Getting professional help to beat debt. Diary

Getmeoutofdebt

Hi Heffi,

Thanks so much for your supportive post! Yes you are right, I haven't read my older posts since I wrote them and things have changed for the better and I should be feeling more positive! I still feel really new to my plan and feel like I only started it a few weeks ago then when I see that six months have gone by I think wow time is flying and I'll be debt free before I know it! But other times it seems like it is going to be such a long time before I am out of it. I don't know why but I seem to feel worse when I have money! It's weird. I got paid yesterday and got a bit more than usual but not knowing what to do with the money stresses me out. I paid it off my overdraft in the end and I feel a bit better now.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a message. That's the best thing about this site, meeting and getting support from other people in the same position. It makes you feel less alone and that being in debt is not such a huge problem. Good luck to you with your debt plan. You seem to be doing well and staying positive about it! We can do it! One day, hopefully not to many years off we will both be writing on here we are finally debt free!
Good luck x

artyfartyem

Hi gmood,

Sorry to hear you are having an off day I know exactly how you feel of course! I know it's often said, but try and stay positive, you are doing so well. Every step forward is better standing still or going backwards and we will eventually get there (even though it doesn't bloody feel like it!)

Xxx

Getmeoutofdebt

6th october 2012,
7 months in and I'm struggling a bit. I usually split my grocery / fuel money into 4 weeks when I get paid and just withdraw 1 week at a time and pay cash for everything. This month all went a bit wrong though. 2 days after pay day I have spent my whole first weeks worth mainly due to running out of a whole load of household essentials & dog food etc on top of my food bill. I withdrew the 2nd weeks worth as we then had visitors staying and needed extra food etc and our visitors wanted us to eat out with them a couple of times. I couldn't bring myself to say "sorry we can't go out on your holiday as we are broke and on a debt plan" so we went and tried to keep it cheap but before I knew it the second weeks money was gone too and it was still only the end of the first week! Arrgh!
Beans on toast to the rest of the month I think! Not good!

Getmeoutofdebt

8th November
Eight months in and I am feeling a bit stalled.
I haven't managed to pay much extra off in the last couple of months due to hubby being off work sick and me having to shell out more on the bills etc. So I have fallen behind a bit on my plan.
My other issue is that I have settled into paying my lower payments and have stopped obsessing about debt, which sounds like a good thing as it used to be on my mind 24/7 but because I am not thinking about it so much I think it is affecting my drive to pay it off. I feel like I am getting a little lazy about my debt plan and I need a kick up the !!! to get going again.
I need a boost to get going again! Maybe a smaller challenge within my plan.... I need to have a think!

Getmeoutofdebt

Pay day once again and this month I got a decent wage due to a bonus! Yay! I felt pretty good this morning once I had paid all my debtors their monthly amounts and then had some extra to pay off my overdraft! I decided that to keep focussed I am going to try and pay my overdraft off by 12th March 2013. I chose that date as it will be the birthday of my debt management plan. I had 2 overdrafts at the start of my plan. I have paid the first. Currently I owe £888 on my second overdraft.
I am on an Overdraft busting mission!!
On the downside, to pay my debt plan off in 3 years as I had originally planned I need to be at 25% by next month and I'm still way behind at 18%. I want to be debt free before I turn 40 so I have a bit of catching up to do! Yikes!
On the plus side though, this is the first christmas I have had where I have had some money saved to buy presents thanks to my £2 coin jar! I have been saving for a year and had about £270 in the end. Also I have been doing surveys all year with My Survey and turned my points into nectar points which on top of my normal nectar points saved £60 up in a year which I used to buy a weekly shop then used my weekly shop money to pay off my overdraft. I also have £20 to cash in on Opinion Outpost! Its all bits and bats but it really does start to make a difference after a while. Remember when you spend on your credit cards you do it in bits and bats but look how much it adds up in the end!! It's scary! I'm now learning to do it in reverse! Laugh!
Now I'm just hoping I can get through Christmas without a relapse! Fingers crossed!

artyfartyem

Hi gmood!

Sounds like you're back on form! Well done on all the money saving from stuff hope you manage to get the OD cleared soon, will be another mile stone reached!

My park Xmas vouchers came yesterday so I am hoping not to spend any extra money too!

