'The MSE guide to Mental Health and debt... nearly there at last' blog discussion

Terri31

http://www.cccs.co.uk/ or ring their free helpline [free from mobiles too, it says] - 0800 138 1111 OR you can request a call back at the bottom of the page [click on contact at the top to go straight to contact details]

All the very best of luck.

Erme

Two days to go to debt free date despite having a severe mental illness. No help from my medics...

Hope the following helps someone..



My tips and tricks.

• Have your lightbulb moment (well you're on here so here's hoping you've had it). DON'T CONSOLIDATE...- JUST LEADS TO MORE DEBT!!!!. If you're on here looking for info re consolidating no offence but please look elsewhere.....It's really not a good move and just leads to denial and denial is not LBM Better to have a high interest rate and get it down sooner than have a low one and take the next 50 years to clear it!!!!
  
• If one method doesn't work try another. - mine these last few years have included Dave Ramsey (he's US); CAP (free Debt Management Program) and a debt snowball (got the macbook paid off. Similar to Ramsey). then the snowball failed cos it said to pay off the overdraft pre loan and I kept paying it off and then like thinking 'woo hoo I have money' (credit) and it going high again. So I had a couple of months where I just put extra on the loan and let the OD be. Just when I thought I was ready (july) I whoopsied again..... So I realised at that point being debt free was a mental thing as much as a cash in your pocket....and got my head round that.
  
• It's not going down that's the crime but staying down (i.e keep adding to your debt). It's not even about not being debt free. It's about trying .
  
• Bankruptcy is only necessary in extreme circumstances and not to be viewed as the easy way out. It really does affect your credit rating and that affects everything from what current account you can get to even your utility bills. I had almost 10K of debt (it started at 8k) and like it may have taken me about 4 years to get it clear (not including LBM) on a modest income but I'm almost there.

E

Terri31

And best of luck to you, lovely! x

Erme

Awe thanks Terri...just from my wee posts on this thread you'll have seen how my mind plays up. It makes debt busting doubly difficult. But I just prove what can be done if you don't give up .

I meant in my earlier post I do get help from the medics for my mental health but nothing for them for my debt (always too embarrassed to tell 'em)...and they would have gone for the easy way out but I never wanted that. Yes medics can help with that. They can help you negotiate with your creditors but I know very little about that and I always wanted to take responsibility for my debt and pay it off all myself ...Fortunately I've been able to

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rubytuesday

Well done Erme that is brilliant news and I hope you are keeping well xxx

Terri31

You've done amazingly well to do it yourself, Erme. You're an inspiration to everyone who's at the beginning of sorting their stuff out. But to them, it's ok if you need help, to ask for it. But you show it IS possible to go it alone. x

Erme

I am actually not that well RubyTuesday...family stress. But yesterday was an NSD cos I spent £ on pizza on Saturday night so I had a fab de stress cycle ride down the beach

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rubytuesday

Sorry to hear that Erme but you are doing well and I'm glad you enjoyed your ride x