Mrs PG's Hopes & Dreams for a debt free future !

debtfreewannabe321

Happy New Year Mrs Pg & family. I pray it's a good year for you that sees you getting back on track

Box_of_Fluffies

Hi Mrs PG, I've found your new diary courtesy of the link at the end of your old diary. It's been quite some time since I posted, far too long, but I'm back now and plan to stick around.

I was sorry to read about your dad. You must have missed him enormously over Christmas. I know i missed my grandma who sadly died in September.

Congratulations on paying off 50% of your debt. That's a massive achievement and one to be celebrated.

I can see it's been a few days since your last post, so hope all is well and that you're ready to enter round 3 of your debt busting journey.

Box of Fluffies xx
P.S. I had never heard of elf on a shelf until your diary. Sounds awesome and something your girls will remeber for a long time.

PinotGrigio41

I am so embarrassed to be wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year so very late . Im sorry. Thankyou all for your wonderful wishes at Christmas and for the New Year and I can truly say that they really meant a lot to me. Although I didnt have a chance to log on at all and leave you messages individually I can honestly say that I have thought about you all over the festive season and was hoping you were all having a wonderful time. Thankyou all for being so supportive, not sure what I would do without you lot sometimes !!

Christmas went well, different , but well. I didn't think for one minute that I would get myself sorted, I was food shopping at 6am on Xmas Eve, and bought just enough to tide us over for a couple of days. The Xmas Period itself was tough going, pretty emotional and I am now well and truly exhausted. I think all my energy has completely and utterly disappeared. Trying to keep happy and smiley and run around after everyone and be cheery and make sure everyone was occupied finally knocked the stuffing out of me if Im honest. In addition there was alot of nastiness and aggression being thrown from all angles which was very very upsetting. Sadly I wasnt given much time to think about my Dad which makes me sad as the needs of others had to come first. I do sometimes wonder if certain people realise that I have lost someone close to me also, it really seems to have passed them by as though I don't have a care in the world and I was put here to support them and them alone. Ho Hum !! The girls had a lovely time though , with lots of tears and some upset but they kept smiling and made us very very proud. I have noticed recently that they dont really want to be out and about much and want to curl up at home and for us all to be together. DD1 in particular is barely going out or seeing her friends which is worrying me, but over all it all went well. I had a photograph of my dad with me at all times taken a couple of years ago of him and I with our Xmas Cracker Hats on at the dinner table, smiling and happy .

New Year we spent with some lovely old friends, it was nice and relaxed and was lovely just to all catchup and spend time together which was just what I needed really, although an hour before we were due to go I went into complete meltdown and decided that I was staying at home on my own The Girls and Mr PG gave me the kick up the posterior that I needed, insisted I scrub myself up and get out of the house for which I am greatful. I could quite easily at the moment not leave the house or see or speak to anybody Im afraid, something that I neeed to get sorted and quickly before it becomes a bigger problem.

The Festive Season aside, January has started with a bump. Work wise we are in a far better position than we have been the last two Januarys. Jan and Feb are notoriously our worst months of the year.We are sadly having trouble getting money in again. The cupboards once more are bare and I have taken to creating the strangest concoctions again to feed everyone ! I think they are used to them now and I have barely had any complaints, except for last nights fish fingers with gravy, roast pots and Yorkshire puddings !! Funny how they ate it though ! :rotfl:I am hoping though to see some money start dribbling in next Tuesday. I am keeping everything crossed .

We have come to an agreement with THEM, its not ideal and I have no idea if we can stick to it because as usual work and income is not guaranteed. They have accepted an offer of a minimum of £500 a month of which we will make overpayments if we can. ( The overpayments are a must really ) Should we not manage any overpayments, a lump sum of £7K ish will be due in November, in addition to the new bill (whatever that may be )that will be due by the end of October 2014 :eek::eek:. There is no way in this world that we will be able to pay off this bill and the new one in full, but for now I will concentrate on the figure in my signature and tackle it as best as we can. as is the motto on here "They cant have what we havent got !"

We have paid the arrears on the Utility bills and yesterday I changed our provider to another who apparently thinks they can save us £481.00 a year. Watch this space on that one I think. Oh, the Council Tax arrears have been paid also. The mortgage arrears stand at about £400, I am hoping they will be cleared before the end of February then we are nearly back to square one with the exception of the loan which hasnt been paid since October. :eek:. I have been re doign our calculations and think we will need to add into the DMP which could mean a charge against the house. Its still something I am trying to get my head around, its a tricky one. In the meantime I still havent heard back from my second letter re the bank charges, I keep hoping something will pop onto the doormat but so far they are strangely quiet. One of the PRedators wanted a review, I have written to them to say that things are still the same and I will continue to pay the agreed amount and nothing more. They seem fine with that for now.

The girls are now back at school. DD1 hating every minute of it and just wants out. She has had her interview at college and been accepted (subject to her results of course) She put together a beautiful photography portfolio which was a big hit at the interview, so now she needs to keep up all of her hard work, revise and work like crazy to get herself where she wants to be and get the grades she needs. She is more than capable but still not back to herself after the events of last year, so I will need to keep a very very close eye on her and help her all we can.DD2 is again quiet, but doing ok and thriving at school. I need to watch her though as she doesn't chat as much as DD1 and keeps things to herself a little more. She is dealing with what happened with her Grandad very differently to her sister.

