1 year into DMP. £8900 cleared. My journey so far.

Getmeoutofdebt

Thanks again for your replies! It's great that you liked the post but also that you share your own stories as that keeps me motivated too. You all seem to be doing so well!
Abundant, I do find it hard to be motivated! It can be a lonely world getting debt free as you can't go out as much etc. I have been in debt 20 years now since I got my 1st credit card at 18! I haven't been abroad on hol for ten years. My biggest regret is not getting help sooner and trying to pay it all on my own without getting interest frozen etc. I look back at how time has flown and think it could all be over if I'd started my dmp sooner. That is the main thing now that motivates me. If I think of something that feels like yesterday but was a year or two ago it makes me think that time does fly and it will all be over before I know it! This first year has gone so fast on my plan! I feel like I've only just started it! My main problem is the "between payments" phase. I pay everything on pay day so then it's a long month before I can mark another payment on my spreadsheet! I think I may look into "time to face the music" s payment a day plan. I think that could help me if I felt I was still doing something in the weeks between pay days, even if it is just putting an odd fifty pence in a jar etc.
I look at all the money I've been paying out (approx 800 a month) to debt and I think what an amazing holiday I could afford when I get debt free and that is what is keepin me going. Knowing I can really be free to live again once it's all over .

Sillygirl2013

Hello,

Do you mind if I PM you? I just want to ask you a question?

Many thanks,
Sillygirl2013

rubyjam

Getmeoutofdebt, thankyou for telling your very inspiring story.

I am now determined to make the leap to a self managed DMP sooner rather than later. I think in the beginning it was easier for me to hand my problem over to someone else to sort out but in recent months I have become more and more aware of how my debts are my mine and I really should take ownership of them and actually start managing the repayment of them myself. There are some debts that I would like to pay off sooner than others and with a managed DMP you can't do that. After reading your post I'm now convinced that a self managed DMP is for me.

I have spreadsheet that I update everymonth. I love the first of the month when I can reduce all my debts and spend the rest of the month wishing my life away for the beginning of the next one. My DMP is so tight that I don't have any money left at the end of the month so overpaying anything at the moment is difficult but think if I really got myself motivated I could make a few pounds on ebay and thus target some of my debts.

I have a garage full of unwanted stuff from a house move 4 years ago. I reckon after 4 years anything I find in there won't be missed! Ebay here I come.

Off to find the garage key .... I'm might be gone for some time!

MisterSpoon_2

Well done! How did you get MBNA to be so reasonable? I'm finding them to be the only creditor I have being awkward. They defaulted me the moment we wrote to them despite us having never missed a payment and are now hitting us with a late payment charge every month! We've written to them but they've written back saying "we can, so we are".

Anyway, not my thread but if you did do something to get MBNA to write some debt off, please share!

Getmeoutofdebt

Thanks ruby jam and good luck with your plan! I do find self managed easier than managed as you can put a lower debt to one side and focus on paying it off first which is what I did with my catalogue and overdrafts. Like you say, you can't do that if you are managed. I also find that creditors act better with you if dealing direct. They don't seem to like management companies.

Mister spoon, I had heard that mbna were really hard work and was expecting a big fight with the when I started so I was really shocked when they were ok with me. Did you just write to them from yourself or with the back up of another company like cash flow? I think if you have seen a debt counsellor beforehand and have their backing they are more likely to accept offers than if its just you writing a letter, I'm not sure if it is true or not but I was told if you had been and got professional advice from a charity like national debt line that they had to help. Other factors I think that may help ( but again I'm not sure) are how much you are offering as a payment In Relation to the min payment ( mine was quite a bit less but not a fortune less ) and also how much interest you have paid them in the past. The lady at mbna who spoke to me about my options told me when I asked about a settlement figure, that they take into account what interest you have paid over the years and knock it off your account. This enabled me to get an offer of 40% of the balance accepted as I'd paid a lot over the years. I knew about settlement offers as I'd read up on here about them but I played dumb when they mentioned it to me so that a: they didn't think I was out to rip them off in any way and b: so that they would explain everything to me from scratch.
I also told them that if my interest was as high as my min payment I was never going to be able to pay it off and that my only other option was bankruptcy. I told them I did want to pay it off but could they help me to be able to make a difference to my balance by freezing the interest and dropping the charges.
I hope some of this helps. Don't give up! Good luck x

MisterSpoon_2

Thanks. We're going through Stepchange and have paid a LOT of interest to them over the years but because we are paying near the minimum repayment they haven't wanted to know. We tried the charges and interest route in the letter but just got a "tough, pay up" stance. My options are apparently now to complain to them and go to the Financial Ombudsman, but I'm taking the attitude that with everyone else playing ball and the balances coming down that we'll get there with them. I'm not sure what else I can do.

Getmeoutofdebt

Mister spoon,
Maybe you are paying too much and they don't see you as being in too much trouble /you can afford it? I had been told that barclaycard up the interest again if you even up your payment slightly because they see it as you not being in trouble so they won't help you. I was paying about half of what MBNA wanted from me as a monthly payment. They offered me a settlement figure after 10 months. If I hadn't accepted the settlement offer the only other alternative was a fixed payment plan where I would be given 5 years to pay and the interest would still be charged but at a reduced amount. maybe you could go down that route? Is step change a managed plan where you pay them and they split it between creditors? I understand it can be harder to negotiate if the plan is managed. I went managed years ago and Morgan Stanley credit card (i'm not sure if they were even part of the MBNA group?) refused to deal with me through the management company. They defaulted me, charged interest, fees. all sorts. They even phoned me at work and asked me to deal with them direct because the management company was taking too long to pass the payments on. In the end I cancelled with the management company but by this point I was in hundreds of pounds more debt due to the fees and interest. It took me a long long time to get help again. But it does seem that the less you can afford to pay, the more likely they are to help, from my experience so far... I hope you can sort it out

MisterSpoon_2

I think I'm paying too much to be honest - I'm around the minimum payment which I think is making them think I'm okay. Barclaycard have been fine with me surprisingly.

Thanks anyway I'll sort it. And good luck with yours.

Determined_diva

Well done!! Great achievement xx

Getmeoutofdebt

Just a little update on my DMP after I wrote my "Year so far " story.
Had to do a review for both Barclaycards and Yorkshire bank. They both wrote to me asking for a new financial statement etc.
I heard nothing from YB but about 2 days after getting the letters from Barclaycard they started phoning me all day every day! They had got hold of my work number and it all became a bit of a nightmare! Every day they would phone me, I couldn't talk as I was working, I'd phone them back,they didn't know why I was phoning or why they were phoning me. On the first day I did manage to agree to stay on my payment plan for another year if I paid an extra £5 per month, but even though it was sorted they kept phoning. In the end I logged onto my account and sent a secure message asking why they were hassling me. The phone calls stopped and they apologised and confirmed I was on the plan for 5 years with yearly reviews. I thought "Hooray" and that everything was sorted until they sent me it in writing through the post and mentioned that they had doubled my interest rate! It's gone from 3% apr to 6.9%. So my paying an extra £5 each month is pointless as they are charging me an extra tenner in interest! Still it's better than the orignal interest which was something like 22% but they hardly help you to pay what you owe when they penalise you for paying extra! To be honest though I had heard that they increase interest if you increase your payment so it's my own fault! I should have stuck to my original payment offer!
So that's my update for now..... back to paying it all off I go......