Anyone fancy a mutual support partner?

JoJo_Sparkly

Just wanted to say a great big :xmastree: MERRY CHRISTMAS and THANK YOU :xmastree: to everyone who's posted on this thread. It has made such a difference knowing that I'm not alone dealing with debt. There's been such a great load of good advice and kind thoughts and its amazing looking at how far we've come in just a month - where will we all be this time next year?!

Thank you all so much.:xmassign:

Jojo

I_was_a_fool

Happy Xmas & Happy Holidays!

New Year, New Start, Best wishes for 2007.

Thanks for everything!

Sharon
XXXXX:snow_laug :xmastree: :xmassign:

hypno06

Happy Christmas to you all, and here's to a less stressful 2007 all round!

Remember that a smile costs nothing, and sometimes makes all the difference (even if no-one is watching!).

Enjoy the next few days and I look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Thank you for the support on here over the last couple of weeks - has helped me put things into perspective.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS :beer:

tinytot143

I would also like to say thank you for JoJo for starting this thread off. Its been brilliant knowing that if you have a problem you can always count on everyone on here.

Thanks alot for everything over the last few weeks

Tracey x x x :xmassign:

Merry xmas :rudolf: and a happy new year (will probably speak to you all before then)

loneranger

Merry christmas to all MSC members and especially JoJo for starting it.I may be a long way from being debt free but this will be the first year that I have had things under my control and manageable and its good to know that there is somewhere to go when I have a problem, some good news or just need a hug. Have a good one everyone:beer:

JoJo_Sparkly

Hello Everyone And a Very Merry Christmas - I hope you all had a good one.

So who has resisted the sales? and have you all manged to keep within Budget over the festive period.

I'm really annoyed with myself as I fell off the wagon yesterday (well skimmed my knees whilst clinging on would be a better description) Had to go to Bluewater to pick up my son - My Ex husband seems to be a permanent shopper there! Anyway I succumed to a £10 spend in John Lewis and £30 on Kids clothes in M&S I could argue that both buys were vital etc etc - but I think I'd be stretching it a little on the clothes front as my daughter has tonnes of clothes I just loved them so much.
I did manage to talk myself out of a new set of kitchen knives for £60 - beautiful stainless steel blcok that would have looked fab in my kitchen - But instead settled on 1 new Carving knife and a sharpening stick for £4.99 - so I'm not all bad!

Back to the budget and things are starting to look a little wobbly for the January budget - need to pull my belt in again to rein in the errant £40 as well as a couple of unexpected bills - my RAC membership has expired and I can't risk the car breaking down. And my cancelled gym membership is chasing me for £70 as I didn't give 3 months notice
So beans on toast till the end of Jan.

I've got a few Chrissie Pressies that I could sell (ooo hope that doesn't make me a bad person!) Not sure that this is the best time to hit Ebay though as most people are skint after Christmas.

I do have a few Mystery Shopping Visits lined up over the next couple of weeks - so that's some extra income by the end of Jan too - so not all bad!

Hope you are all OK and gearing up for the coming Year with confidence and commitment. Even though I've slipped a bit this week, I still feel like I'm moving in the right direction - Won't be in the red on the bank account for the first time in months and the DMP is running smoothly. Although I got two CC statements this morning just stating that I'd missed two payments and should bring my account up to date to avoid further action - I wish!

Onwards and Upwards!!!!

Jojo

I_was_a_fool

Hi JoJo & All!!

Hope you all had a good Xmas & are ready for the new year!

Xmas has been VERY subdued for us, not so much because we have cut back but because we have all been ill, all four of us, one after the other, with a pretty nasty flu/gastric type illness. It has certainly saved us some money on the food budget! Just starting to feel better now but we are all low on energy. No-one could eat their Xmas dinner & I made much less than usual, just a main course & ice cream for dessert.

Luckily the kids loved all their xmas pressies & there is nothing to be taken back. As usual the cheapest things have proved the most popular (glitter glue, scribble pads, magnets, face paints) OH & I exchanged token gifts only. No money for the sales so I will stay away!

