DMP provider won't arrange a DMP if I don't accept their figures.

sjsindebt

Can I quickly ask one thing please? (I believe it must've been discussed somewhere else in the forum.)

My phones, channel subscriptions, gym membership etc. are on contract so if I want to cancel them before the end of term, how do I do that? I tried to cancel my gym membership a few months ago as I was unemployed but they didn't cancel it, instead they held my membership for a month until I joined my new job.

sjsindebt

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Might be an idea to do a soa and let people see if they can come up with any more cost cutting ideas.

What's an SOA? (Sorry if it's really a daft question.)

Tixy

There are a few possible things to try.

For phones first thing is to phone up and see if you can drop down a tariff - if not ask how soon you can (most providers allow you to drop down a tariff 3months before the end and some much earlier than that.
If they won't let you then you either have a choice to carry on until the end of the contract or to consider defaulting on the contract payments and adding the debt to the DMP. As your phone contract runs out quite soon you might be better carrying on and using a bit of your housekeeping budget to keep up with payments.

For TV subscriptions etc - again phone up, say you need to drop down to the basic packae as you are in financial difficulties. If they won't cut the price or the package say that you are entering a DMP and might have to default on the payments and add the debt to the DMP.

Gym membership - first see if you can get out of it, or if you can defer the membership for a while.
Again people sometimes add a gym debt to their list of debts in a DMP.
If you use the gym a lot then you might want to keep it - but it would be normal to pay for it out of the entertainment/socialising budget.

A lot of people find that on a DMP the grocery/housekeeping budget is a generous figure (especially for families with children) - and so they have some spare money there that they use for the types of extras you mention - or some try to save it to build up an emergency fund.

Tixy

sjsindebt wrote: »

What's an SOA? (Sorry if it's really a daft question.)

Statement of affairs - basically you income & expenditure statement and list of debts - we use this format which is a really clear way of showing how much of a shortfall or surplus a person has - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Posters on here can often help find savings in household costs that allows you to have a bit of extra money on a DMP.

Gothicfairy

sjsindebt wrote: »

What's an SOA? (Sorry if it's really a daft question.)

As you have already been answered by the very knowledgeable Tixy I will not reply directly to your question but one more thing you could do with looking at is your shopping budget.

A lot of money seems to be wasted on grocery shopping and cooking so a meal plan might well help save quite a bit.

I managed to save more through shopping wisely then anything else and I also now have a very healthy and fresh diet without any junk or rubbish.

sjsindebt

Tixy wrote: »

Statement of affairs - basically you income & expenditure statement and list of debts - we use this format which is a really clear way of showing how much of a shortfall or surplus a person has - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Posters on here can often help find savings in household costs that allows you to have a bit of extra money on a DMP.

Thanks for the SOA link. I used the format give to me by NationalDebtLine. Their budget sheet has lots of break downs in there. Interestingly it also had a field for Lottery. So I put my lottery expenses against that field.

BlushingRose

I'm wondering what sort of religious festivals you're celebrating? I know that some, non-Christian celebrations need money for things which are necessary (not presents).

sjsindebt

BlushingRose wrote: »

I'm wondering what sort of religious festivals you're celebrating? I know that some, non-Christian celebrations need money for things which are necessary (not presents).

We're muslims and we've two religious festivals a year. One is Ramadan, the fasting one (this year it's starting from next week) and the other one is the animal sacrificing festival. During Ramadan we are expected to exchange gifts with family members and friends, during the animal sacrificial festival we are expected to do that.

Also during Christmas and Hindu festivals we try to send gifts to a few really close friends who are Christian/Hindu. I know it's not really necessary but they also send us gifts during our festivals, and they are really good friends.

Personally I'm not so keen on any of these as they are not any kind of religious requirements but just social expectations. But also difficult to completely ignore them, as it gives an impression that we're very unsocial.

BlushingRose

sjsindebt wrote: »

We're muslims and we've two religious festivals a year. One is Ramadan, the fasting one (this year it's starting from next week) and the other one is the animal sacrificing festival. During Ramadan we are expected to exchange gifts with family members and friends, during the animal sacrificial festival we are expected to do that.

See, I was getting the impression that the religious festivals were more than the 'usual' and they are. Have you explained to the DMP provider about this?
You can reduce the amount of money you spend on gifts, but I realise that it's not easy.

sjsindebt wrote: »

Also during Christmas and Hindu festivals we try to send gifts to a few really close friends who are Christian/Hindu. I know it's not really necessary but they also send us gifts during our festivals, and they are really good friends.

If they are really good friends, then you should be able to have a word with them and explain that your circumstances have changed and could they not send you gifts in future, or agree to have a £5 limit (for example) per person.

sistafromanothermista

Good luck with the rest of your journey.
There is some excellent advice given so far. What we might have considered 'the norm' once is considered far too extravagant once the debts become too much to cope with! It's a hard and rocky path you're about to tread and at times it will seem almost unbearable but stick with it and think of the end result........being debt free!!