Brogden's Debt Disaster & Self Managed DMP!

Brogden

Hi Everybody


I have really benefited from reading some of the diaries on here. Obviously not everybody has debt and some people will think the diaries are a little mundane but I like them because they are ‘real life.’ Oh the trials and tribulations………

As I look back, I have been in debt for years. Why is that?

1.When I earned well I thought that would go on forever and didn’t adjust the spending when income reduced
2. I fly blind. I don’t look at what I am spending for fear that a low account balance will ‘spoil my mood.’ If I can’t overcome this I’ll have to seek therapy!
3. I have been ‘over-optimistic.’
4. I can be a tad ‘rash.’
5. I am a ‘soft touch!’ Anything for a bit of peace!
6. I ignored the initial warning signs.

I think these are all of the reasons – laying my soul bare……….:o

Do I have lots of quality possessions to show for this? No. Do I have many memories of fantastic holidays and time away……a few but not much when I look at the amount of the accumulated debt!! I am not the only one but I have just not been living life in the best way have I?

So my signature below says it all. Most of the bank debt is credit cards but there is one bank loan which I took out in a moment of total madness. Yes there are payday lenders too and I have been active in this particular field too much and far too recently! You see, I have taken out payday loans to bridge the gap to payday (as they are intended) but not repaid. Maybe rolled over, maybe defaulted maybe arrears on a priority debt has taken the funds. Maybe a payday lender has taken what I need for the council tax….you know the story……a complete mess.

I did not enter into a DMP in the way that some people do when they see the warning signs. I went along in my chaotic way until one day I came up against a brick wall……and the whole thing collapsed on me! Everything went ‘belly up’ at the same time. A horrible coincidence of sorts which left me with mortgage arrears, electricity and gas arrears, a CCJ for the water and TWO attachments of earnings for the council tax. At the same time every creditor I had was sending me letters and the phone rang non stop. My life went completely upside down and serious ‘domestic unrest’ was the order of the day. :eek:

All of this happened more than two years ago and my progress at bringing this debt down has been very slow. Why is that? Well, with just about everything in arrears I have been on numerous payment plans to keep a roof over our heads and keep all of the services connected! Life is a little more peaceful than it was. The mortgage, council tax and almost all utilities are up to date and I suppose I feel that I can get properly stuck in to reducing and ultimately ridding us of this debt – it does seem like a good time for me to start this diary and I will reflect on past experiences as we go along.

Oh yes…….the DMP…..(Damage Mitigation Programme!!!) Self-Managed is the order of the day at Brogden Towers. I went through the Step Change (then CCCS) debt remedy but I couldn’t send it in…..I just couldn’t. I haphazardly fell into self-management. With the arrears on priority bills they wouldn’t have allowed me to start a DMP with them anyway. I have learned a lot over the last couple of years and I salute the superb Step Change and Payplan but there are numerous advantages to self-managing. I wake in the morning, open my eyes and ‘thank the lord,’ I am ‘Self-Managed Brogden.’

I will update the diary with both major and mundane developments so please join in with me and we’ll ride this rocky road together. I have so much to say…..I hope some people are interested and can relate

All the best,

Brogden

Getmeoutofdebt

Hi There!

Just wanted to pop in and say welcome to the debt free diaries!
I had my LBM in March 2012 at £28k and am now in my last few months of my plan. I have found that having a diary on here is a great help and I have had a lot of support and money saving tips from readers. I think that one of the hardest things in getting out of debt is getting into the right mindframe. I had been in debt about 18 years when I had my LBM and it is hard to reprogramme the way you think regarding money. Once you get into the mindframe of living frugally, saving every penny and paying as much as you can off your debt, it becomes a lot easier. Still, there are ups and downs but I have found that it has gone mainly pretty well for me and the time has really flown by.
I hope you succeed in your goal to get debt free and wish you lots of luck!
GMOOD

Brogden

Getmeoutofdebt wrote: »

Hi There!

Just wanted to pop in and say welcome to the debt free diaries!
I had my LBM in March 2012 at £28k and am now in my last few months of my plan. I have found that having a diary on here is a great help and I have had a lot of support and money saving tips from readers. I think that one of the hardest things in getting out of debt is getting into the right mindframe. I had been in debt about 18 years when I had my LBM and it is hard to reprogramme the way you think regarding money. Once you get into the mindframe of living frugally, saving every penny and paying as much as you can off your debt, it becomes a lot easier. Still, there are ups and downs but I have found that it has gone mainly pretty well for me and the time has really flown by.
I hope you succeed in your goal to get debt free and wish you lots of luck!
GMOOD

Thanks GMOOD !!

