Dmp Mutal Support Thread (Part Two)

dlb

Im really interest into why some people are so consurned about their credit rating. I understand if like louloujs it may effect your husbands job.
But i know that in my case i never intend to have credit ever again once my DMP is finished, apart from a morgage and i have been advice by Dm company and bank and many people on here that getting a morgage will not be a problem due to the fact that i would have NO outstanding credit, and the bank i am with now ( this is the account i opened when going on the DMP) has been run the way all my accounts SHOULD have been run in the past, plus because of the DMP i will be able to save to put a good deposit down on a morgage again opening up more lenders to me.

I know the one question my DMP asked me before i started was
`Only do this if you are serious about getting out of debt forever, otherwise there is no point`
This at the time was answered yes due to the desperate situation i was in, but as the months and years have past, i have grown to understand that this was the wake up call we needed and i will only ever live off cash only/debit card (as money has to be there to spend it). I dont care if no credit card company would ever except me because iv learnt the hard way that you can only have what you need, and if there is something i WANT, then i save save save until i can pay cash for it.

For those of you who havent hear my story ( and sorry to those who have) i am a 30 year old married full time mum to 4 wonderful kids and i also have a step son.
A few years ago now myself and my husband stupidly ran up unnessicary debts, on things like expensive hoildays,doing up out house when we moved into it, expensive presents for the kids. These were things we didnt need but wanted and at the time just banged it on the credit cards and things went from there, dh had a very well paying job at the time, and when he was made redundent took a 12k pay drop!!!!! We both were still happy as it ment he didnt work away from home anymore and we could spend more time as a family unit.
I remember hiding the amount we owed from him, he knew it was alot but not the actually amount, one Saturday morning the post came and i opened the bills (and there were lots) and just broke down.
That very same day i started searching the web looking for help, and that afternoon spoke to the company i am now with.
They were helpful none judgemental and friendly. They emailed me lots of reading material which i read throught with a fine tooth comb, by 5pm that evening i had signed up to this company and was told.
`You no longer have to deal with your creditors thats our job now,dont make anymore payments and phone us with any questions`
It was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, i finally started to relax. As the weeks went on i opened up a new bank account as my old bank was one of my creditors, transfered direct debits for essential items such as bt,house insurance ect, and canceled all creditor payments.
The moment my first payment to the dmp went out was a fantstic moment, it felt like i had finally made a start on getting out of the black hole we were in.
Each month that passes brings me closer to my debt free date and i cant wait, i am proud of myself and husband now for dealing with it but i have already planned a huge party once the debt is gone forever.

We live better than we did before, have more spare cash for treats, have more money to live off in general. We can now plan hoildays ect without feeling guilt, because just beacuse you are in debt doesnt mean life has to stop...if fact for us dealing with it has ment our life has started again.
And the kids have seen how hard we work to save money now instead of spend it and itis rubbing off on them, they are grateful for anything they get no matter how small.
I hope i havent boared you all to death, just want people to know there is light at the end of the tunnel if you make the moves to get you there. Dmp`s are not a scary as they first seem, and you may end up saying to others in a few years like i do
ITS THE BEST THING I EVER DID.
Donna

louloujs

Donna - you are an inspiration! Thank you so much for writing all that - I didn't know your story but all the unnecessary spending echoes our own bad habits. I don't intend to get any credit again, just a mortgage somewhere down the line. I'm going to talk to husband tonight about this, as it seems that the dmp is what i need to do, just don't want to risk any impact on his job. which dmp company did you use? I feel like i ought to have a chat with one of them...

Thanks again, you should lecture in this subject, you'd pay your way out of it in no time and have an endless supply of listeners. Thank you, lou

dlb

Louloujs, having a chat with them doesnt mean you have to sign up for it. You can ask them all the questions you want and if your not happy dont have to sign up to them.
Im not with one of the free companys, which i know isnt total moneysaving, but im happy with the service they provide me.
The 2 free companys are Payplan and CCCS.
If you want to know who i am with i will PM you as dont feel i should promote fee paying services ( as explained in a previous post i only endied up with them because i hadnt found this site by then and had never heard of the free services) i have a friend who is with payplan and she is very happy and it is run very much like mine but she has alot of work to do herself whereas i just handed all responsibility over to my company and have never had to send token payments or write any letters.
Good luck and as said before give them a ring, it wont do any harm to speak to them
Donna
x

hitback

Donna

Wow! What an inspiration! I have to agree with you, life definitely does not stop just because you are in debt. since we started a DMP in Sept 2006, our life is so much better! Even when the going is tough (specially through Christmas and dealing with threat of charging order) just hanging onto the thought that our debt is decreasing gets us through the down times!
Good luck for 2008!

Gemmzie

I disagree with a lot of the what's allowed and not allowed. It's very dependent on your individual circumstances. We have £53 a month on Sky and broadband and they are happy with this as we have no other entertainment or pets.
They also won't make you spend only £40 on gas etc if you need more - that would just be daft, if you need heat then that's way more important than paying a creditor.

debrag

yeah the good thing is you are allowed a social life

All my household bills including tv & broadband are included with my rent so I can always add them on my budget to get extra to live on

smitty2702

Argh, my day has gone from bad to worse. I rang payplan today as advised BUT they have said they cannot help us do a DMP because we are left only with £20 surplus income to throw at the debts. This is because they have guidelines from the banking authority of what to use for non-priority expenditure which has come out as higher than what we actually use (i reckon we have £250 to throw at the debts) they have suggested we offer £1 token payments and go the CCJ route and now im so upset and dont know what to do! I dont know what to put for our expenditure now when i write to my creditors as If I write what we spend they will wonder why im only offering £1. I have emailed payplan to ask for the guideline figures but im lost with what to do next.

Smitty

Smitty

Gemmzie

smitty2702 wrote: »

Argh, my day has gone from bad to worse. I rang payplan today as advised BUT they have said they cannot help us do a DMP because we are left only with £20 surplus income to throw at the debts. This is because they have guidelines from the banking authority of what to use for non-priority expenditure which has come out as higher than what we actually use (i reckon we have £250 to throw at the debts) they have suggested we offer £1 token payments and go the CCJ route and now im so upset and dont know what to do! I dont know what to put for our expenditure now when i write to my creditors as If I write what we spend they will wonder why im only offering £1. I have emailed payplan to ask for the guideline figures but im lost with what to do next.

Smitty

Smitty

Smitty, start a new thread and pop up your expenditure. The guidelines for a DMP budget are also here... http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#4
*hugs*

debrag

there is also a guideline on this page posted by me, not sure if that is what you mean though, the link above include an example budget. Also the budget.exe that can be downloaded is an example of what is sent out to all creditors & it's nice to see that

louloujs

I have just taken the plunge and looked at the CCCS website, but because I'm self-employed they can't help me. Payplan doesn't mention either way but they're closed at the moment.

Does anyone know if i can do a dmp if i'm self-employed?