Debt free in 10 years, this time I mean business!

Merlot1975

Hello to anyone who might read this.

I was on this forum before with a diary but under a different name. I've chosen a new name and a new diary for a new start, this time I will get this sorted out once and for all! I found writing a diary helpful last time I did it as it helped to get stuff off my chest and in writing, even if nobody else read it :-)

A little bit about my situation. I am 37 and live with my partner who has a tiny bit of debt but is hugely supportive in helping me pay off mine. I have around 92K of debt - I have a debt management plan, payday loans, car finance, a credit card, door step loans - you name it and I have it. I had my LBM in 2010 and signed up to debt management but I continued to make really stupid decisions after then, mainly adding to my problems with more debt (which you're not even allowed to do!). I would say the past couple of months have been my real LBM as the penny has dropped that I need to get serious and fix this. I stood in a supemarket today paying for food in 5p coins from the jar in the kitchen as that was all I had and my OH doesn't get paid till the end of next week. This is a real low point in amongst all the other previous low points which I thought could not be topped.

To give a tiny bit of background to my situation, I did not rack up my debt with spending sprees, holidays or having fun of any sort. I loaned it to family members who then repaid the capital but not the interest on the borrowing I had taken out. I lived off credit cards etc to be able to make the repayments each month. I ended up selling my house and entering the DMP 3 years ago, one of my few sensible decisions along the way. It's all water under the bridge now and my family and I are fine, we try to help each other out when possible. I have never blamed them for the situation I am in, it's entirely my fault - I should have gotten them financial advice instead of trying to fix things myself, but hindsight is 20/20 and I recognise the error of my ways now. Ironically, before all this happened, I was a devoted saver (I have 3 savings accounts which are now empty!) and never was a spender

I have always tried to stay positive about this because apart from the fact that we have no money whatsoever, I am really lucky in many other ways: I love my OH very much, we are blessed with a beautiful child, we have a large family and great friends - this is really the one aspect of life which is rotten and unfortunately it affects so many parts of your life.

So my short term priorities:

1. Sort out the pay day loans. I would say that we are negotiating payment plans, they would say that they are sending me threatening text messages/emails haha, but we will get there. I need to break the cycle of spending that much on nothing every month, so sorting the payment plans is a big priority.

2. Credit card - payment plan agreed this week. They're not happy, I'm not exactly thrilled but a plan is in place so I need to stick to it (and I will)

3. Pay off the finance on my car - I have just over £1000 to go and then it is finally done, woohoo! Plan is to pay it off by the end of the year, allowing an increased amount to go to the card from the start of 2014 onwards.

4. Phone my DMC to address the text messages I am getting from a creditor who is being paid every month who is threatening to take me to court for non-payment for over a year (my plan is paid every month so I have no idea what this is about, time for DMC to step in me thinks)

I think that will do for now, apologies to anyone who stumbled across this and is now bored to tears reading my rambling .

*manzy*

Well done for tackling it and good luck on your journey, stick in there.:)

Merlot1975

I'm not at work today so in addition to some debt busting activities (listed in my post last night), I going to spend some time catching up on doing my online surveys. I found out about them through this site and they have been a godsend for Christmas, birthdays etc. Earlier this year we paid for our child's birthday almost entirely with vouchers earned through surveys and I have a plan to reach £200 saved for Christmas this year. I also love the freebies you get to test with them. This has been a brilliant week so far as I have received 30 dishwasher tablets, a magazine and a box of cereal to test. I also saved up vouchers to buy an outfit for our child to wear to a family event later in the year and it was delivered on Monday. The whole outfit was under £3 because of the vouchers. We also use them for treats such as last month I bought a moisturiser using them and I got the OH some bits and pieces he needed using them. So I am really motivated this week to press on with them. So I will call/email my DMC (I am dreadful on the phone so chicken out and use email whenever possible) regarding the text messages from the creditor and then I will press on with surveys, should be a productive day

Chrysalis1976

Good luck with your journey and well done to a fab saving with the vouchers and testers, I've had quite a lot to test recently currently waiting for a box of well known kids juice to arrive.

C x

please-let-me-be-lucky

Wishing you all the luck in the world on your journey. I will sunscribe and cheer you along.

PLMBL Xx

Merlot1975

Thanks all, I hope write something worth reading I love the vouchers and the savings, they've made such a difference to us. Tho on days like today when I am getting screened out of everything going I need to push myself to keep going. I'll get there!!

Merlot1975

I had a great day yesterday. After looking like I was getting screened out of everything survey wise, I then discovered Nectar Adpoints. I have a Nectar card and have linked it to my eBay account, my Gas account and so on and regularly check the balance of it. However, I had managed to miss this. So I spent a couple of hours doing it yesterday afternoon and got to the weekly limit of 250 points earned plus I get my 250 point bonus for signing up to it. So I was chuffed with that. Then the codes came through for £15 of Amazon vouchers that I have been waiting on for over a month, so I added that to my Amazon account. I have another £45 pending on the same site so fingers crossed they come through soon too. Other than that I just plodded through more surveys, it feels good when I have time off to feel like I am doing something positive to ensure Christmas is less financially ruinous than it can be :rotfl:

I also emailed my DMC, they are 'looking into it'. I think what might have happened is that they are continuing to send my payments to the creditor each month but the creditor has passed it to a debt collection agency, hence the reason why I am sure I am paying and the debt collection mob are equally sure that I am not But hopefully it will be sorted out quickly.

No progress on the pay day loan front, I received the usual barrel load of emails/texts/letters (which is fair enough, I owe them money after all) but no response to my communications to them. Eventually we will come to some agreement I hope.

So I will keep plugging away. Today is a housework/cleaning day The bathroom and kitchen are already spotless (tho not for long, it will last until either my OH or our child comes home, then chaos will reign haha). Then I will do some more surveys and send some more emails regarding the payday loan situation, since everyone seems determined to kid on that I have not been in contact regarding them, I will add a few more to my sent file

*manzy*

I'm trying to clear a load of debt too and boost my income with mystery shopping. You've inspired me to have a look at doing surveys though, I've never really thought about that before, thanks

Merlot1975

Oh no probs, there's a list of the good sites to use on here, they can really make a difference if you plug away at them

Merlot1975

Well nothing much to report from yesterday. I got a couple of calls from the credit card asking me if I wanted to up the amount we have agreed for the payment plan, I politely declined. It's all been agreed and confirmed in writing, with the next review scheduled for January so I am not increasing it at the moment.

The payday loans continued to contact me making no reference to my emails - we seem to be going round in circles here

But on the plus side, I found a new survey site that I hadn't heard of (thro a diary on here, this is great for discoveries like that, it's my second one in a week) so I spent a bit of time filling in all the profile surveys, hopefully I will get a real one to do soon.

My mum loaned me some money till next week so I have just done shopping for the weekend for the 3 of us, and most of the lunches for next week too for £13. Pretty chuffed with that, it will keep us going till next week when OH is paid.

And my last bit of good news is, I am trying to lose weight as well, and I lost a pound this week, happy days :T Hopefully I will continue this trend at the weekend as I have lots of no-spend activities at the park planned for all of us

Desperate_to_be_debt_free

Hi Merlot1975, have loved reading your diary and hope to see more updates. Like you I also have massive debt to clear but don't seem to be getting very far. I have managed to agree £1 monthly repayments to all my creditors and so far have managed to keep the arrangement. I know it's a struggle and I feel your pain. Keep posting and good luck x