Dmp Mutal Support Thread (Part Two)

newlywed

GOOD NEWS!!!

Finally got put through to the right GE department who confirmed interest should have been stopped 2 weeks after first payment! They will amend the statement and take interest off. If any gets put on again, I am to ring them!

Hurrah!! :j Just Mint to go :rolleyes:

Valley's_girl

Hi hope everyone is well and everyone has a good day with the postie and no phone calls.
No post for me today so that's good.
Newlywed Well done on your good news
Ida glad your exams are over Matt has just finished his yesterday he doesn't know what to do with his self, I will find some diy for him.
Bolton well done on your good news!! I do my shop one a week, the trouble is I am always running out of milk and bread and having to go again, and spending more than I should.
Have a good day all
Love to you all
Ally xx

katchambers

Boltonbwfc wrote: »

Morning Everyone

Got my new debit card off Nat West yesterday along with the pack so will now get mine and my wife's wage details changed over from work to be paid directly into the new account.How long does a direct debit take to set up in a new account as I need to switch the ones from the Lloyds into the new account? Thanks in advance.

Trying to reduced the grocery bill this month (5 of us)but struggling with 2 teenagers and an eight year old who all like their 'grub'! I tend to buy most of the bulk monthly whilst going throughout the month for fresh produce. How does everyone else do their shop? Monthly? Weekly? Fortnightly? Thanks in advance for advice.

BWFC

I am afraid I am not sure exactly how long it takes to set up a direct debit. All I know is that our new bank is switching all our direct debits from our old account to them and they said it will take about 4 weeks for them all to go over and be properly set up. Maybe in the interim you could either pay over the phone for this months payments, send a cheque or set up a standing order which is instant.

Our food shopping is quite sporadic. There is just 2 of us, I tend to do a big shop every 2-3 weeks and then me and hubby get our own bits in between as we need them, but now we are on a budget will have to have a system I think. Whatever works best for you, but maybe if you do a big shop and you get things for the kids, maybe tell them: "right not doing another shop now until this date, if the chocolate (or whatever they love) is gone, you won't get any more until said date, so make it last!"

Good luck
Kat x

newlywed

Yeah I found out I was shopping for stuff we'd run out of and spending an extra £20+ a time. So now if we run out of just one thing, it has to wait until my shopping day - either that or I go to a smaller more expensive store where there is less selection and I can be tempted by less goodies!!

I tried monthly shops but found the extra food meant extra would get eaten - especially biscuits So I shop weekly but usually buy most of the month's meat in one go (as I meal plan for the whole month usually). If on the weekly shop I see meat on offer I will buy it for the end of the month or next month and just freeze it.

Ex-Spendaholic

Afternoon all.

Nothing significant to report. Still loads of debt and no money:rotfl:

Co-op turned me down for a Cashminder account so things really are bad.

Still waiting on my Hellifax bank statements so I can go after them for charges.

Anyway hope you are all well. Welcome to the new people. Hang in there. It gets better. The creditors will back down and accept your DMPs. Don't let them hassle you.

Valley's_girl

Newlywed that's my problem I buy a lot of fresh stuff but I am going to have to try and meal plan I am sure this will help me.
Ex spend Sorry about the coop turning you down. Good luck with claiming your bank charges.
Ally xx

newlywed

Ally, i used to either throw quite a bit of food or end up running out - meal planning really does help. I write notes on my meal plan as well - eg which day I probably need to buy a whole chicken for roast (coz I don't want to freeze it and worry if it's defrosted). Then I just go through the plan and check what i need for X days worth (usually a week) and buy the things for those meals.

It has made me much more organised - especially as I'll cook double the curry/chilli/lasagna/shep pie and freeze some and meal plan that for the next week (so we aren't eating similar things all week). Plus that means I get a day where I can just bung something in the oven and cook some frozen veg to go with it - make a huge difference for me working full time - sure it would help you too as you seem to have better days than others with your health.

newlywed

Just to add, the other thing that's really helped me was posting a "challenge" on the OS board saying what food I had in and asking how I could make it stretch to payday. They came up with lots more variations for the small amount of food I had - made me realise how far you can really stretch food if you have to.

Boltonbwfc

I am fuming! I have just had the most arrogant Lloyds TSB representative !!!!!! you have ever heard! He wanted to take a payment instantly from me for 2 months money, he said that they have received nothing from the CSSC and that I should get onto them directly after the phone call and tell them to "get a move on" with their proposal. He then told me that I have an overdraft facility with Lloyds and he would take the payments out of that thus leaving me overdrawn and unable to pay the overdraft back. I then pointed out to him that the account was in joint names and that the debt was in my name only, I would be unable to clear the overdraft, I could'nt afford to pay Lloyds any more money than the token payment I had already made to them and he could'nt grasp the fact that I could'nt make a further payment. He ended the phone call by telling me the telephone calls would continue until they had heard from CSSC and if they agreed to their proposal.

In all the mayhem I forgot to ask for his name. He just would'nt listen and eventually I lost my 'rag' with and suggested he take some lessons on how to speak to people. He then ended the telephone conversation sarcastically by saying "Have a nice evening".....:mad:

I feellike changing mytelephone number now. Tomorrows another day. I will ring CSSC tomorrow.

The LLoyds account is definately going to be closed.

BWFC

teecee152

Hi Everyone

Seems like ages since I've posted, Welcome to all our news friends and hello to all my old ones!!!:hello:

My computer has been playing up and so haven't been able to "talk" to anyone.
Hope everyone is ok and things are starting to settle down for those just starting their DMP.

EX - Sorry to hear about CO-OP account. Hope you get something sorted soon. Good Luck with Hellifax.:D

Bolton - It always amazes me the way some of these people conduct themselves, I wonder if they are quite so brave face to face, instead of the relative security of harrassing people on the phone. Hang in there you did the right thing by not allowing him to bully you into paying more than you can afford. Lloyds are notorious for being difficult but from what I have read on here it seems that eventually they do accept, so try to stay strong and don't let them intimidate you.

Ida - Good to hear from you, glad everything is ok. Bet it's a huge relief that the exams are over. I'm sure you did great!!!. Well done on the smoking front:T How's it going, I gave up for almost 3 years and then started again:mad: I know hard it is so GOOD LUCK!!!

Hope everyone else is ok and not too stressed. Nothing much going on in teecee world at the moment. Everything has gone really quiet here but mustn't complain;) Got paid today and I even had £5.50 left in my purse so I must be doing something right. I agree with newlywed I have found meal planning the most effective way of cutting down my shopping spends. I do one big shop a month and if I meal plan I then only have to buy fresh stuff (and bread and milk).

Anyone heard from smilealot, joek or yellowmonkey lately. Hope they are reading and are ok!!

Anyhoo think this post is probably huge enough now so will speak soon.

Take Care All xx