A Clean Slate

Frankie231

Well, I thought I'd start a diary on here mainly as a way to keep myself motivated. My partner and I were in around £12,000 worth of debt, some was his, some was mine and some was joint. A few weeks ago we unburied our heads and decided to tackle it.

Well, what a difference a few weeks makes; we now have some exact figures of what we owe. Some are better than we expected and some are worse however one of the biggest differences is the fact that my partner is no longer living with me

I won't go into any more detail than is relevant but he lost his job in September and has been hanging around the house driving me mad since then; he has done his best to find other work but with us pretty much living in each others pockets and my postnatal depression, it just wasn't working so well. We were at each others throats constantly, so we made the tough decision to wipe the slate completely clean. We're still a couple but we're trying to fix our relationship along with everything else. It's a lot to take on at once but fingers crossed we'll make it.

Anyway; after reorganising SoA's and him recieivng a job offer; he has kindly offered to make payments on the joint debts on a monthly basis so I don't have that added stress, and I've agreed to pay extra off them with whatever I have spare to get them down a lot faster.

My debts are pretty small in comparison to his share, but it's still a lot for me now that I've got virtually no income and lots of normal household bills. Made even worse by the fact that christmas is right around the corner; if I'm completely honest I am panicing a little; thinking that maybe my LO will have nothing to open come christmas morning, but I'm sure I'll get through it and that I'm worrying for nothing.

I'll post again later tonight with my SoA and I plan to update at least once a week; hopefully more as I would like to do a little something every day to help me on my way to becoming debt free.

Wish me luck

Frankie

Frankie231

Debt's - Will be updated with every payment

CCSCollect - £35.50- Paid off 23/12/2010
Fashion World - £733.00
Littlewoods - £362.00
Halifax - £770
Studio - £90.00
Provident (Buchannan Clark & Wells) - £277.00
Dad - £200
DWP - £211.00
CT Arrears - £428.74
Northumbrian Water -
BT - £257.48
Westcott - £370.54

beanielou

Happy shiney new diary
Try not to worry about your little un & Chrimbo.
When they are little you really dont have to worry too much.
You could wrao up a cardboard box & they would be happy!
Or you can pick up amazing bargains at charity shops.

Frankie231

Thanks I have to admit I've bought a few bits off ebay to box and wrap up at Christmas and I've been pleasantly surprised. I will be searching through charity shops next fortnight when I get paid and actually have some money spare so hopefully she'll have plenty to open.

UPDATE

I have been busy since I started this diary, it gave me the kick up the rear I needed to start dealing with things.

First thing I did was cancel all of my hire purchase agreements. When I actually completed my SoA I was shocked as I honestly had no idea where I had been pulling the money for it from. It was a big weight lifted from my shoulders to know I didn't have to fine £40 ish a week. I've also been lucky in the sense that what I sent back has been replaced fairly quickly. I had a new (to me anyway) couch arrive at mine courtesy of my partners cousin, the day that my Brighthouse couch went back. My Mum and Dad got me a second hand bed frame (which is actually of much better quality than the one I had from BH). I still have my washing machine and tumble dryer from BAYV until the new year but I am not paying for them due to the fact that I handed my notice in and was paid up until my notice was completed. However I have not used the dryer at all (saving on electric) and don't intend to replace it. My Parents have said that they will buy me a second hand washing machine from the guy who repairs theirs as soon as the BAYV one has gone. Saving me yet more money as that is one thing I could not live without.

I contacted my local council who my partner and myself had three joint debts (rent arrears from a previous property, council tax from the same property and council tax from my current property) and I discovered that I was not liable for the previous council tax bill. Luckily OH told me when he moved out that he would gladly pay my share of the joint debts until I dragged myself out of the quicksand but I did want to make some payments myself, however discovering that I'm not liable removed about £350 from my total debt. I also set up standing orders with them (starting this week, when I get paid this fortnights money). Meaning I will now be paying to the council:

£15.00 per month for my share of previous rent arrears, totalling £800.00 and
£60.00 per month to pay off my £490.00 council tax bill (only £120 of it is for this year, the rest is arrears so this payment covers my monthly instalment plus money off the arrears). This means that this debt will be paid off in full on the 15th July 2011.

I have also set up standing orders for the following:

CCS Collect - total debt £35.50 - £6.00 payments for the next 6 weeks to clear it as fast as possible. Paid off in full on the 7th January 2011

SRJ Debt Recoveries - total debt £244.64 - £5.00 a month token payment while I try and work out exactly how much I can pay to everyone (non priority).

My intention now is to set up smallish payment plans with each creditor (based on what I can afford) and then take the smallest debt and pay extra off it until cleared, working my way up until I am debt free. However, I'm starting to feel really positive about this as I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

~Frankie

Mags30

Welcome to diaryland:)

You sound so organized. Hope the relationship works out too, maybe some space is what you both need.

brizzledfw

Keep posting! We are reading!

Hope the snow is manageable!

brizzle

Frankie231

Thanks guys, the snow isn't too bad here although I can't get too far out of the house as the pram gets stuck, and my poor dog is having to jump out of the conservatory window to go to the toilet in the morning as the doors have about 30 inches of snow keeping them closed (fallen off the roof as well as what has laid). Have to admit I am starting to get a little cabin fever-ish!

Anyway, just wanted to share that my first payment off my debt has been paid today, with another payment scheduled for tomorrow. All in all its only £21.00 BUT its £21.00 that I no longer have to worry about. It feels really good to actually know that I'm doing something about it.

Also, I received a letter from Littlewoods today regarding my account. And I was pleasantly surprised to read it, at the moment I am accumulating massive amounts of charges on the account. The balance is around the £400.00 mark but I haven't been able to afford to pay anything off it since OH lost his job in September. They have offered to put my outstanding balance onto a BNPL contract with a 9.9% APR (instead of the usual 39.9%), but this also means I would have 3 years to pay the balance before I would have to pay the APR. I can't ring them to confirm as its an 0844 number and I have no phone, but I have emailed them asking them to clarify the offer and informing them that if its as it reads then I would love to accept it, just to give myself some breathing space. I intend to have it paid off before 3 years anyway so its good that the charges will stop for now!

ETA: I just checked my online banking and discovered that I had a spare £7.00 in my account. I know its not much, BUT I set up an extra SO for it to come out of my account on Monday to pay off the CCS Collect debt. I'm so proud of myself. I've just cut a week of my 6 week payment plan to get rid of that debt. My new 'paid in full' date for that debt is 31st December. What a good way to start the new year, I hope its a sign of things to come!

Frankie231

Feeling REALLY happy right now, I have just paid a final payment off my smallest debt so it is now settled and I can move onto the next one, which is the Studio Catalogue. I can now understand why people get so addicted to clawing themselves debt free, it is an amazing feeling. I know it was only a very small debt, but I actually feel like I've accomplished something, which is an amazing feeling considering I've had 'headstuckinsand' syndrome for a while now