Keep up the good work

Em xxx

Getmeoutofdebt

Hi Em,

I was doing pretty good with my overdraft at first. I found that I had more motivation all of a sudden once I had decided to bust my overdraft. It is easier to motivate yourself when the target is not as big as the overall debt. I think i'll do that in future and just aim for maybe a grand off a certain debt by a certain date etc rather than think of the whole amount. Anyway I'm going off track.... I WAS doing well and sold a ton of stuff on ebay and got it down to £350 from what was it? £888? But then Ive had to spend £100 of it again to buy christmas/birthday presents for people I'd not planned for. Groan. I think that "other people" are the hardest thing to deal with when paying your debts. You don't want to tell everyone what you are going through and its embarrassing trying to come up with excuses and reasons for not doing things and even if you plan to economise and only spend a bit of money it ends up costing a fortune. Last month I had a family christening and this month I have four friends birthdays, and despite the fact its nearly christmas and everyone is skint, they are all insisting on having parties / meals out and insisting we go. I have been resorting to pretending to be poorly, making presents and cards instead of buying etc but it is hard trying to live up to what others expect from you when you cant afford it.
I am hoping to not have to spend any more of the overdraft I have paid off. Part of me thinks "I knew this time of year was going to be hard and I've done ok so far so if I go a little over its fine..." and part of me thinks "Arrgh I'm ruining everything by spending!"
How are you getting on? Hope its going good for you and that you are staying on track
gmood x

Getmeoutofdebt

30th December 2012

Phew! I managed to get through Christmas with only a small relapse but not any major money issues! Mainly thanks to saving nectar points (through completing surveys on "Mysurvey") and collection £2 coins throughout the past year! I used nectar points to do a sainsburys shop and to get some Amazon vouchers to buy gifts.

I am looking forward to the New Year. Obviously my resolution is to pay off more debt!

In just over 2 months time I will have been on my debt plan a whole year! I can't tell you how fast it has gone! It has literally flown by! Just think in a few years my debt will just be a distant memory!
So far in the first year I have managed to pay off £6,400! I am a little behind target though, I had planned to be at 25% last month but I'm still only at 23%. I want to try and catch up a little as I really want to be debt free for my 40th birthday in just over two years. But still... if I don't make it on time I will only have a small amount left to pay.

I still have Up days and Down days. I have learned that the only way to succeed is to be really strict and determined and not let yourself have any relapses or spending sprees on non -essential things. I find it quite easy now and i only really want to spend money on my debt payments but it has taken 18 years to get into this mindset! It's a lot of effort!

I am slightly worried about March 2013 arriving as I am due for reviews with all my creditors. I am worried about them adding interest on again now that I have managed to pay some money off. Though I am still in arrears with them all so hopefully they will see that adding interest on is a pointless exercise. I am guessing I will have to start writing to everyone again and waiting weeks for their replies.

My overdraft is down to £200 but I am going to leave paying it it until after my reviews in March. The reason being that by taking a debt off my re-payment calculator it will increase the payments to the other debts and I will have to show this on my statement at my reviews. I have been using the snowball effect to pay my debts so I want any extra money to go to the one debt I am focussing on rather than split between everyone. Once My overdraft is clear I'm planning to plough on with My Lloyds credit card as they are still charging me interest. I need to reduce it so I'm not getting charged as much. Hopefully I can clear that in the back end of 2013 and then I will see which is the lowest of my remaining debts and start on that.

Good luck to you all out there who are in the same boat! Hope 2013 is a great debt busting year for you all!

gmood x

shalou

Hi There, as just wondering how you got on? I'm about to start the process so was looking for some tips!! You are very inspirational and I really hpe things are going well for you xx

Getmeoutofdebt

Thanks Shalou
I wish you all the best! I hope you find some tips from my diary! My main tips would be to phone national debtline like I did and get set up on their cashflow programme. This way you are dealing with the process yourself rather than a company doing it for you. It sounds scary but its not. It gives you more control and the creditors seem to respond better to you than to a company dealing with it on your behalf.
Do everything in writing! Dont deal with anyone on the phone! That way you can't get mixed up and you have proof of everything you have said and they have said.
Make a chart or an excel spreadsheet to keep track on your payments/progress. I find this keeps me focussed and I can see where I'm at and where I'm heading.
Plan ahead! remember to save for future events like weddings / christmas. Just small amounts here and there help to ease the cost when it arrives. I save £2 coins in a jar for xmas.
Plan meals. I have a book i put together of good meals that don't take much ingredients. I sit down on a sunday and plan the week ahead trying to combine the meals so I use the same ingredients more than once. When you go shopping just buy whats on your list. I'm spending a lot less than I used to on my shopping. Question everything you feel like buying. Do you really need it? You have to be really hard with yourself an only buy what you need to get by in life. Its the hardest bit. It took me a long time to manage it but I only really buy food and petrol now. I can splash out when I'm debt free.
Remember don't be scared of your creditors. Don't think you are the only one thats ever got into debt, they see it all the time so don't feel bad. Feel good that you are doing something about it. Ask them to freeze interest to help you pay it off. Dont worry about them taking you to court. It's not in their interest as they have to pay costs and all the court will probably do is tell them to freeze your interest and come up with a pay plan which is what you want them to do anyway.
If you ring National debtline they give you a booklet that tells you all about this and where you stand etc.
I was terrified when I first had my lightbulb moment and rang the debtline but its all been surprisingly easy. The only phonecalls I get are from yorkshire bank and I just tell them I will send them an update of where i'm at with my plan through the post and then they seem to leave me alone for a few more months.
These are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head. I hope they help a bit. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
xx