back to work to the news that there is no pay rise and no double pay for bank holidays although keeping it for sundays . Worse case scenario is 1 in 3 jobs going but hopefully it won't come to that . Really important I focus on getting these debts cleared as quickly as possible and get my debt free date down .

beanielou

Keep plodding.