DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Kate_fixing_it

Well I have good news to report! I suspected I had but now it's official. I've cracked budgeting! Payday is 22nd this month due to bank holidays and my careful adding up several times (and the addition of a bonus) means I'll be able to clear the two non-DMP debts :j This will free up £160 per month.

The initial months of my DMP have been a baptism of fire. Literally scrabbling pennies at some points because I wasn't aware enough and I wasn't as strict with myself as I should have been. Touch of Ostrich Syndrome for a while didn't help either.

As Bettingmad and TTFTM have said above I was one of those that leapt into full DMP payments straight away and I got burned. In month two I had to halve my DMP payment A slow start is essential in my eyes (with my 20:20 hindsight vision). I now plan for the worst but hope for the best.

It's taken since my primary LBM when the excrement hit the fan to actually get a handle on this. I'm proud to say that this month I finally got it. And my reward is feeling happy and proud of myself. And also not gazing in wonder at my bank balance on payday thinking "how much can I get away with spending?", it was just another day. I frugally planned my monthly sub-£5 treat with vouchers to get more for my money and I was satisfied. Other months I've felt deprived (especially at the start) but I just don't now. I have everything I NEED and that's enough.

Most people won't get what a milestone this is for me. I have NEVER stuck to a budget before. I have been in debt my entire adult life in one way or another and that's 18 years! So while I can't put a figure or statistic on this particular milestone I wanted to share and celebrate it here with you all because, well, you lovely people will understand.

Kate x

Time_to_face_the_music

Kate_fixing_it wrote: »

Well I have good news to report! I suspected I had but now it's official. I've cracked budgeting! Payday is 22nd this month due to bank holidays and my careful adding up several times (and the addition of a bonus) means I'll be able to clear the two non-DMP debts :j This will free up £160 per month.

The initial months of my DMP have been a baptism of fire. Literally scrabbling pennies at some points because I wasn't aware enough and I wasn't as strict with myself as I should have been. Touch of Ostrich Syndrome for a while didn't help either.

As Bettingmad and TTFTM have said above I was one of those that leapt into full DMP payments straight away and I got burned. In month two I had to halve my DMP payment A slow start is essential in my eyes (with my 20:20 hindsight vision). I now plan for the worst but hope for the best.

It's taken since my primary LBM when the excrement hit the fan to actually get a handle on this. I'm proud to say that this month I finally got it. And my reward is feeling happy and proud of myself. And also not gazing in wonder at my bank balance on payday thinking "how much can I get away with spending?", it was just another day. I frugally planned my monthly sub-£5 treat with vouchers to get more for my money and I was satisfied. Other months I've felt deprived (especially at the start) but I just don't now. I have everything I NEED and that's enough.

Most people won't get what a milestone this is for me. I have NEVER stuck to a budget before. I have been in debt my entire adult life in one way or another and that's 18 years! So while I can't put a figure or statistic on this particular milestone I wanted to share and celebrate it here with you all because, well, you lovely people will understand.

Kate x

Kate this is the kind of milestone that is worth even more than paying off 5% or the next hundred or the next thousand because this will stay with you. I can remember the first time our bank balance was black at the end of the month and I knew we had it sorted and we were on the way.

That sense of pride is priceless, well done you :T :j :beer:

TTFTM x

sunnyskies2

Hi all:)

Sorry to read of your sad news Alyxzandra, I agree - good health is and should be more important than keeping our creditors happy - and good on you for sharing your understanding of diabetes to help others:) xx

What a super milestone Kate, only a month to go till I start DMP payments proper and I can't wait:D... I know I am still 'cheating' myself a bit with budgeting too - emptying change jars, etc etc but I can see that we are slowly going to be 'ahead', I'm only cheating with food - a nice loaf of bread or lump of special cheese!

- but this s/e way is sooo frustrating - I know balance is looking better - just need the money to actually come in so it's in black and white.

A big thankyou again to ttftm - I sent your complaint letter re interest to Lloyds a couple of weeks ago, they phoned and asked whether I wanted debt sent to recoveries which would create a default - I said a very big 'yes please:D' - and could you put it all in writing. They have- refunded and stopped interest and sent letter saying 3x debts being sent to recoveries and will default and solicitors may/will write et. Etc. So at the moment things are looking really good - just will have to wait and see if the default happens now. This now means all creditors have frozen interest :T

Have been considering downsizing recently and so rang mortgage lender and asked whether they port with a DMP. At first they said no, but when I persisted they said they have a 'loyal lender' clause for iva customers (which I could come under) - but would of course have go through usual affordibility check first... so am feeling optimistic that this could be a possibility - and possibly would mean earlier debt freedom:cool:

A huge thank you again to everyone posting - I love being on this 'happy DMP highway' - I still have my 'L' plate but gaining confidence every day:D

Sarah xx

Helen2122

Hi thanks for the replies so far. One mobile contract ends on 5th nov, another on 18th jan and the 3rd unused one ive sent an email to find out. Tomorrow i will write a letter explaining situation, i dont have a cheque book to make token payments though. The current account i use doesnt have an overdraft so im not in trouble with them. My child benefit goes into another account with a huge overdraft so i will ring them 2moro to change over to my 'good account'. Does anyone know if i request in my letters no phone calls if companies will honour this? They already hold my tel no, but i dont want the phonecalls that have already started to continue. Can i block their numbers with my landline provider?

