DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

BlushingRose

Growurown wrote: »

Hey BR how is the no chocs for Lent going? :easter_ba

Oh you tease, well, it's 10am on day three of Lent and I've had none so far! :rotfl:

Shiraz69

Thanks everyone for your replies. I must say I am now feeling a lot more positive about my DMP as I enter my 4th month everything seems to have settled down. Missed 1 payment already due to car packing up and having to buy another (still waiting to see what happens over that) but I'm on it for 10 years so little hiccups are going to happen. I wish I had included a bit more on my SOA as I think my budget is a bit tight but hopefully as I get a bit more experianced it will get better (I have shopping lists, meal plans, spreadsheets) Looking forward to the day I can go and buy myself a pair of shoes or an outfit! Sleepless night are getting less so fingers crossed I'm over worst. No holidays planned for the foreseeable but right now and nice glass of beer in the garden on a sunny day seems like heaven seeing as last summer I thought I wouldn't have a house now! :T

Finshopefulmum

Morning all

I'm still in the early days of sorting out my DMP and I'm wondering if I've been too ambitious with the bank account I'm hoping to open. It's a current account with smile (co-op), but it does have a debit card and cheque book. I sent off my consent form on Monday but haven't heard anything yet. Thinking I maybe should have just gone for the co-op cashminder which still has a debit card. Will find out next week I guess.

Anyway, I suppose this is giving me time to sort out my token payments and squirrel away a couple of hundred pounds to keep as my emergency fund. I cancelled two direct debits today, one for Northern Rock and one for Tesco. They are both loans and are the biggest debts we have. I'm still of the mindset to go home and call them tonight and tell them what I'm doing rather than send letters and wait for the fallout. Wondering if perhaps a glass of cheap wine may make the call easier??? Also hope that once I've got the first two calls out of the way the other 12 (yes 12 ) will seem easier.

On the subject of token payments, wondering how much I should offer, £10? £20? Or does this payment not matter so much. So many questions and thoughts going round and round in my head. I'm going to stop rambling now, just helps to write it down sometimes!!

x

hunny123

Thanx Pinkie for your reply that was really good to hear and has put my mind at rest a lot !! I have been worrying lots and lots and now fell i might be able to enjoy the time i have left of being pregnant and also not panic about things while being off....

I did thank u for the thread on it too :-) xx

mon1o

Hi all!

Well, today is payday :j - ive transferred all excess money out of my hsbc account into my natwest one leaving in just enough to cover direct debits all of which should be out by 5th then i can close the account down :T

Very happy today i have to say. i think it has something to do with the fact that with my new account im in credit as opposed to overdrawn......an agreed overdraft not an unauthorised one but still a link in the debt chain around my neck that needs to go.

am i allowed a lil treat to celebrate being on the road to debt free-ness? just a little bottle o' summat to keep in the fridge perhaps?

Im even getting used to the phone calls (and ignoring them!) i dont want to be answering them until ive had confirmation the dmp is set up - at least then they can verify the information i shall give them is correct.

wellsy1991

Hello everyone, i'm all new to this so be kind please! I've just set up my DMP with CCCS and so far they have been great, i'm so worried about the lack of funds i will now have, works out around £90 a week for myself to spend on bits and pieces. Am i being stupid thinking this is too little? My DMP payment will be £271 a month. This is all new to me, i've never set myself a strict budget but then again thats why i got in this mess in the first place. I had a bad day yesterday and didnt sleep at all well last night, suppose i'm just panicking about the road ahead and what may happened. I'd really appreciate any replies. Thanks

Em586

I'm so glad we did 2 months of token payments before starting our DMP as with a house move our budget has changed for the 4th time as we work out new utility costs, etc. and other changes.

I called CCCS today, after only changing things 2-3wks ago and upping our monthly debt payment by £60... now I've had to bring it down again -grrr....

we've spent the last 2 months living off of the budget we agreed and making sure it's realistic. Some areas were a bit tight as I hadn't worked them out right, and our gas/electric has shot up as this house is bigger, even though it's a cheaper rent! Everything was agreed with no problems, and even though we're now down from the last budget, the creditors hadn't been told there was an increase for them, so from the figure they have, it's only down £11 a month between the 4 of them so shouldn't be an issue!

Feeling much better about next month and making it all work out now, fingers crossed there's no car disasters! And our DFD is only 3 1/2 yrs away, hopefully less if we can manage it!

Earthmother_2

Finshopefulmum wrote: »

Morning all

I'm still in the early days of sorting out my DMP and I'm wondering if I've been too ambitious with the bank account I'm hoping to open. It's a current account with smile (co-op), but it does have a debit card and cheque book. I sent off my consent form on Monday but haven't heard anything yet. Thinking I maybe should have just gone for the co-op cashminder which still has a debit card. Will find out next week I guess.

Anyway, I suppose this is giving me time to sort out my token payments and squirrel away a couple of hundred pounds to keep as my emergency fund. I cancelled two direct debits today, one for Northern Rock and one for Tesco. They are both loans and are the biggest debts we have. I'm still of the mindset to go home and call them tonight and tell them what I'm doing rather than send letters and wait for the fallout. Wondering if perhaps a glass of cheap wine may make the call easier??? Also hope that once I've got the first two calls out of the way the other 12 (yes 12 ) will seem easier.

On the subject of token payments, wondering how much I should offer, £10? £20? Or does this payment not matter so much. So many questions and thoughts going round and round in my head. I'm going to stop rambling now, just helps to write it down sometimes!!

x

I sent £40 but I don't think it matters so long as you send something. I sent a letter and received one back from Lloyds saying thank you for the payment and to ring them if I needed any help. Needless to say I won't be phoning!
As for the bank account I don't think it matters so long as you don't get an overdraft or incur charges. I have a cashminder account and a smart saver account to transfer the bits I don't use for direct debits and food into so I save for things like car tax and insurance and clothes etc.

Em586

for what it's worth- I've had 2 months of not paying before my DMP starts on 1st March, and we meant to send £1 token payments (4 creditors) but never did. Apart from the first phonecall chasing payment where we explained we were starting a DMP, we've not had another call, and only a handful of letters, so I'm not sure it matters, but if you feel better sending one, then just send £1 and put the rest into an emergency fund.

Finshopefulmum

Thanks Earthmother and Em, it's helping me so much being able to ask these questions and to get answers from people who are doing or have one through the same thing. I really appreciate it. I'm really pleased that I've just had an email to say we've got our new account. Because I've done it before we've missed any payments I'm still getting a debit card and cheque book, which I know will make my life easier. AND, I steeled myself to make the calls to NRAM and Tesco, held on for about 15 minutes for each of them and neither call was answered!!!! As it's an 0845 number I really don't want to start racking up a huge phone bill, so I think I will just send letters with my token payments (£1.00 it is Em, don't know why I feel the need to do it, I just do), and I'm definitely going to do it for two months.

Thanks again everyone here, at the moment you are my closest and bestest friends as you are the only people I can share my current situation with!!
xxx