Reeling from the Reality Check

Historybuff · 20 January 2015 at 6:44AM

Thanks so much, SVC. I'm just telling my story as it happens! I find it really therapeutic to talk about things anonymously on here that I can't talk about to anyone in real life. Thanks for subscribing. Great to have you along!
I'm thinking more and more that reducing hours at work as soon as I can is the best thing to do for me. My job is very full on with responsibility and I'm finding early mornings and late nights more and more difficult. Also you hear of so many people just making it to retirement then popping off! I hope I've got a good few years left in me yet, but I need to spend more time doing things with family, so time is more precious to me now.
My aim is to get everything paid off as far as possible within five years from now and bring the df date forward to 2020 at the very latest. Don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'll keep thinking.
I have still not heard from any of the other predators regarding the reduced payment plans I proposed. Don't know if that's a good thing or not. Maybe means they are considering it? The minute, by some miracle, I come into any sort of lump sum, I'm going to try to see if any them will accept a reduced f and f. They probably won't according to what I've read on other boards, but they might.
I'm feeling ok at the moment, but the debts are always there...niggling at the back of my mind. But they are under control, and that's what matters.

Brogden · 20 January 2015 at 7:49AM

Well done with everything you are doing HB!

I will expand on my experiences on my thread shortly but I am finding that the 'F&F' experience is varying very much from one predator to the next - I think I have negotiated two significant ones to pay in the next couple of months but a couple of them have been very 'miserable

!'

We can scour these pages all we like looking at other people's experiences but like all things in life I am finding we have to try it for ourselves

! The DFW board can make us feel very optimistic or very down in the dumps.......if we can understand some of the garbled mistyped messages at all that is:rotfl:!!

Brogden x

Historybuff · 21 January 2015 at 7:33PM

Well done on moving forward with the f and f, Brogden. Progress report on the reduced payments. C@p1 and amazingly enough, Bc@rd have agreed to them, M@S want to speak to me. So two down, three to go. Getting there...I think.

Brogden · 21 January 2015 at 8:41PM

Historybuff wrote: »

Well done on moving forward with the f and f, Brogden. Progress report on the reduced payments. C@p1 and amazingly enough, Bc@rd have agreed to them, M@S want to speak to me. So two down, three to go. Getting there...I think.

Well done HB :beer:

Get back to Mr. T........there is a 'training need' in there - remember.....you don't want to speak to the office cat

!! Well, perhaps you do but you need a decision maker :rotfl:!!

Brogden x

Historybuff · 21 January 2015 at 8:47PM

Yes I will, Brogden. I am writing to them...keeping it all in writing as far as possible now. I'm annoyed M and S rang the home phone, too!

Brogden · 22 January 2015 at 8:46AM

Historybuff wrote: »

Yes I will, Brogden. I am writing to them...keeping it all in writing as far as possible now. I'm annoyed M and S rang the home phone, too!

Hi HB

We have a small(ish) S&M debt. They are a bunch of fusspots. They're not unpleasant but they make such a meal out of everything.

You may be aware HB but they are pretty good with F&F's IF the account is defaulted. I agreed one last year with them and then had to tell them that I wasn't happy to proceed because of a work wobble. I know others have had real success. It may be worth bearing in mind - I'm going to them again in the next few weeks and I'll let you know how it goes.

I don't really think its right for me to post all details and figures of my proposed F&F's in public forum whilst they're under negotiation (a bit vulgar and not very British

!!) When they are finalised I will as it may help you if you are dealing with some of the same organisations.

Have a great day HB.

Brogden x

Historybuff · 23 January 2015 at 12:21AM

Good luck, Brogden.
Payday tomorrow, thank goodness! £70 left in the bank...chuffed with that.

Historybuff · 23 January 2015 at 10:57AM

Signature update day. Things are creaking on in the right direction. I have done loads of thinking about pension, workload and what is the best thing to do. At the beginning of this week I was convinced I was going to go down to four days, take 75% of pension as soon as possible. Having asked advice from others on this site, it seems that taking out pension before NRA is a very bad idea. Even worse is using pension to pay off debts or mortgage because the rates don't match up and I would be so much more worse off in the long run. Debt mountain is currently interest free and reducing. The mortgage is the only thing I'm paying interest on and that is manageable. Can I manage two more years full time? I think I am going to have to, otherwise the pension is too badly affected and that is for the rest of my life.
So, at the moment I am going to carry on as I am, find out more about pension changes in April when it all happens and then go from there. its so complicated!

in_need_of_direction · 23 January 2015 at 4:58PM

Well done on the £70. Isn't their going to be some pension advice scheme rolled out? Maybe that's an option.

Historybuff · 24 January 2015 at 8:22AM

Fireplace update. The new mantelpiece has been delivered and is safely wrapped where it can't fall down and break. The chimney is being swept on Monday and all being well it will be safely up and installed next week. Not before time.