Quick question - dmp vs not!

scared-sick

Can anyone please advise me/give opinions.

At present my out goings are more than my incomings. I have to earn £200 per month on a second job in order to buy food, petrol and school lunches.

I have been looking into a dmp but I am scared.

I went onto the cccs website and input all details and they advise a dmp.

My question is, do I go for the dmp or do I keep trying to get by by the seat of my pants each month.

I feel like a dmp is cheating somehow but if I carry on the way I am, I cant see any light for at least 2 and a half years if not longer.

wannabee_in_credit

I felt exactly the same before I went into my dmp. But the truth is that I couldn't carry on as I was - never making a dent in the debts. I started my dmp almost 2 years ago and it was awful for a couple of months, but I feel SO much better for it now. There's a dmp support thread on here that you may want to look at.
Also, you could post your soa here if you wanted some (honest) advice on ways to make savings at the moment.
Good luck - I have no regrets with the dmp. Just the regret of getting into so much debt to start with.:D

Poosmate

If you post up your SOA on here people will be able to check it over and maybe give you some tips or ideas of how to spend less. Use this link for your SOA:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Also, check out this little toy to make sure you are paying off your debts in the right order:

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Personally, if you can afford to make the minimum payments and haven't defaulted I would bite the bullet and continue to do so. It will get better. If you go on a DMP you'll probably have a little more money each month but your credit file will be shot to poo and you won't be able to obtain any further credit until the DMP is finished. (Well you might be able to but it would be at extremely high interest and if your dmp provider found out they'd stop helping you).

Hope that helps,

Poo

JES_F1

Going on a DMP with the CCCS was the best thing I did. With about a year to go, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel - and it's a fabulous feeling.

The first couple of months can be a bit grim as you'll be bombarded with calls and letters. But once it settles down, it's fine and I've rarely heard from creditors since. Just be strong through those initial weeks!

Good luck!

scared-sick

JES_F1 wrote: »

Going on a DMP with the CCCS was the best thing I did. With about a year to go, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel - and it's a fabulous feeling.

The first couple of months can be a bit grim as you'll be bombarded with calls and letters. But once it settles down, it's fine and I've rarely heard from creditors since. Just be strong through those initial weeks!

Good luck!

This is one of the things I am scared of. I really dont know if I can cope with horrible letters and phone calls and threats and stuff. I have a 12 year old son and he will panic if I get horrible calls or even worse people knocking at the door demanding money.

Do you think I would still get hassled if I managed to keep up the full repayments until they had agreed a date a reduced payment amount? That way they cant hassle me for something which they have agreed to surely?

scared-sick

Poosmate wrote: »

If you post up your SOA on here people will be able to check it over and maybe give you some tips or ideas of how to spend less. Use this link for your SOA:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Also, check out this little toy to make sure you are paying off your debts in the right order:

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Personally, if you can afford to make the minimum payments and haven't defaulted I would bite the bullet and continue to do so. It will get better. If you go on a DMP you'll probably have a little more money each month but your credit file will be shot to poo and you won't be able to obtain any further credit until the DMP is finished. (Well you might be able to but it would be at extremely high interest and if your dmp provider found out they'd stop helping you).

Hope that helps,

Poo

To be honest, I pay the minimum payments but I cant really afford them. Like I said, I have to earn an extra £200 just to get by on the minimum and I havent even included everything eg car tax, mot, repairs, anything household going wrong, clothes,any kindof leisure or entertainment, xmas, birthdays...the list goes on. Also If i cannot do my second job for example due to sickness etc then I dont have the money for food etc for each week I may be ill.

I thought about my credit file getting shot to pieces but to be honest will that really matter so much. I want to be debt free and never want to get into this mess again, or is that unrealistic?

Poosmate

Jes, Wannabe, I wonder if either or both of you could tell me if you are able to save some money whilst being on your DMP?

I only ask because the thought of going on a DMP knowing that I wouldn't have any credit available for unexpected bills would terrify me. Last year I had about £600 worth of unexpected expenditure. It meant money I'd saved for certain bills wasn't there when I needed it so had to revert back to credit. Fortunately, it's credit at a very low rate and I am starting this year a bit better off than last. I'm keeping my savings this year rather than paying a lump sum off like I did last year (with my 2 free months of Council Tax money).

I've been in debt for years and for many of those years it was spiraling out of control but I really didn't realise it. My lightbulb moment happened by accident. I had a letter stating that the minimum payments on one of my credit cards was going to go up and i had a major panic attack as I'd mis-interpreted it. I thought it meant that I'd no longer be able to afford the minimum payments and that's when I knew I had to do something.

I wasn't too heavily reliant on CC but used it for bigger annual bills that I hadn't saved for (car tax, insurance, 0% BT's ending and an operation).

It took me a couple of years to wean myself off my reliance on my flexible friend and I think this, my 3rd year of debtfree journey, will be the turning point where I really start to see a difference and those debts come right down. My bank CC offers me 0% deals twice a year now so I must be doing something right. I have been offered a consolidation loan but I like to keep my debt flexible even though some of it it interest bearing.

Sorry, didn't mean to waffle on!

Poo

darlyn

scared-sick wrote: »

To be honest, I pay the minimum payments but I cant really afford them. Like I said, I have to earn an extra £200 just to get by on the minimum and I havent even included everything eg car tax, mot, repairs, anything household going wrong, clothes,any kindof leisure or entertainment, xmas, birthdays...the list goes on. Also If i cannot do my second job for example due to sickness etc then I dont have the money for food etc for each week I may be ill.

