Trying again!!

Cialilerin

hello,
Well I thought I had my lbm a couple of years ago; there is a previous diary on here somewhere but on reflection I realise that accepting you're in debt is not the same as tackling the debt!!!
So to cut a very long story short, between myself and my dh, (with a little help from our 4 lovely daughters )we owe about £58k, this includes numerous credit cards, loans, overdraft, Asda store card! and family loans. I have done lots of things to try and raise money (I am ebay'ed out ) In August we took the big decision to move back into the licensed trade. I work in the public sector and dh left his job in NHS to return to running a pub, which he did for many years previously. The thinking behind this is that he is a manger and we live 'upstairs' so no rent or gas/electric/water bills. We have rented out our house but we are still paying mortgage (which is £300 a month more than the rent.)
We are able to pay all of our bills but things are VERY tight!! Anyway, about 6 weeks ago the bank rang and was talking about loans etc to my dh. We discussed this and decided to apply for a consolidation loan and foolishly I left my dh to do this. After talking to them, he said we were turned down as our incomings weren't enough. I asked what he had told them about and he'd forgotten to mention the £550 rent and the £250 child allowance, so yeah - we didn't have enough incomings according to him!
Then I tried to claim my bank charges back and as a result, the bank sent me a letter and told me to ring their debt management team thing and work out a budget plan and also they would discuss the bank charges. I did this and I was told that they had a copy of my debts courtesy of dh a few weeks earlier and due the amount I owed to other companies they couldn't help me. I asked about charges and was told that they were not up for discussion, I asked about budget plan and was told I was better off talking to CCCS as they couldn't help me. Disheartened, I went on CCCS website and this MAY have been the best move I ever made. I input all my finances and they have recommended a debt management plan. After thinking about this for a few days and trying to discuss it with dh, this morning I registered with them and I am now waiting to hear what's next. Initial figures suggest I could be debt free in 4 years and 1 month, although hopefully it will be before this.
I decided to start a new diary as I am determined that this is it. My goal is to be debt free before my kids go to uni, I have 2 that are currently in year 9 and I really want to be able to help out if they make the choice to continue their education. I want them to learn from my mistakes and not be in debt for the rest of their lives.
I have just tried to re-read this and I am not sure it makes sense, but that just resembles the rest of my life:D

savingholmes

Just popping along to wish you good luck on your journey. Well done for posting... and starting your journey to debt freedom

Herewego

Welcome back I often wondered how you were getting on, my life is in a bit of a mess but its prompted me to return and get this debt cleared once and for all after 6 months going AWOL
I will subscribe and will be watching you on this new journey it sounds like the best idea for you and less pressure which we all need these days.

Good luck and keep posting

Cialilerin

Oh HWG, I caught up on a bit of your new diary the other day. So many changes!! I have subscribed now so I will be back on the debt saving road hopefully. It's so good to hear from you xxxx

mummy2mygirls

Welcome back to diary land lol. Good luck with your DF journey. I wish you lots of luck and will subscribe to see how you do. Good luck with the CCCS and DMP.

Cialilerin

OK, today has been a good day!
Demon child (dd4) had a friend round for the first time today and they had so much fun. DD3 who's 10, was brilliant and looked after them. Made dinner, did all my ironing and even manged to sort the sock pile that has been building up over the last few months.:o
CCCS has emailed me the paperwork that I need to fill in and return. Also letter template to send to all the organisations I owe money to explaining the plan. I am including my overdraft so I have to move to a new account, but I already have an account at Nationwide which I have child benefit paid into, and I have debit card for that; so i hope to get dh's name added to it and then get all my other direct debits transferred over and my wages paid into it. I have agreed to pay just over £1,100 a month to the DMP and hopefully this will still leave me ok for everything else.
I have asked dh to get receipts for EVERYTHING so I can work out exactly where our money is going. He just doesn't get it. For 2 years, we have talked about paying off debts and that's all he does - talk about it. So I used to ask him to write down his spends - he just can't do it. Hopefully getting receipts means he just has to empty his pockets every night.

So all seems well at the moment, my big problems are that one of my incomings of £200 a month is actually paid every 13 weeks (£600) so one month we seem well off and then struggle for the next 2. This should be offset by the outgoings like car tax and stuff that is paid annually but it never seems to work this way. Also we are renting out our house to a family member who also has money issues and is not in permanent work at present (for the first time in 20 years!) As a result, the rent is just paid on an as and when basis over the month. I know when she sorts herself out, it will all go to normal and we will get it on a set day but in mean time it's a struggle and of course as she is renting from family, she can't claim housing benefit. WE have discussed her moving, but we both know that the current situation is a temporary measure - she left her old job in teaching after a bullying situation with her boss. This was very stressful and she wanted to take a bit of time for herself so she is working as a supply teacher at the mo', but will apply for something permanent for September at latest. So for now, we just have to tighten our belts.

Herewego

Hi just checking in to see if you have had any news fom cccs ? I feel your pain with DH its taken me until just recently to get DH on board and I think it only happened as we split for a time and he realised what his outgoings were going to be MEN LOL
Just remember one day at a time we didnt get the debt overnight and it wont disappear overnight so long as we have food on the table a roof over our heads and our health the rest will follow.
Hope you have had a few more good days :-)

HWG xx

Cialilerin

Well, This has been a tough week! Maybe dh has had his lbm, but only as a result of having to reveal a secret £700 debt that he had - he hadn't realised how much it had crept up and was quite shocked. He then borrowed the money from his sister and set a payment plan up with her before he 'confessed' to me. i think he was very embarrassed by this but if it means he is now on board, it will have been worth it.
Aside from this I have been working stupid hours and I am exhausted. I haven't had a minute to myself this week. My demon child doesn't sleep so I have been in bed before her every night this week. As a result, I haven't filled in any of the CCCS paperwork. I have emailed my Nationwide account and asked for the form to add dh's name to account but have had nothing back yet. If it is open in the morning, I may go in and get it sorted. I may also get the kids accounts transferred. I am scared they may take some money out of their accounts as they are attached to ours.
Anyway, going to open a bottle of wine and spend some time with the kids tonight. Have a good weekend everyone x

Herewego

Ooo I hope he has it makes life so much easier when your going through the battle together.
Whatever happens remember your human and make sure you have a little time for yourself even if its only 10 minutes xx

Cialilerin

Ok, after a very bad week - my depression kicked in and yesterday may have been one of my all time lows, today I woke up feeling much much better and managed to get all my paperwork for my DMP completed. It is all sitting in envelopes waiting for dh to post tomorrow. I feel great for having done that.

Herewego

Well done thats great news and even better its a great mood booster ive been on the ebay wagon and also feel a little better for it x