determined to be debtfree!

debtfreewannabe321

slm6002 wrote: »

sorry if it obvious but who is helping you deal with you debts other than this lovely site - thinking that this is probably the way i am going to have to go. Are they good in your opinion?

Hey slm, I called up the national debtline in a right panic and they told me about CAP (christians against poverty), CCCS (consumer Credit counselling service) and also Payplan....all are free and give advice on how to deal with your debt. I only called cccs...first on the list and was happy enough to go with them so didn't bother with the others.

I had to go away, and call after i had all my bank statements, pay slips, utility bills, everything you could think of extra....grocery spends, petrol etc and call back. They then worked out that i only had X amount to pay all creditors (which was £500 less than min. payments i had been struggling to pay :eek:)

a new bank was set up with NO overdraft. Then all creditors were seent letters telling them of my situation and also how much i could offer and asking to stop credit and that was that.

The only thing is a DMP (debt management plan) trashes your credit file. And some people who are in debt still manage to maintain a decent credit score so perhaps this route isn't best for them....i had a terrible credit score thanks to my last tenants messing me about owing me thousands and then low percent interests running out all at once oh and xmass! we were cleaned out by jan! So i am no longer allowed an overdraft, a loan, any credit cards, catalogues etc nothing! BUT i kind of like it, it feels quite liberating to know that I pay for it all in cash. I have to save for the first time ever. by the time i have saved i often realise i don't need/want it anymore so save money...

I hope this post helps...and is not patronising, i realise you probably know a lot of this from reading forums...but didn't know what you knew and what you didn't if you have any specific q's feel free to ask on here or pm me though

dfw x

slm6002

Thank you ever so much for the information. I am just worried credit again and that we would never be able to get mortgage for bigger house when the time is right and we can afford it. At the moment all free money is being spent on debt (all our fault) and things like food / elec are being used very carefully to try and get by. Just seems too good to be true that they would stop interest etc and we could possibly have some money left over for the odd treat to cinema etc

slm6002

Sorry another question - do you have to meet them face to face, or is it telephone and forms to fill in. Also would other half have to be there. He is ok with us doing it but prefers it to be me dealing with things

debtfreewannabe321

it's worked for us, we literally didn't have enough each month to make anymore than the min. payments. we never had treats i was out of control with the credit cards as i was using wages to pay debt and credit to live on for food and petrol. was a nightmare that spiralled out of control#

I also have a mortgage and want to sell and upgrade our house (to england lol) but i realise that won't happen now for a good 6 years (been told this is how long your credit is trashed for) but we didn't have an option. we didn't have enough debt to do an IVA apparantly but the DMP was our best option. AND we actually get a life whilst paying it. Our first holiday as a family this year (ok only haven but it's a start) and i have savings for the first time ever too. It really is the credit that is the only bad thing i can see!

Lots of people do a self DMP whereby they contact the creditors themselves but this will still not look good on credit if you are asking to go into a payment plan of some sort ....i think it is better to go through a company- i didn't like dealing with the creditors, they were (only a few) harrassing me and i ended up on anti d's cos of it (and the amount of debt) so i chickened out and called cccs instead.

debtfreewannabe321

slm6002 wrote: »

Sorry another question - do you have to meet them face to face, or is it telephone and forms to fill in. Also would other half have to be there. He is ok with us doing it but prefers it to be me dealing with things

NOPE all by phone/post/email! call them they do an initial budget and decide if you are in a position whereby you need help (sounds as if you are similar to be in over stretching yourself? so prob yes) and no hubby doesn't need to be there. my DH was in Afghan when i called up. all they asked was is he ok with it, does he know the situation and can we contact him if we need to (as some debt was purely in his name) they've never called him yet though xx

debtfreewannabe321

http://www.cccs.co.uk/

all info you need is there you've nothing to lose by reading up on it x

slm6002

thank you ever so much. I think i will contact them and see what they have to say. It is such a big weight around my neck at the moment and i am constantly thinking about money so it could help us out a lot. Thanks again

debtfreewannabe321

slm6002 wrote: »

thank you ever so much. I think i will contact them and see what they have to say. It is such a big weight around my neck at the moment and i am constantly thinking about money so it could help us out a lot. Thanks again

i hope it helps and i hope they in turn can help you like they did me. They were like guardian angels the day i called in tears! The weight lifted almost instantly...and i slept better that night than i had for months!. Sure i knew i was going to be paying it back for perhaps 4 years but in that time i was determined to live a proper life without the credit and once the DMP finishes and my credit returns to normal (ish) i don't ever want credit again!!! except maybe the obvious mortgage lol!

good luck. It's plucking up the courage to make that one call that is the hard part. But believe me they have heard it ALL a thousand times before. Made me feel so much better and not like a complete idiot for getting into that situation in the first place!!
xxx

Let me know how you get on hun x

debtfreewannabe321

well no payments to anything today. But i have had a spendy day my neighbour has been a thorn in my side for months now. Won't go into details but let's just say it came to a head yesterday and i snapped. She had a go at my DD who is 2!!!!!!! for talking to her DD over the fence :mad:

So today even though i hadn't budgeted i went out and bought some cheap fencing. Only thing is all i could afford without dipping into savings was willow fencing which you can still see through grr but really couldn't afford proper panels. plus would have to pay someone to put them in and i 'may' be moving soon if transfer goes through for dh. SO this will have to do!

Spent £50 :mad: there and £8.75 at breakfast!

aiming for NSD tomorrow. I need to stock up on fridge though as it's running empty as ds home (he eats like a horse and is still skinny not fair!)

oh and took my first run tonight in years was very proud of myself! :T

dfw x

debtfreewannabe321

Oh two bits of good news I have lost 2 lb :j
and had an email back from the competition lady saying that she was going to check hotel availibility and get back to me !!
DH is also home today so guess i could count that as 3rd bit of good news :rotfl:

Today i am going to:

• do all the washing
• dry it (perhaps not outside though very dark & grey
• tidy up
• declutter one cupboard in living room
• do all washing up
• change bed sheets on my bed
• clean kitchen
• get dinner out from freezer (not decided what yet though)
• drink 8 glasses/cups of water/herbal tea/squash
• limit snacking
• entertain kids (one is already back in bed after getting out the wrong side :mad: loooooooooooong day with her me thinks)

And relax.........yet again another bad night with the little ones

dfw x