DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Morning All

Any news on the flat Ian?

HHx

PayingMyDebts

Just got an MBNA statement

Opening Balance £6.28
Payments £6.28
PPI £0.01
New balance 1p

BlushingRose

PayingMyDebts wrote: »

Just got an MBNA statement

Opening Balance £6.28
Payments £6.28
PPI £0.01
New balance 1p

Yeah, we wrote off and got them to cancel the PPI...

Standingtall

PayingMyDebts wrote: »

Just got an MBNA statement

Opening Balance £6.28
Payments £6.28
PPI £0.01
New balance 1p

Blimey - 1p - how I wish any of my statements had a balance like that:rotfl:

Well done on getting to that point:T

Standingtall

Growurown wrote: »

You're not wrong there

Write a list for five items and you can bet on at least £10 :eek:

We tend to do one big shop a month at Asda, get all the stuff that will keep but the fresh stuff is more of a problem cos Asda is about 8 miles away. So you have to consider the petrol then against any savings you make on the food. We don't plan a menu either which we should do, I'm sure we would spend less if we did. Don't know if Asda would deliver to where I live but it sure is worth asking the question next time I'm there.

I've got a little tip for you all regarding value brands - I say a little tip as cooking isn't really my thing but..
I have been buying really cheap tinned chopped tomatoes but adding some fresh basil from one of those little pots you can buy to stand on your window ledge (the supermarket pots, a couple of quid or so). I find that adding that and some cheap chorizo sausage makes for a really special sauce to put on pasta. It tastes as good as anything I have had in my local Italian! I also add some chopped chillies if I am in a the mood. So cheap but so tasty!

Growurown

Standingtall wrote: »

I've got a little tip for you all regarding value brands - I say a little tip as cooking isn't really my thing but..
I have been buying really cheap tinned chopped tomatoes but adding some fresh basil from one of those little pots you can buy to stand on your window ledge (the supermarket pots, a couple of quid or so). I find that adding that and some cheap chorizo sausage makes for a really special sauce to put on pasta. It tastes as good as anything I have had in my local Italian! I also add some chopped chillies if I am in a the mood. So cheap but so tasty!

Yum will give this one a try

How are things going regarding your son? Have the grandparents had enough yet?

bhg

Just thought I'd come on and share a little of our story. In April 2008 I did some some sums and we were supplementing our wages to the tune of about £400 per month with further debt. I then sat down and worked out that our £100,000 mortgage was now nearly £250,000 due to further borrowing as the value rose, and we had an additional £68,000 in unsecured borrowing. It was a mess. The hardest thing was explaining it all to my wife. We went on a DMP with CCCS and although the stress of dealing with the calls and the letters was gone, the reality of working hard, earning good money, and living on the CCCS budget was very difficult to adjust to. Over about six months we learnt to bend the truth a little with our budget and created 'our budget' and 'CCCS budget' which meant we could enjoy a few modest luxuries and life got much better. I began dealing with some creditors myself instead of CCCS and was able to target specific debts and pay them off more quickly, and as these got settled I would move onto the next. Last summer I finished with CCCS altogether and began to manage my own finances/debts again with many lessons learnt. I am now down to my last £11,000 of unsecured debt and hope to have this gone in 12 months. We both have credit cards for emergencies and use them responsibly. I am looking forward to the date in approximately three years when the defaults are taken off my credit file and I can get a good deal on car finance again. I feel that I can now go out and use credit sensibly and responsibly as a tool to help me in life rather than as a way to finance my life. It's been a tough journey but it's the support the CCCS gave me really helped, as did keeping a keen eye on my position and not just letting CCCS do it all for me. If you are in the first years of a DMP I know it can look really grim but keep in there, keep a little back for treats, and take my word for the fact that it really does get better.

ianmak

scared-sick wrote: »

Hi everyone,


I dont start my dmp until 1st May, so am using this month as a 'trial'. I seem to be doing fine apart from shopping. I managed to spend £47 on a weeks shop for 2 of us last week and this week...arrgg!! I need to get this halfed at least but I am really struggling!! Anyone got any useful links I could read to help?

Hope everyone is having a lovely Sunday!

According to this link, you can feed a family of four for a month! Have to say starting a DMP is a huge shift in how you view money and credit.
http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

If that doesn't work, then try Lidl and Aldi!

ianmak

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Morning All

Any news on the flat Ian?

HHx

Not even a sniff (apart from one viewing in the first week). The market is well and truly dead lol.

ianmak

Ooh, and I use my local shops a lot too for some veg and my herbs and spices. Bit gutted that they've just whacked up the prices of their scotch bonnets, but still picked up a dozen for 85p. Their bags of spices are so cheap too. Also got two red onions in there for 12p, and their peppers are around 30-40p each.

Basically, the more you can avoid the supermarkets for your food, the better!