DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

Puzzcat

Hola to all dmp'ers new and old...
I am on holiday, yep that's right I may be deep in debt but I am paying it back and I chose the gentle stroll route rather than the sprint!
2 years ago I was sitting in almost the same position as now planning my dmp, at that time the good old cc's would have paid for the flights but now it's cash all the way. It's been over 2 years since I last used a cc and I won't ever use one again. In fact I got quite cross recently with a salesperson in the street trying to get me to listen to his spiel to take out a card....
So 2 years ago I sat on a balcony, similar to today and read the previous 3 of these threads, this put me in a good position to know what was coming, and I haven't had any surprises. What I am trying to say is don't delay, read, plan, save and get started. Allow yourself wriggle room in your budget, dmp's are a long journey and whatever your vices, likes, hobbies etc you need to factor these in. Saving for 2 years for a shorter holiday in the sun is very satisfying...It's all in the planning and budgeting....
And this month I should hit 20% paid off....onwards and downwards.
Love Puzz.x

kb_soma

timetosayenough wrote: »

Forgot to say I also need to let them know about my elderly Labrador. She's 15 and suffers from cushings disease and the tablets cost £140 a month. I've had to cancel her insurance because the renewal came through this week and monthly payments have gone up from £96 to £111!!!! I rang insurance company and they say they can't offer a cheaper option because of her age. Luckily we've got good vets and at the moment she's healthy but if I do need their services I'm sure we could come to an agreement. At least there's a sign in waiting room mentioning this. I think I'm going to have to look into getting her tablets online and getting prescription from vets. The only thing with that is if I have to take her to vets because of the cushings they charge £20 plus normal consultation fee. Am thinking if I could save £50 a month and put it away at least I'd have some sort of back up. Feel like I'm waffling, sorry. Just trying to think of best thing to do. She means the world to me. She was there when hubby collapsed and died and just seems we've been through a lot together.

I believe that SC have a part on the budget for pet costs, you could also split this under your medical care and tell them that this is for prescriptions/eye care/dentists?

I'm with the others that have said to ask them for a little more time as you are catching up with other bills.

Genie1963

Hi all

I have been with Stepchange for almost a year and they have just asked me to complete an annual review.

I'm feeling a bit stressed about this and I am wondering if anyone can offer any advice? Will I need to send them my bank statements? My DMP is rumbling along OK, but we have had some unexpected expenses such as replacing white goods which took all our emergency savings, so we are now trying to build that back up slowly but surely. Although there is potentially another £100 spare a month which could go towards the debts, I would rather use this to build the emergency fund back up rather than loose sleep over what to do if the boiler packs in, or the car needs work doing on it.

Do you think SC will be understanding about this or will they insist that every spare penny is used for the DMP?

Thank you for any advice you can offer

Puzzcat

Genie1963 wrote: »

Hi all

I have been with Stepchange for almost a year and they have just asked me to complete an annual review.

I'm feeling a bit stressed about this and I am wondering if anyone can offer any advice? Will I need to send them my bank statements? My DMP is rumbling along OK, but we have had some unexpected expenses such as replacing white goods which took all our emergency savings, so we are now trying to build that back up slowly but surely. Although there is potentially another £100 spare a month which could go towards the debts, I would rather use this to build the emergency fund back up rather than loose sleep over what to do if the boiler packs in, or the car needs work doing on it.

Do you think SC will be understanding about this or will they insist that every spare penny is used for the DMP?

Thank you for any advice you can offer

Hi,
I did my review online, you can adjust the budget so it fits you before submitting to sc. No bank statements required when I did my previous two. You also don't have to wait until review time you can do it as and when suits you.
Puzz.x

kb_soma

Genie1963 wrote: »

Hi all

I have been with Stepchange for almost a year and they have just asked me to complete an annual review.

I'm feeling a bit stressed about this and I am wondering if anyone can offer any advice? Will I need to send them my bank statements? My DMP is rumbling along OK, but we have had some unexpected expenses such as replacing white goods which took all our emergency savings, so we are now trying to build that back up slowly but surely. Although there is potentially another £100 spare a month which could go towards the debts, I would rather use this to build the emergency fund back up rather than loose sleep over what to do if the boiler packs in, or the car needs work doing on it.

Do you think SC will be understanding about this or will they insist that every spare penny is used for the DMP?

Thank you for any advice you can offer

Hi, this is just filling in the budget form, you can get a template one on the SC website. You can either do it over the phone or online. No need to worry about sending bank statements or anything.

Best of luck!

Genie1963

Thanks for your help everyone, I feel a lot happier now

Growurown

Genie1963 wrote: »

Do you think SC will be understanding about this or will they insist that every spare penny is used for the DMP?

Thank you for any advice you can offer

Let you into a little secret...:shhh: if you don't tell them they won't know. OH used to get over time a couple of times a year and we never told SC. If you have 'spare money' it makes sense to put it in your emergency fund. If at a later date you have more in your fund than necessary then you can use it to pay off debts. In my experience the emergency fund was always in use, mainly for the car repairs.

When you do your review, increase the amounts in your budget by a few pounds across the board and you will soon absorb that £100. I claimed for lunches at work (take sandwiches) dry cleaning (very rarely dry clean anything) smoking (never smoked) etc. etc. I did my review on line, didn't have to produce any documentation or talk to anyone. It was very easy to do, and SC accepted it without any problems. Yes you could say it is dishonest but hey it's my money! I am paying everyone back so I'm not diddling anyone out of anything. I don't see why I should be on the bones of my a*** when the creditors rake in mega bucks, and you shouldn't be either.

Triangle

Enjoy your holiday Puzz :T

Hope you are feeling a bit better about things now Timetosayenough

Quick question from me please - received BC statement today, second month of making token payments. It says on it card has now been cancelled and the statement came with an arrears notice on it. On the interest rate section it says estimated interest next month £0.00. Dare I hope they have frozen interest/charges? It says nothing else about it.

Thanks

Tx

Puzzcat

Triangle wrote: »

Enjoy your holiday Puzz :T

Hope you are feeling a bit better about things now Timetosayenough

Quick question from me please - received BC statement today, second month of making token payments. It says on it card has now been cancelled and the statement came with an arrears notice on it. On the interest rate section it says estimated interest next month £0.00. Dare I hope they have frozen interest/charges? It says nothing else about it.

Thanks

Tx

Hi,
BC's communication is very poor either nothing or a flood of letters contradicting themselves. If it states zero interest then that should be what it is. I didn't pay any for the first 18 months, £6 last month and now I'been sold on I am hopeful of zero again. If not I may cca it as its an old egg card originally.
Puzz.x

Ellieseleven

Enjoy your holiday Puzz, as you say you still need to have some sort of a life (I've just had a few days in Spain). A far cry from a few years ago, everything was budgeted and paid for cash this time:)

Ellie xx