Lumpy's Newbie DMP Diary

lumpyspaceprincess

I'm F, early 30s, and have a lot of debt. I rent with my OH, the debt is solely in my name however a chunk has been accrued in the last few years as my partner has been unable to find work, jobs are thin on the ground here, and increasingly picky (Degree level for a call centre job anyone?!) I've always been fairly skint after being left with debt by an ex partner, only a small amount but certainly enough to get me started. Between that, spending most of my disposable income in my 20s out partying or on depression inducing shopping sprees (not related!)... it's quite something. Over the years I've paid my repayments everytime, then had to borrow more then to get through the months. A balance transfer here, using the original card again there... you've heard it all before I'm sure!

I have read other MSE forums for years for bargains, to look at housing dilemmas, and one day ventured into the DFW forum.
Cue lightbulb moment! I applied to Stepchange for a DMP that very day, on my lunch break. It starts next month, and we're estimating that my debt will be paid off in 4.5 years - or 54 months, because that seems less. My total debt at the moment is appx 23.5k (I do have it all on the laptop) and I can't wait to see it all come down.

Before now, half of what I was earning half was going on bills, and just under half on debt repayments, it's no wonder I was borrowing more and more! The dmp payment is much more manageable and will allow some breathing space, I felt physically lighter after completing Debt Remedy, like a realy weight had come off me. It feels like I'm finally taking control again!

It feels like a fresh start, and hopefully here I can talk about the process, about seeing those numbers come down, and tackle some of my bad spending habits (amongst other bad habits!)

So welcome, and apologies in advance for all the waffling, ranting, inappropriate emoticons and overuse of brackets that will occur in the time between now and being DF!

SerafinaJayne

Hello! :wave:

I'm new to the diary board too so welcome!

What you said about paying off a chunk of debt but then getting more debt to pay for the end of the month is true with me too. In fact I got a balance transfer in Feburary and I still have the old card that I've spent on since! Anyway, just wanted to say you're not alone in that. Here's to making a dent in our debt and using our diaries to record it!

SerafinaJayne

charmedlassie

Welcome!
I know that feeling well. "Oooh, paid off that! Pat on the back" but now something else needs paying so I'll just use my credit card...
Pointless!
Good luck! Glad you're feeling more in control.

Puzzcat

Welcome to diaryland and welcome to the dmp mutual support thread where I spend quite a lot of my time! Unfortunately the creditors don't seem to follow any particular system but if you post up who your debts are with over on the dmp thread people will respond with there experiences.
Good luck.

lumpyspaceprincess

Thanks Puzzcat x

So payday is at the end of this week, and it should mark the change starting. I'll be making token payments to my creditors at the usual DD dates, and I've organised my money a bit more. I activated an old dormant account with Santander to transfer non bills money into, so I don't touch the account bills come from. This will hopefully be good, the other acc is San as well (123) so I'll still get the bill credits, and I've no debt with them so I'm not worried there. The next few months will be something to behold.

I did make a purchase on a credit card this weekend, I'd had a refund for a faulty order, and instead of going to my DC it went to the CC - so I spent that little bit. That's enough though, I felt bad after it even though it's something I needed (and with a big discount). So now is the time to cut the cards and take them off all the websites they're stored on. That should be fun!

We did a little bit of spending yesterday in person, I'd taken £30 out with us for the day to do a bit of charity shop wandering, buy some lunch etc, and I had a £25 M&S voucher I used to buy food for a few days too. We did well for our money, in fact I came home with enough to get me through until payday without touching the bank account which is exciting.

Lots of babbling there.... I did say that might happen!

lumpyspaceprincess

I cut all the cards up on Monday. It felt awesome!

Of course making a note of my tesco clubcard number would have been useful, I can't log in to see my vouchers now (clubcard credit card)

Spent a few £ yesterday as some kids nicked the washing line and peg bag from outside the house. Went to B&M and Wilkos though to ensure I didn't pay over the odds. I also downloaded a free trial of You Need a Budget. Will see how I get on with it - seems more detailed than my old spreadsheet!