I think I am pretty much reprogrammed as far as the 'frugality' is concerned. Its like the debt accumulated due to inertia and simply not keeping the eye on the financial ball. As I am typing this I could be more financially aware of my current position but I now have precise spreadsheets (with functions) tracing the precise debt position and I am currently putting a spreadsheet together to track all household bills so improvements are being implemented

Congratulations on your stunning progress! I am hoping I can add myself to the good news stories shortly!!

Have a great day.

Brogden

Brogden

Good Morning Everyone

A bit of a slow start for me and its a very grey, cool, autumnal morning. I'm at my desk trying to get my work organised but dwelling on ideas for getting rid of creditors and reducing the debt mountain

I think my progress will be slow until early next year when I should be in the position to offer F&F's and whilst I very much doubt I will come anywhere near clearing this debt, I do think things will be a lot better and I will hopefully be in a postion to estimate when a debt free day may be on the cards. I am very interested indeed in the whole subject of F&F's at the moment and if anybody has any tips or stories I would love to hear To be honest......I just can't stop thinking about F&F's :rotfl:

Within my payday loan 'portfolio' are two or three scraggy, irritating little debts which are on payment plans and to clear things up a bit I will be setting my sights on those and hopefully picking some off. The big action on the 'respectable banks' really can't happen for a while yet although I may have the firepower to blow M&S away shortly - that is the debt that causes the most domestic unrest when the pesky letters and statements intrude through the letterbox :rotfl:

Have a great day everybody and tell me how you are doin'

Brogden

NoOneAround

Hi Brogden,
Good Luck!!!! Only just started diary myself in August, and its really helping me to stay positive:)


We have a huge debt too, as have been self employed - I kept thinking business would pick up (it always did before) but after this recession it just didn't.


Would be interested to hear your thoughts on your self managed DMP - have not set one up yet - just making token payments but will need to do something soon!
x

Brogden

NoOneAround wrote: »

Hi Brogden,
Good Luck!!!! Only just started diary myself in August, and its really helping me to stay positive:)


We have a huge debt too, as have been self employed - I kept thinking business would pick up (it always did before) but after this recession it just didn't.


Would be interested to hear your thoughts on your self managed DMP - have not set one up yet - just making token payments but will need to do something soon!
x

Thank you NoOneAround

I wish you all the very best and I understand the damage that the recession has inflicted on so many of us. I have become very used to the idea now but I am earning a bit less than I did 20 years ago!!! It was a different world then. I think a lot of us drift along 'zombie-like' not really noticing how the world changes but it is constantly evolving and not necessarily better in every way methinks!

For many people Step Change and Payplan are the only answer if they don't want to be on the streets so they are so important....and good. Its so very dangerous to advise but if you can pick up the phone and 'deal' then you may want to consider the self-managed route. I have not stuck to all of the 'purist' DMP principles and am just trying to do what is best for me. If self-management is a nightmare you can always go to Step Change later. I had discussions with Step Chage (then the C.C.C.S.) at the start. I couldn't go with them at the time as I had utilities arrears and I was (wrongly) petrified by one payday lender (now gone bust ) I just started 'dealing' and carried on.

It is horrible looking at a mountain of debt but whilst you want to clear it as soon as possible you also have to have regard to how much you can actually afford to pay each month. I think many people will be drawn to the debt charities as they feel they have 'clout.' All I would say is that providing you can back up your offered payment to a creditor (no matter how small) with an Income & Expenditure Form which clearly shows that is all you can pay you will have NO PROBLEM with any of the 'respectable' creditors and by that I mean the great British banks. When I finally came to realise this a gargantuan weight was lifted from my shoulders and in a dazzling flash of light I knew I had no need for the debt charities and YES I would survive

Please keep in touch - I did read a little of your diary earlier and I will go back to it after work

Brogden

PennySaving

Hello Brogden, I just wanted to say hello and let you know I have subscribed to your diary.