Still went over budget somehow, will be a long & quiet month! I am expecting a pay rise in January & am still trying to get my PPI refunded so keeping fingers crossed that I can increase my dmp payments. Also I have now got a row of various tins on my window sill with titles like xmas 2007, holiday 2008, new bed (much needed for son), garage door (disintegrating) and I hope to add a little to each of them every month. We will not take a holiday next year but Im hoping for a week in a caravan for 2008!

Finally the post brought a little flurry of default notices & at least 4 creditors are still adding interest & penalty fees. This means that my debt has only reduced by £200, but it is at least going down for the first time in 10 or more years! My creditors seem to have lost interest in me & Im not scared of them anymore.

Roll on 2007!

JoJo_Sparkly

Ahh Sharon _pale_ - so sorry to hear you were all poorly over Crimbo - what a shame - a bit of a drastic way to cut back!!!!!!
Glad to hear you're on the mend now and the kids loved their pressies - my son got an electric guitar (secondhand - but he's none the wiser) and my daughter got a ride on car that "sings" as it goes along; so paracetomol supplies will be taking a large chunk of my budget this week!

Got a really annoying letter from Abbey this morning :mad: "Your decision not to pay your arrears despite a number of reminders and offers of assistance has forced Abbey to withdraw your credit line...":mad: So nice of them to make offers of assistance!!!!!! so far they have sent me 3 letters telling me to pay up or else, didn't realise that was assistance. It's really ticked me off as I've tried so hard to scrape together money to pay all ccs fairly :wall:

I now have a new award for CCs the "Sensitivity Award" for most thoughtful correspondence - going to post it as a new thread and see what it throws up from other DFWs just to see if these nasty letters are common place from all the big companies. Hilariously, I got a mailshot from Abbey offering their mortgage services in the same post! Anyway, I will be sending them a letter so it's on record that I have spoken to them several times and that I'm touched by their support!!!!

Still haven't had any interest frozen etc from ccs so my debt rises inspite of payments - Oh Hum!

Hope the rest of you are going into the New Year in a positive light.

Jojo

hypno06

First of all, I hope that all those who are feeling poorly get well soon.

I have spent the last couple of days with budgets, snowballs, lists and calculators trying to work out the way forward.

I got £3000 from Halifax for refund of bank charges on Thursday so that means that I have paid off the overdrafts, closed one current account and paid off the smallest of the ccs (only £151 but IT HAS GONE). That was a very positive feeling and although the £3000 is gone now, it does mean that I can start 2007 on the right foot I think.

I flirted with the DMP idea just before Christmas and at one point was almost sure we would do it, but then did snowballs again and trying desperately to do it that way. Sometimes when I have my lists and budgets etc with me I can see it working ,other times it has been taken over by a black cloud and I imagine myself living in a caravan at the bottom of the common!

I have resisted going into the City because I just know that i will spend money I haven't got. instead I have switched my phone and broadband provider (saves £10 a month) joined quidco so started getting cash back on that, requested my credit reference :eek: , found £3 in woolworths vouchers at the back of the kitchen drawer, finally registered my nectar card to find that there are 8500 points on there (so at least we can shop at Sainsbury this month!) and cooked for the freezer to use up all the christmas leftovers.

I have masses of stuff to ebay - mainly bits of my dads that I couldn't face dealing with before but are just taking up space in my garage. nothing exciting but coffee makers, dishwasher etc but deciding whether it is too soon after christmas to make this worthwhile. On the other hand, any cash I get will be put to good use!

Anyway, sorry to have droned on a bit. Enjoy the rest of the day and don't let the b**tards get you down!

tinytot143

Just got in from been at oh cousins house for the new year party!!!!! (I was driving so now drinking or spending)

I have been to the sale but I spent £30 on two pairs of shoes and then wrapping paper and cards for next year!!!!! (I could be worse off next year)

Daughter has loved xmas and we are still getting over the shock at how many toys santa can fit in his sack!!!!! and its also her birthday in 16 days!!!!!!!!!

Rabbit and cat doing fine and the dog has torn his ligaments in his leg again thrid time in the space of 6 months (Glad we got good insurance now or we would have be £3000 down). Also got bad news on boxing day that my uncle had cancer and then found we got the phone call yesterday morning saying he has passed away so just another normally xmas in our house hold!!!!!

Hope you have all had a good xmas and start 2007 dreaming of those deat free days x x x

Love Tracey, Phil and Izzy x x x