Time_to_face_the_music

sunnyskies2 wrote: »

Hi all:)

Sorry to read of your sad news Alyxzandra, I agree - good health is and should be more important than keeping our creditors happy - and good on you for sharing your understanding of diabetes to help others:) xx

What a super milestone Kate, only a month to go till I start DMP payments proper and I can't wait:D... I know I am still 'cheating' myself a bit with budgeting too - emptying change jars, etc etc but I can see that we are slowly going to be 'ahead', I'm only cheating with food - a nice loaf of bread or lump of special cheese!

- but this s/e way is sooo frustrating - I know balance is looking better - just need the money to actually come in so it's in black and white.

A big thankyou again to ttftm - I sent your complaint letter re interest to Lloyds a couple of weeks ago, they phoned and asked whether I wanted debt sent to recoveries which would create a default - I said a very big 'yes please:D' - and could you put it all in writing. They have- refunded and stopped interest and sent letter saying 3x debts being sent to recoveries and will default and solicitors may/will write et. Etc. So at the moment things are looking really good - just will have to wait and see if the default happens now. This now means all creditors have frozen interest :T

Have been considering downsizing recently and so rang mortgage lender and asked whether they port with a DMP. At first they said no, but when I persisted they said they have a 'loyal lender' clause for iva customers (which I could come under) - but would of course have go through usual affordibility check first... so am feeling optimistic that this could be a possibility - and possibly would mean earlier debt freedom:cool:

A huge thank you again to everyone posting - I love being on this 'happy DMP highway' - I still have my 'L' plate but gaining confidence every day:D

Sarah xx

Great news on Lloyds Sarah but don't be afraid to push them if the defaults don't appear. Sounds promising with reduced ported mortgage too, my twin HH is more of an expert than me, so hopefully she will pop by and offer some advice.

Regarding food, we cheat and have done all the way through our DMP. We all need something that motivates us and cheers us up and Mr TTFTM and I are terrible food snobs. So while I am quite happy to mooch in the reduced bargains and have a freezer full of yellow stickered packets, we do treat ourselves to an Artisan loaf or some super smelly blue cheese occasionally and come September, we will be buying a treat for the Christmas stash cupboard each week until the holidays!

It's so lovely to see you feeling more confident and optimistic.

TTFTM x

Time_to_face_the_music

Helen2122 wrote: »

Hi thanks for the replies so far. One mobile contract ends on 5th nov, another on 18th jan and the 3rd unused one ive sent an email to find out. Tomorrow i will write a letter explaining situation, i dont have a cheque book to make token payments though. The current account i use doesnt have an overdraft so im not in trouble with them. My child benefit goes into another account with a huge overdraft so i will ring them 2moro to change over to my 'good account'. Does anyone know if i request in my letters no phone calls if companies will honour this? They already hold my tel no, but i dont want the phonecalls that have already started to continue. Can i block their numbers with my landline provider?

It's not just an overdraft, check your CCs too to make sure they are not linked with your bank and that there are no financial links between your current account and any of your creditors. This is a good check list:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/safe-savings/full-list/

I think you can make token payments via online banking or you could also use postal orders.

If you have any online accounts, change phone details over there. otherwise a written request should work, I think you can make a harassment complaint if they ignore you. I did try and block calls via our phone/TV/internet provider but they wanted a monthly fee for it, so I told them to stuff it and turned the answering machine on .... even pretended to be an answering machine myself occasionally :rotfl:

TTFTM x

Helen2122

Lol i think i would get the giggles pretending to be the answerphone! I will include it in all my letters and hope they take heed. Sorry forgot to mention i have cancelled direct debits i had set up to pay credit cards. Will make the token payments tomorrow on internet accounts and include the date ive made them in my letter. So i take it from previous responses that i shouldnt contact stepchange yet and use these £1 payments to buy some time? Sorry if the answers r obvious, my head is spinning.

Helen2122

Just had a sudden thought when looking through the checklist for banks, i have a savings account which holds a relatives money in it (they asked me to put it in my name until they retire so they dont spend it). This wont be affected in any way will it?

Bettingmad

Helen2122 wrote: »

Just had a sudden thought when looking through the checklist for banks, i have a savings account which holds a relatives money in it (they asked me to put it in my name until they retire so they dont spend it). This wont be affected in any way will it?

If you have decided upon a DMP, then the first thing now to do is contact Stepchange,. Through this contact you will be in possession of a reference number. Send letters to each of your creditors explaining that you are seeking assistance and provide your reference number and a postal order for £1.

Make sure your bank account is not linked in any way to your creditors. If any of them are you will need to set up a basic bank account to pay your income into.

Sazzie23

Helen2122 wrote: »

Just had a sudden thought when looking through the checklist for banks, i have a savings account which holds a relatives money in it (they asked me to put it in my name until they retire so they dont spend it). This wont be affected in any way will it?

Hi Helen, well down for making a start, but as the others have said, take it slowly, even though you feel like it needs sorting NOW, it's better to cool down a bit and get everything organised.
Regards the saved money, obviously I don't know how much it is,but I think in most cases it will be ignored unless you have any debts that are associated with that account. If you are at all not sure, transfer it back to your relative until your DMP goes live, then look at it again.

Re payments, most creditors will accept cash through a bank paying n slip. Ask for one if you don't have any to hand, or on lin. If you really struggle set up a standing order to each creditor for £1, you can then cancel it further down the line if you need to.