It's ALL going wrong...

Rochdale_Guy

Necessary deletion.

Rochdale_Guy

Necessary deletion.

Rochdale_Guy

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Not sure RG from the CCCS website "For a DMP to be suitable, you need to have some money left over after paying your essential bills and living expenses so you can make regular monthly contributions towards your debts." (http://www.cccs.co.uk/InfoCentre/EnglandandWales/Debtsolutions/Debtmanagementplan/Debtmanagementprogramme.aspx)

It just says "some money" but doesn't mention a figure - sure others will be able to advise further.

I'm pretty sure when I did my first Debt Remedy online with them, they didn't accept as the amount I had free was under £100, so I rejigged it to saying I had over that available each month and that submission was what got me accepted on to their Debt Remedy Plan.

Anyone from CCCS confirm this please?

Angry_Bear

/Essay warning/

A couple of areas you may be able to cut back on in your SOA (not as far as CCCS are concerned, but for your own money management):

• Phone/internet: £52 – seems pretty high, have you shopped around?
• Contents insurance seems a little high – mine was about £20 for the whole year using cash back sites.
• As everyone has said, car costs are very high. Again I’d suggest a moped or something to keep your freedom but cut costs, but I accept that your car means a lot to you. Is there anything you can do about insurance – cash back, shop around etc? How much of the £100 fuel is essential journeys and how much do you have control over?
• You said earlier you have a 2 bed place – what about a lodger?
• With a bit of checking on the O/S board you could probably reduce your food to £25 a week and save about £30.

Don’t forget …. at 10 weeks pay for redundancy, you have 10 weeks covered (with possibly smaller fuel costs) – and that’s AFTER whatever notice period you get. You’ve got a fair bit of time to look all out for another job.

Have you looked at the “up your income” board - survey sites etc could give you a little extra and take the pressure off. Ebay, amazon and all the usual suspects as well of course.

Have you considered a second job at something like a supermarket or pub. You have a car – have you looked into deliveries at local take-aways? These usually have pretty good hours to add them to an existing job (I did this for years myself).

P.S. I still think you should speak to your doctor. If you are suffering from depression you will be the last one capable of “noticing”. You seem so defeatist (or maybe “defeated” is better), and I don’t think that’s just down to your situation. There’s a lot of “situation” here that you have no control over it, but unless you can find the drive to take the proverbial bull by the horns and deal with things as they are, you won’t be able to fight your way up and out. Just my 0.02.

eyeopener2

Taking the bull by the horns means selling the car, using that money to pay down debt (£2k) and then increasing the CCCS payment by over £200 a month. What freedom does the car really give you when your imprisoned by debt? You can get a car when your free.

You could possibly break the £20k barrier by this time next year if you do that. There is no other way out of this, with or without redundancy, and as you see the balances dropping this will help your stress and well being.

I wish you the best but you need to start considering the nuclear option of bankruptcy as a viable option as well. I don't know your age but do you really want to be feeling the same way in 20 years time?

Good luck.

E2

euronorris

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

No. ..........................

Mate, you really should. They can refer you to someone to talk to, and I think that would really help you right now.

I know how upsetting this situation can be, and how overwhelming it can seem. I found myself in tears daily at one point, but you can turn it all around. So...please...speak to your GP.

euronorris

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

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Forgive me if this has already been looked at and suggestions already made, but here are some observations/queries about the SOA:

The amount for your telephone/mobile/internet seems high. Is this a combination of all 3? If so, is there any way you could cut back on them? Maybe drop a price plan or something?

Buildings & contents seems high. Should only be contents if renting - have you used a comparison site to check you're getting the best deal possible?

You have a car, but there is a small publics transport cost - why is that?

Also, the amount for fuel and parking seems quite high. Is there any way to reduce this? Would it be possible to sell the car altogether and switch to public transport 100%? Would it be more economical?

Those are just my observations, and again, sorry if you've already been over these things.

Oh yes, and 10 weeks redundancy money - that means you'll effectively have 10 weeks to find another job before you would have to stop making the full DMP payments. Think positively mate! You can do this! How is the job hunt going so far?

euronorris

Oh yes - don't dismiss bankruptcy. It is something that my brother had to do in the end. He was very unhappy at the time, but it was the best thing he ever did.

That was about 10 years ago now, maybe a little more and he is completely debt free, with quite a bit in savings (he was so proud of himself that he showed me his bank and savings balance online! lol). He also found his dream woman, got married, bought a house and had a baby boy (who turned 1 on Tuesday). At the time of bankruptcy, he didn't think that was ever going to possible, but it just goes to show that nothing ever stays the same. Everything changes, and usually for the better.

He was depressed back then too. It's pretty common.

I can vouch for the effectiveness of counselling myself - I did it last year and again this year when things got tough again. My OH has just started on it after finally admitting that he can no longer handle the stress of his job situation. He put it off for so long, but is now glad that he's seeking help. And that doesn't have to mean medication if you don't want it to. No one can force you to take medicine. I was never prescribed meds, and so far there has been no suggestion of them for my OH either, so you can still deal with that issue without medication if you want to.

And....could you cycle to and from work? I think it's worth considering ditching the car, and using some money from the sale to get a bike instead. Cheaper and healthier!

XXSCOTSLASSXX

Many thanks for clarifying income/expenditure... apologies i had wrongly assumed being 10 years in employment ur income would have been higher hence the confusion re amount left over.. u have said tho prior to entering ur DMP that u had never missed a payment on any debt, how would this have been possible given ur soa??

With regards to the impending redundancy in all honesty, am not 100% sure this is really gonna be a bad thing... hear me out!! lol given the negativity regarding ur outlook on ur current employer even without the impending redundancy it does give u option to look for new employment maybe outwith ur current field, maybe with the opportunity for overtime etc, to be honest even without the redundancy staying in ur current job isnt really a viable option, the situation as it stands at the moment with u still receiving full pay really isnt working.

I know u have said previously there are very little jobs in ur field personally i would apply for anything and everything, sometimes a positive attitude and willingness/keenness to learn new skills etc is a clincher for employers, also ask ur current employer for a glowing reference given ur 10 years of loyalty and commitment is the least they can do. I would say in order to 'sell yourself' as such to any new potential employer you would need to be in a far more positive frame of mind (sorry) a trip to the docs may not be a bad idea just to help in the short term. Please try not to see the impending redundancy as the end of the world and more like an opportunity to change ur situation completely and for the better x

Growurown

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

Welcome to the world of a Rochdale Council employee, decommission your service, make you redundant, then take holiday pay off you when you are already down and out.

And if you are lucky to be kept on, you then have to take 4 days forced at Xmas UNPAID, have your weekly working hours increased from 36.25 to 37 hours, have a pay freeze for a year, and lose loads of benefits like car user allowance etc etc, that doesn't effect me, but it's just a taster of what it's like

I have given them 10 years of my life...... thanks very much, and yes, I am very down and annoyed :mad:

Hey RG - I think you have every right to be down and annoyed about this state of affairs. This really sucks, and yes I know it is happening to lots of people but that doesn't really make anyone feel any better does it? I've got until March next year and then I am out of a job too. I don't have any more suggestions for you, I think you have had plenty of them, but you have my every sympathy for your situation and two fingers up to Rochdale Council.