Almost 4 years ago my husband was left high & dry by a business partner of 15 years. They had accumulated around £60K of debt and our home was used as security against a £100K bank loan. Needless to say, we had to re-mortgage out home, he got off scot free and my husband and I have worked tirelessly to reduce our mortgage back to its previous amount. Its been really tough along the way but we are getting there. This website has been a tremendous help and its members have some terrific wisdom and advice. At times its been a great comfort to me.

Best wishes, PennySaving

Brogden

PennySaving wrote: »

Hello Brogden, I just wanted to say hello and let you know I have subscribed to your diary.

Almost 4 years ago my husband was left high & dry by a business partner of 15 years. They had accumulated around £60K of debt and our home was used as security against a £100K bank loan. Needless to say, we had to re-mortgage out home, he got off scot free and my husband and I have worked tirelessly to reduce our mortgage back to its previous amount. Its been really tough along the way but we are getting there. This website has been a tremendous help and its members have some terrific wisdom and advice. At times its been a great comfort to me.

Best wishes, PennySaving

Thanks for joining me Pennywise - its nice to have you around

I am so sorry and it is sometimes unbelievable that people who you have a relationship, live and work with for so long can just 'go off on one' as though nothing really matters (I feel a song coming on )

The mortgage.......hmmmmmn. I need to tackle it too. Its up to date (yes!!) but it needs extra payments. I maybe don't need to pay it all off but I do have an idea of the amount I think is acceptable ie. an amount of equity I would want to have in the house for downsizing later in life I suppose.

There is somebody on this site who is prioritising mortgage reduction above clearance of unsecured debt. Putting aside for a moment the rights and wrongs there is sense in that. For myself, I am hoping to be able to arrange some F&F's early next year. If I can significantly reduce this 'monstrous carbuncle' of unsecured debt, I may well do the same and make the mortgage my priority. At the moment the amount of unsecured debt is obscene and requires to be shot at and bombed I was thinking of contacting Obama and David Cameron to see if they would add it to their lists :rotfl:

Please keep in touch Pennywise

Brogden

Brogden

I AM SO SORRY........PENNYSAVING NOT PENNYWISE

Brogden's getting his coat. x

PennySaving

Hee Hee, don't apologise.

It was very tough at first to think that someone who you thought always had your back could waltz off without looking back. But you live and learn!!

Yes, for us the business credit cards, personal cards and car loan were tackled first then the mortgage.

NoOneAround

Brogden wrote: »

Thank you NoOneAround

I wish you all the very best and I understand the damage that the recession has inflicted on so many of us. I have become very used to the idea now but I am earning a bit less than I did 20 years ago!!! It was a different world then. I think a lot of us drift along 'zombie-like' not really noticing how the world changes but it is constantly evolving and not necessarily better in every way methinks!

For many people Step Change and Payplan are the only answer if they don't want to be on the streets so they are so important....and good. Its so very dangerous to advise but if you can pick up the phone and 'deal' then you may want to consider the self-managed route. I have not stuck to all of the 'purist' DMP principles and am just trying to do what is best for me. If self-management is a nightmare you can always go to Step Change later. I had discussions with Step Chage (then the C.C.C.S.) at the start. I couldn't go with them at the time as I had utilities arrears and I was (wrongly) petrified by one payday lender (now gone bust ) I just started 'dealing' and carried on.

It is horrible looking at a mountain of debt but whilst you want to clear it as soon as possible you also have to have regard to how much you can actually afford to pay each month. I think many people will be drawn to the debt charities as they feel they have 'clout.' All I would say is that providing you can back up your offered payment to a creditor (no matter how small) with an Income & Expenditure Form which clearly shows that is all you can pay you will have NO PROBLEM with any of the 'respectable' creditors and by that I mean the great British banks. When I finally came to realise this a gargantuan weight was lifted from my shoulders and in a dazzling flash of light I knew I had no need for the debt charities and YES I would survive

Please keep in touch - I did read a little of your diary earlier and I will go back to it after work

Brogden

Thanks Brogden, will be following you, my diary is pretty tedious full of personal family dramas but it really helps to get it off your chest!!


I think some of the creditors will be about to register a default as I have been paying token payments for approx. 6 months. Have managed to increase income in some areas but then lost other income - juggling many balls!! I guess the default is just part of the process? as we won't be able to pay off within 5 years , which I gather is the magic time period from reading some of these diaries.