I thought about my credit file getting shot to pieces but to be honest will that really matter so much. I want to be debt free and never want to get into this mess again, or is that unrealistic?

If you cant really afford the minimum payments then you have probably answered your own question? Do a SOA first, post it on here and see what response there is. You can always get some advice from one of the debtlines - they'll go through it with you and suggest the best course of action.

Good luck, which ever way you choose.

Above all, DONT PANIC. You have taken one of the hardest steps by admiting the problem and starting to ask for help.

darlyn

Poosmate wrote: »

Jes, Wannabe, I wonder if either or both of you could tell me if you are able to save some money whilst being on your DMP?

I only ask because the thought of going on a DMP knowing that I wouldn't have any credit available for unexpected bills would terrify me. Last year I had about £600 worth of unexpected expenditure. It meant money I'd saved for certain bills wasn't there when I needed it so had to revert back to credit. Fortunately, it's credit at a very low rate and I am starting this year a bit better off than last. I'm keeping my savings this year rather than paying a lump sum off like I did last year (with my 2 free months of Council Tax money).

I've been in debt for years and for many of those years it was spiraling out of control but I really didn't realise it. My lightbulb moment happened by accident. I had a letter stating that the minimum payments on one of my credit cards was going to go up and i had a major panic attack as I'd mis-interpreted it. I thought it meant that I'd no longer be able to afford the minimum payments and that's when I knew I had to do something.

I wasn't too heavily reliant on CC but used it for bigger annual bills that I hadn't saved for (car tax, insurance, 0% BT's ending and an operation).

It took me a couple of years to wean myself off my reliance on my flexible friend and I think this, my 3rd year of debtfree journey, will be the turning point where I really start to see a difference and those debts come right down. My bank CC offers me 0% deals twice a year now so I must be doing something right. I have been offered a consolidation loan but I like to keep my debt flexible even though some of it it interest bearing.

Sorry, didn't mean to waffle on!

Poo

Hi Poo,

(Sorry to steal the thread)

My greatest concern when I went for an IVA was the 'I cant have any credit/what happens if I need money quick/how will we manage' moment. I really did not know how that would work.

Here I am, never had a credit card for 6 years. You can adapt. Once you actually know you cant have credit you somehow manage without it. I know that sounds stoooopidly simple, but you just do!

Anyways, good luck to Scared-sick.

Poosmate

scared-sick wrote: »

To be honest, I pay the minimum payments but I cant really afford them. Like I said, I have to earn an extra £200 just to get by on the minimum and I havent even included everything eg car tax, mot, repairs, anything household going wrong, clothes,any kindof leisure or entertainment, xmas, birthdays...the list goes on. Also If i cannot do my second job for example due to sickness etc then I dont have the money for food etc for each week I may be ill.

I thought about my credit file getting shot to pieces but to be honest will that really matter so much. I want to be debt free and never want to get into this mess again, or is that unrealistic?

I don't really know. I cut everything back to the bone and chose my guilty pleasures carefully. My tv/broadband package consists of extras (extra channels/faster broadband) but it's what I'd have to pay anyway because I can't get a natural tv signal through an arial (I'd need a mast! lol) where I am, I went for extra because I know I'll get my money's worth and it doubles up as my entertainment. I quit drinking so I could buy my lunch at work and not have to bother about sandwiches (I find it impossible to make a sandwich then not eat it immediately - it's totally alien to me).

As I said in my previous post, I'd be petrified if something cropped up and I hadn't got enough money saved for it. Last year was a terrible year for me, one thing after another went wrong for me, including car troubles, property damage (uninsured) and being intimidated into paying more for a job than it was worth (I was menaced for money until they realised they couldn't push me any more - we won't say any more about that though).

Still, I pay the minimums on my lowest interest bearing debts and more off my highest interest debt and it's paid dividends in that I am being offered 0% interest deals. My debt is flexible so I can move it about. I feel very in control of it and it's made me very proud and confident that I can do it, that I am doing it.

Yeah, it's hard and it hurts sometimes and I miss out on some things but I do feel very empowered by it.

Poo

Poosmate

darlyn wrote: »

Hi Poo,

(Sorry to steal the thread)

My greatest concern when I went for an IVA was the 'I cant have any credit/what happens if I need money quick/how will we manage' moment. I really did not know how that would work.

Here I am, never had a credit card for 6 years. You can adapt. Once you actually know you cant have credit you somehow manage without it. I know that sounds stoooopidly simple, but you just do!

Anyways, good luck to Scared-sick.

I know what you mean, though I really don't know what I'd have done if I hadn't had that lifeline of credit available to me. I was literally reduced to 9 pence noodles for Sunday lunch and also for lunches at work, though I'd glam it up a bit and add a cuppasoup just to make it a little less bland and bulk it out a bit. lol

I think it was when I shook the 9 pence noodles at the blokes who were menacing me for money that they realised I was close to losing the plot. I think they realised they were treading on very thin ice with a woman on the edge of sanity and that I really did mean no more money!

Last year put me back about 6 months for my dfd at the moment but I know I'll catch up and get back on track.

Poo

Edit: Sorry forgot to mention, I never use my CC now except for 0% balance transfers and have been for the last 18 months or more.