CAB got back to me regarding out financial statement

ceejaydee23

I'm not sure what to think tbh, and will be speaking to other half tonight.

The money lady at our CAB office got back to me regarding the forms we filled in, In her estimation, our budget is tight as a ducks whatsit basically. And she even said £60 a week housekeeping budget is unrealistic in todays terms (and her opinion) Some of our figures may have been a little over estimated as you feel you HAVE to put stuff in, especially for the "gifts/christmas" section.

She said in her opinion that in the short term we might be ok, but in the longer term we might be better off talking to someone like Payplan. Which is why I said id speak to the other half tonight, in some ways It might be good to have someone else to deal with all the negotiating now, as I feel i might get too stressed down the line to keep it up every 3-6 months. But then It might be easier than i thought once i get into the swing of things. As at the end of the day we've got this far on our own, as hard as its been.

I'll be getting a copy of our budget sheet and written bumpf in the post.

ceejaydee23

Well me and the other half discussed things last night, and after the almost sleepness weird dream night I had last night, I'm starting to think a proper organised DMP will be the best thing for us. These past 2 months have been a big learning curve for the pair of us, and actually an eye opener that if we are going to budget properly for things, we need more budget to work with, and with the amount "outgoing" on the unsecured debts in itself swallows up 3/4 of the income we have! especially if we calculate the outgoings at minimum payment. (I know i've negotiated some lower repayments BUT ..... I dont think I can keep it up myself).

Last night I sat and went through the Debt remedy thing on CCCS website, for people that have been through it, near the end it gives a "budget plan" when i tallied that up on its original figures it came up with £802 in a monthly expenditure that didnt even include budget for rent/mortgage, council tax, so basing figures on that we would be right royally messed up! It just goes to show how poorly some of us budget really, and why we turn to things like credit cards when things go wrong, but then take it for granted and get greedy and carried away!

fatbelly

Hi

I read yesterday's post but didn't comment (like everyone else!)

If you're going into a dmp it does make sense to use CCCS/Payplan as they are both fee-free. The CAB can set you up on a plan but not handle payments, so it's more like a kick-start on to a self-managed plan.

SHELLSHOCK

Good luck with your DMP journey. Ours started in January and our first payment to CCCS went out at the beginning of March. Its not been easy and there have been times when I've felt overwhelmed but on the whole it has been ok.

The CCCS people have been great and I can't fault them for being helpful and reassuring.

We couldn't carry on as we were and this has forced us to sit down and look at every single outgoing we have. We are focused on sticking to a budget now but that hasn't been easy and you will have times where you slip up or something happens to mess it up. We had serious car issues, a dead computer and new school shoes all within a 2 month period and we are still trying to catch up!

Keep us informed of how you are getting on and if we can be of any help or is you just need some reassurance we will do our best.

Take care xx

ceejaydee23

I think the best bet would be to wait til the end of this month though, at least then finances will look a bit clearer, as other half would have had first payslip at new pay rate (albeit with overtime and a company bonus) But we would have (hopefully) got rid of our main debts.

My other half since we have been regularly talking about things has been brilliant, praising me at how well i've done, but seems the disturbed sleep last night, and our 14 month old son then deciding that a 6am wake up call was a great idea, I'm feeling very drained and emotional.

Thank you for reading, I'll stop moaning now lol

tallyhoh

my total monthy income is £800 but I dont think £60 a week is unrealistic for shopping! I can't imagine what the lady at the CAB eats, expenditure files washed down with blue ink?

ceejaydee23

If its £5 per day per person that makes £140 a week as there are 4 of us! even if 1 is 14 months old.

ceejaydee23

Well I've also been looking at payplans website, and got a call from them today, will be having a phone interview thing with them tomorrow. Thankfully not feeling as emotional now, its amazing what a couple of hours snuggled up with my little man asleep on me, can change perspective of things x