Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

7roland8

Dooyoo is good for writing reviews - you make pennies really but it does add up - you can get a £20 Amazon voucher or let it accumulate to £50 cash - but with you being used to spending large amounts it may be too small for you to be interested. You would have needed to have written a lot of reviews to afford your diary for instance.

AlexLK

7roland8 wrote: »

Well done for resisting the coat - I thought for a minute you were going to confess to buying it!

I would think what your son 'needs' is a happy and secure home life - which will be better to obtain by clearing your debts and then letting the future take care of itself.

Who knows you can always save more money in years to come perhaps - but its not the end of the world if you don't.

Tut tut - that diary was a bit OTT - I got one from ebay for under £2 and you can pick them up in the £1 shop - all those little extras do add up - and would be better off the debt.

I know you need little treats now and again - but not all the time.

Regarding your pens - I personally like handbags - but generally do not keep just buying them - as I will sell one on ebay to fund the next one.

OK, this is going to sound like I am making excuses re. the diary but I write with a fountain pen all the time and find on cheaper paper, the ink runs through but I was a very good boy putting the coat back.

Sometimes, I hope our little boy will stay just that forever, no real big decisions to make that way.

AlexLK

7roland8 wrote: »

Dooyoo is good for writing reviews - you make pennies really but it does add up - you can get a £20 Amazon voucher or let it accumulate to £50 cash - but with you being used to spending large amounts it may be too small for you to be interested. You would have needed to have written a lot of reviews to afford your diary for instance.

To be honest, it will depend on how much you have to write and what sort of content they expect. Really not sure my writing is up the standard one would imagine from a paid review. Also, surely reviewing things means I will have to buy things to review?

debtfreewannabe321

I just had a quick flick through your other thread and you've had some sound advice on there. I can relate to the overspends trying to keep up with a lifestyle you grew up with. My first lot of debt was racked up in this way. I was brought up in a big house, 2 cars (only my dad could drive!) ponies, boarding school, holidays abroad every year when other friends were at Skegness. My dad funded me right up until I was in my mid 20s. It stopped when he got re-married and in a way i'm grateful as I really would never ever have learned my lesson ! Just because your son doesn't have the best gadgets, clothes, holidays doesn't mean that it will somehow affect him. In fact I feel more affected by being bought everything but never having a father there to sit and talk to me or eat dinner with us. Breaking a spending habit is tough, but it can be done (there's plenty of ex-spenders on here lol) so keep at it!

AlexLK

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

I forgot to say if you have completely run out of credit then it might be a good idea to start an emergency fund whilst paying off the debts, albeit a small one. Emergencies always seem to crop up when you least want them ? My situation was probably different to you as I went on a dmp after completely running out of credit and ways to pay them all back so the dmp company allowed a small emergency fund budget.:)

(link to my diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3928785)

I am still unaware what a DMP is? Also, if it would be better for my situation than writing to the CC companies / collection agencies to ask for a freeze in interest on the former and a final settlement on the latter.

My wife would still be able to get credit but we have decided it is best we do not go down that route again.

Iwillsucceed_2

Hello Alex! Oh wow! I am very impressed with your progress indeed!
You are a business person, you have assessed your situation and you put a plan to solve the problem.
I am also impressed with how you went about with your brother in law's demand? It is clear that you made him aware that you have set of boundaries! Well done!

Where there is a will, there is a way!

Regards

debtfreewannabe321

AlexLK wrote: »

I am still unaware what a DMP is? Also, if it would be better for my situation than writing to the CC companies / collection agencies to ask for a freeze in interest on the former and a final settlement on the latter.

My wife would still be able to get credit but we have decided it is best we do not go down that route again.

DMP is a debt management plan: I went with stepchange and they are a charity that I paid a monthly amount to, that money was then split between all the creditors equally (percentage wise) and most (not all) of the interest was frozen. You can do it yourself quite easily, unfortunately I wasn't in the right place mentally to do that at the time, my DH was in afghan and I had 2 babies and it just seemed so insurmountable at the time. I also had 13 creditors I was facing phone calls from on a daily basis. All that stopped when I went on the plan and the debt slowly came down. With Stepchange (SC) I had to call them up every so often and do a budget down the phone with them which they had to agree with which wasn't much fun especially when I was trying to fit in school fees, extra money for the car (because it was so rubbish it was always breaking down) etc. There are lots on here that do it themselves have a nosey round the boards and diaries and you'll probably find a better explanation than i've given too

7roland8

AlexLK wrote: »

To be honest, it will depend on how much you have to write and what sort of content they expect. Really not sure my writing is up the standard one would imagine from a paid review. Also, surely reviewing things means I will have to buy things to review?

Well their criteria is over 150 words of original opinion.
You do just review the items you have - food, toiletries, toys, books, etc. There are various categories and you just review what takes your fancy. Nothing lost if you give it a try anyway - a similar one is called CIAO.

If you enjoy writing its a good way for you to add a little to the pot. If you did just one a day and got Amazon vouchers they could be saved for son's gifts.

AlexLK

Iwillsucceed wrote: »

Hello Alex! Oh wow! I am very impressed with your progress indeed!
You are a business person, you have assessed your situation and you put a plan to solve the problem.
I am also impressed with how you went about with your brother in law's demand? It is clear that you made him aware that you have set of boundaries! Well done!

Where there is a will, there is a way!

Regards

Thank you very much for the encouragement.

As for the Brother-in-Law, to say he and I don't get on is an understatement. Had he not started the name calling, I would not have charged him money for the work. It's not the first time he's said such things and I've let it go in the past but how he went about it today just took the biscuit.

AlexLK

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

DMP is a debt management plan: I went with stepchange and they are a charity that I paid a monthly amount to, that money was then split between all the creditors equally (percentage wise) and most (not all) of the interest was frozen. You can do it yourself quite easily, unfortunately I wasn't in the right place mentally to do that at the time, my DH was in afghan and I had 2 babies and it just seemed so insurmountable at the time. I also had 13 creditors I was facing phone calls from on a daily basis. All that stopped when I went on the plan and the debt slowly came down. With Stepchange (SC) I had to call them up every so often and do a budget down the phone with them which they had to agree with which wasn't much fun especially when I was trying to fit in school fees, extra money for the car (because it was so rubbish it was always breaking down) etc. There are lots on here that do it themselves have a nosey round the boards and diaries and you'll probably find a better explanation than i've given too

Going to have a go myself but if I get nowhere I will look into this, thank you.