Work looks like it will plod along nicely for this year despite another client going to the wall. Mr PG will be away for a few months in the Summer but will be back just in time for DD1s Prom which we are relieved about as I was planning on having a cardboard cut out made of him for the photos !! We have invested a small amount of money in some new equipment for the business, that we are hoping may bring in an additional income for us, we are currently in the early stages of sorting that and hopefully will pick up some additional business. Mr PG is , as usual exhausted as well. He is currently sleeping having just worked a 16 hour day / night finishing at 9.30am . His last day off was Boxing Day, a bit of chill out time is just what he needs right now. We all need to run and hide for a year I think, but sadly, as we all know that's not reality or an option, so we will continue to plod along.

Right, now I have written no doubt a huge long post, I must get back to work. I will aim to get back on here more regularly and will try and slowly catch up on all of your diaries.

Thankyou all again for your lovely supportive messages above. I wont reply to you all individually as I really wont get any work done, but its great to "see" you all. Take Care and sending lots of hug and good wishes to you all xxx

debtfreewannabe321

Lovely to see you back I guess what the girls are going through is normal in the grieving process, I hope they are feeling a little brighter soon though (and you too). I bet your DD1 is very busy with GCSE's looming, I know my son is and he's in the year below your DD :eek: it's amazing how much work they have to get through. I'm sure your DD is up to the task though and it may take her mind off her grandad a little :A

Great news with the work, although I hope you all get a day off soon together. All work and no play is no fun at all.

Take care hope we see you back here soon

walkers60

Good to see you back. The mention of a cardboard cutout of Mr PG for the photo reminded me of the cardboard cutout I made of myself when I couldn't join my friends in the journey to go on holiday. I travelled by train but they drove there and I sent the cutout to sit in the seat. I sat next to them for the whole journey and I also got out of the car to share the picnic at lunchtime! I'm pretty sure they got some funny looks!

grannyx2

Glad to see you back and that things went pretty ok in light of the situation.

Great news re the work and arrears catch ups.

Granny x

Box_of_Fluffies

Just a thought PG. If DD2 has difficulty talking about things, perhaps you could get her to write down what's going on for her at the moment and how she's feeling. My DS2 has trouble expressing himself himself and writing it down really works for him.

Pleased to hear 2014 has started off positively work wise. Fingers crossed that payments start coming through soon.

Take care. x

HappyNow

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

I could quite easily at the moment not leave the house or see or speak to anybody Im afraid, something that I neeed to get sorted and quickly before it becomes a bigger problem.

I think you should prioritise this Pinot. You've been through such a lot recently and you are clearly still grieving for your dad. Your personal strength shines through in your post as usual, but everyone needs a little help sometimes and your wonderful hubby and girls need you to keep strong. Maybe have a word with your doctor? x

Eager_Elephant

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

The mortgage arrears stand at about £400, I am hoping they will be cleared before the end of February then we are nearly back to square one with the exception of the loan which hasnt been paid since October. :eek:. I have been re doign our calculations and think we will need to add into the DMP which could mean a charge against the house. Its still something I am trying to get my head around, its a tricky one. In the meantime I still havent heard back from my second letter re the bank charges, I keep hoping something will pop onto the doormat but so far they are strangely quiet. One of the PRedators wanted a review, I have written to them to say that things are still the same and I will continue to pay the agreed amount and nothing more. They seem fine with that for now.

Happy New Year PG!!

I'm sorry that the festive season did not go as well as you hoped.

Well done on keeping on top of your main bills - you are doing so well with the unpredictable payment of money to you.

Just wondering why you think they will put a charge against the house?

If it is just a normal loan then I personally think not paying it and not making contact is more likely to lead to them applying for a CCJ and then a charge.
If you can make them an offer of payment which is realistic and affordable then they will be happy. It will also stop interest being added or if interest was added at the start they will remove interest so you owe less.

Even if they put a charge on your house and you don't make the required payments they still have to ask permission of the court to force a sale and when their are children under 18 in the house.
If you keep to the required payments then they very rarely grant it especially if you can show that you have been paying what you can afford. The main thing would be to not ignore any court letters.

The banks have also had their knuckles rapped recently over CCJs and charging orders as they have been persuing people for tiny amounts of money and with all the charges etc it is pushing people more in to debt.
If someone is making the reduced agreed payments then they are not really allowed to push for a charging order (whatever the size of the debt)

If you want any help give me a shout.

PinotGrigio41

walkers60 wrote: »

Good to see you back. The mention of a cardboard cutout of Mr PG for the photo reminded me of the cardboard cutout I made of myself when I couldn't join my friends in the journey to go on holiday. I travelled by train but they drove there and I sent the cutout to sit in the seat. I sat next to them for the whole journey and I also got out of the car to share the picnic at lunchtime! I'm pretty sure they got some funny looks!

That really made me giggle walkers !! I thought I was the only mad person who would even consider having a cardboard cutout made, but clearly not ! :rotfl: