silver lining?? I'm still struggling through the cloud!

mon1o

Hi all

Ive been battling my debt for a while now, and finally gave in and started a dmp with stepchange in 2012. Today I checked my account balances for an update and found that some of my creditors have not stopped charges/interest. This means that Ive paid in nearly £5k to my dmp (£4842 to be exact) but in actual fact only £2200 ish has been cleared.

I thought when I started my dmp that this would be the beginning of the end of my problems but today I feel just like I did when I took the plunge with stepchange. Im currently battling through the cloud, to find the silver lining.

So Ive decided to start a diary. something which i probably should have done some time ago. Here are the steps I am taking from now on in order to get rid of the debt chain hanging around my neck:

1) Every month I work out what my incomings/outgoings are.
2) budget for petrol, food, spends. draw money out of bank for month and stick to it.
3) Move any surplus however small into separate account to go towards becoming a lump sum payment
4) clear clutter and do a car boot sale or put on ebay
5) contact stepchange and seek advice on asking creditors again to stop all charges/interest.
6) joined "a payment a day" challenge
7) hope all the above is enough to reduce outstanding debt further.

So here we go! I really hope all this works.

Puzzcat

Hi, I have posted on your other thread.
Good luck with your journey.
Puzz. X

shinner

Keep posting will subscribe. Chin up read other post.:)

mon1o

Hi

Thankyou to both of you.

I didnt sleep much last night, I feel so down and fed up. Its easy to see the temptation of stopping the direct debit, ignoring the creditors and in 6 years time saying "debt? dont know what youre talking about!" the hassle probably wouldnt be much different!

But I know I wouldnt be comfortable doing that and at least this way I am paying for my previous mistakes and doing the right thing. So I have today done the following:

Joined the NSD challenge for the day on the dfw board
Joined the 1% challenge - this is £176 rounded up. definitley manageable.
get the slow cooker on and also the breadmaker and the easiyo
spoken to the hubby and decided not to set foot in a supermarket until we have almost no food in the house and we are contemplating attacking the flowerbeds.
begin a declutter and see what I can ebay.
I must must must contact stepchange and seek their advice.

So here we go! I feel no more positive about things but I am prepared to deal with things head on and sort out what I can in as short a space of time as possible.

mon1o

okay. so ive taken the first step and called stepchange for advice on how to get the creditors to stop further interest/charges. They have arranged a mid year review to see if there is any way i can increase my payments to them and apparantley this will increase the chances of an agreement being reached.

of course no one can guarantee that the lenders will agree but the lady i spoke to was very nice and said even if my payment amounts dont change, the fact im seeking to sort out the problem will help my cause. if all else fails then theres the FOS but I dont know if this will help at all.

Bread smells lovely, the yoghurt is about to go on and this afternoon whilst the kids are keeping themselves busy (rubbish weather here!) i am going to take inventory of the freezer/fridge/cupboards and meal plan.

SmlSave

Lots of luck on your debt free journey mon1o

spoken to the hubby and decided not to set foot in a supermarket until we have almost no food in the house and we are contemplating attacking the flowerbeds.

Wish i could get DH to agree to this

Aesop

Hi, thought I would come and join your diary to give you some moral support

Remember you are doing really well and look how far forward you are compared to when you first started.

mon1o

I have to say these past 24 hours and the help I have received from the people on this site has allowed me to refocus and discover that although I was doing the right things, I need to do a bit more to help myself out of this situation. So here is a run down of my day and the first steps taken to properly sorting out my life and reducing my debt:

Today was a NSD
Food has all come from stores (inventory of freezer and cupboards done - found some lentils in the cupboard so when making bolognese sauce for tea used half a pack of minced beef and an extra onion and lentils to bulk out)
Made bread and yoghurt is currently "brewing"
weekly spends withdrawn and put in envelopes
looked on OS board for recipes to make in slow cooker/feeding family of 5 on a budget
joined DMP support thread and got letters to send regarding freezing interest charges and stopping telephone calls (fingers crossed this works)
Spoke with stepchange and arranged interim review to see if i can increase payment any more (doubtful but worth a try)
declutter is underway - anything not used in past 6 months and in good condition will be on ebay by the weekend.
heating has not been on all day - extra jumpers and dressing gowns it is!
Joined challenges - PAD challenge, pay 1% of your debt challenge, will join november NSD challenge if/when one is started.

So i think all in all a good first day. Definitley in a better place than I was this time yesterday.

Aesop

Fantastic mon1o. :j there's one more challenge you might want to try.... make £10 a Day challenge. November thread is up. I got to do a bit of editing.

Choc-addict

Hey there,

Just wanted to join and say hi! Keep going as it really does start to tumble especially if you can save to clear some in full.

I started dmp in 2007 @ 64k and it's now sub 10k remaining. It's hard work and tough at times but you will get there.

I've just reignited my diary to try and blast the last 9 odd grand so happy to come here and share some ideas.

Enjoyed reading your diary so far. Wishing you lots and lots of luck!

Choc xx

mon1o

Aesop - I have joined the challenge but pledged only £5 a day. Maybe for december I might try £10 but lets start small haha!

Choc - thanks for your post. This is going to sound really terrible but seeing people like yourselves pay off so much debt fills me with hope (not that I enjoy seeing people accumulate such amounts). So inspiring. Definitley going to find your diary and have a read. Thank you for posting and letting me know there is a light at the end of the tunnel - even if it is a very long tunnel!

Off to check my top cashback, swagbucks, marketforce and any other account i have open that could potentially earn me a bit more cash. Oh and I have also swiped 40p "roadkill" this evening my hubby left it lying around next to his wallet (not in it so thats allowed right?) on the top of the drawers in the bedroom so the 40p is now safely in my "loose change" jar!

Finders Keepers!