Checked my t&cs for the house we rent, as I knew I had a half payment extra to make in this first month - turns out it's £30 less than i thought, so that's a nice bonus. Will put that to one side, as I lost my makeup bag staying away for a wedding recently and need to replace things - I'm tired of getting told I look tired lol!

lumpyspaceprincess

Downloaded the YNAB trial last night. I think it'll take some getting used to, but I can see it would be useful!

Wage went in this morning, so will be doing a little jiggling around with things today, and making token payments to most of my creditors

lumpyspaceprincess

Bought the full version of YNAB with a wee discount thanks to this forum, really enjoying it so far, think it will make a big difference to how aware I am of all my little spends here and there.

Just got my phone bill from when we first moved, and there's so many expensive calls on it Not fun. Just one month though, the contract ends shortly and I'm switching to a SIM only deal for much less a month. That reminds me that I need to re-request my PAC number.

Made token payments of £1 to all my debts today, so there's a payment for May at least. I received a letter from Tesco, referring to my card I think, putting agreeing to StepChange 's contact I guess and putting me on a plan for 6 months at a reduced payment. Feels real now!

lumpyspaceprincess

It's 5 days from my last payday, and I'm effectively skint. Sigh! I've got bills money put aside, but the bit I had spare is all but being swallowed up by that large phone bill. Going to list some stuff on ebay tonight, see if I can't make a bit of money back there so I don't go insane. Need to read through forums for any ebay selling tips. I'm struggling at the moment because I have a watch I won in a competition that doesn't suit me, retails fairly expensively but because it's a brand that's new to watches nowhere will buy it off me, and it's not been going on ebay. I've got it listed at half it's RRP, it's a fab watch and in mint condition but it seems a waste just sitting there not being worth anything (feel free to search ebay for BLOC watch to see what I'm talking about!)

I had booked a driving lesson for today, but since I can't afford it thought I was better off without - though I'm disappointed now if I'm honest, I was looking forward to benig back behind the wheel again.

Need to find a way to cheer myself up before later, then tomorrow I'll prepare letters to send to creditors, since I've only heard anything from Tesco so far. Natwest removed my CC from online banking, which i assume means they've received details from SC even if they haven't contacted me.

Oh and I'm waiting to find out what the LL is proposing to take off the deposit for the last place. Please let it be tiny! On the plus side I suppose I managed to convert clubcard vouchers into beautyexpert voucher, so I can treat myself to a little something nice at least.

lumpyspaceprincess

Oops, I've been absent more than I've been present here.

I got my deposit back, bought some groceries and a little something for myself too - but with a discount of course! Started getting the default letters through and getting things demanding I make payment and stuff, calls coming through. I should have sent letters to everyone about the DMP, I couldn't find a template and then it all escaped me. Doh.

So my biggie right now is, I am unhappy in my job, I mean I like my team, the wage is good, but I don't want to do this anymore. So, despite the DMP, I've just applied for a job I'd like to do (which I think I'm definitely qualified for) which would mean a wage drop of appx 300 a month. I really hope I get it, I know that sounds mental, but I think a happier work environment / doing something with less pressure would be such a boost for me, it'd be worth it. It would take a bit of readjusting, truth be told, and the idea of driving any time soon would really not be happening, which would be tough, but I think manageable. Not recommended I'm sure, but driving myself mad here and being trapped by the money, not worth it really is it?

lumpyspaceprincess

*scuttles back into thread* Well I've mucked up. When I took my payment plan on I had an overdraft of £1k that I was only using £100 of, so didn't include it. I'm not at £950 thanks to moving, all the stuff we needed, frivolous depression related purchases and lottery gambling.

I don't want to add it to my DMP, I don't have any accounts with anyone else banking wise so am just going to try to reduce it over time.

Will give YNAB another go, since I bought it for almost £30 and haven't used it in forever, as I've been in that river of denial once again