Considering DMP - SOA advice please

asparagus1968

Well. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on the job front.


That gym thingummy sounds great! would love a weekly sauna/ steam session.


fab news on the mortgage, I did some over time last month so overpaid my mortgage by £100, felt very proud of myself, because usually I would have spent it on "a treat"


Would it be cheaper to borrow from the credit union than the credit card? sorry, not sure how credit unions work.


keep on keeping on .

AliceBanned

asparagus1968 wrote: »

Well. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on the job front.


That gym thingummy sounds great! would love a weekly sauna/ steam session.


fab news on the mortgage, I did some over time last month so overpaid my mortgage by £100, felt very proud of myself, because usually I would have spent it on "a treat"


Would it be cheaper to borrow from the credit union than the credit card? sorry, not sure how credit unions work.


keep on keeping on .

Thanks asparagus. Well done for overpaying on the mortgage!

It may be cheaper to borrow from credit unions for some of my debt, but they seem to have started charging more. They are allowed to charge up to 42%! But they do lend responsibly. A lot of the loans are at 1% a month but you have to keep savings with them to get those rates, and have reasonable credit rating. The last loan I had was 32% but it was only £500 so didn't take long to pay off. Because you have to keep savings with them I am persuading myself that they are not hugely better than a credit card if you have a debting problem; ie it is still another loan, another debt and that is how I used them in the past - supposedly consolidating but ending up spending again on cards. So I resolved to keep reducing the number of separate debts that I have as well as the actual amount, regardless of interest or getting a better deal in a panic. The good with with credit union loans is you can pay them off early with no penalty however.

I am going to pay off what I can and then weigh up my options in a couple of months - it may be that I can get a better deal than with a credit union by that point.

asparagus1968

gosh, that's informative about credit unions.
Glad to hear you sounding positive about your plans again. Have a good weekend

Verbatim

Great to hear how much more positive things are. Well done on the mortgage.

AliceBanned

asparagus1968 wrote: »

gosh, that's informative about credit unions.
Glad to hear you sounding positive about your plans again. Have a good weekend

Yes, the savings I have with credit unions could have been used to reduce my credit card balances. So they are not a perfect option either, but I have found them to have a helpful and more personal approach.

Have a good weekend too asparagus.:)

AliceBanned

Verbatim wrote: »

Great to hear how much more positive things are. Well done on the mortgage.

Thanks Verbatim. Getting there slowly.

AliceBanned

And two steps back...


On Saturday morning I saw that my car had been keyed for the second time. This is quite devastating as I just did lots of work on the body due to rust. I have my suspicions about who could have done it and the police are coming this afternoon, but I can't know for sure so I suppose there is not much they can do. They are taking it seriously though as it is both harassment and criminal damage.


The scratch is right from the front to back on one side. My insurance covers malicious damage but my excess is £400 so I can't really use that.


I am trying to rise above it and work out what to do so that this problem doesn't escalate.


But sometimes I feel at my wit's end with the world. You do the right thing but it doesn't do the right thing back.


A friend said to me 'can't you just change where you park?'. Well of course I can, at home and on the way to work, but I will still never know that I am avoiding further damage and I live with the constant worry of it - that is why they do it. It is sick behaviour. I won't go into now why I was worried already about my car before this happened but a neighbour has been awful to me for no reason at all. There are some low-life drug dealers that use my residential car park and she is mixed in with them. Who knows why people take out their problems on other though. I have nothing whatsoever to do with them and have been minding my own business..


Anyway it has raised the question of whether I should sell my car. I wouldn't consider it yet otherwise but was thinking of doing it in the summer and getting a moped for a while. It would give me £1500 cash (I wouldn't take less but might not get this) and when I eventually get a new car I could park away from home a bit and stay incognito. It's terrible that I would have to but I think if I let this problem escalate it could be me in danger not just my car. Who knows with some psychopaths. It could be just a threat - the scratches - it could get worse - or it could mean the person is crazy enough and hates me enough to go for me. I really don't know but it could be personal.

crazy_cat_lady

Oh, it must be terrible for you not feeling completely safe in your own home. When we first moved to this house, we had our garden shed broken into twice, which really unnerved me for a while - but *touch wood* things have been ok for the past 10 years. It's a shame that people can't just respect other people and leave them alone... Hope you're ok.

asparagus1968

So sorry to hear what you have been through, very unsettling. That insurance excess is dreadful too,is that because it is an older car or something? Is there a little independent garage somewhere that would do you a little paint job? maybe ask around. It certainly wouldn't cost anywhere near £400! Or ask on the motoring board on here for any tips on sorting it cheaper? I never do anything these days without asking on here!
keep your chin up poppet

AliceBanned

Thanks crazycatlady. Sorry to hear you have been through those thefts - it leaves a horrible feeling of being violated.

I am standing firm and have left my car on the roadside overnight (not in the car park but very close) just to signal that I am paying attention to it. I will move it around though I don't use it every day. She was fine this morning with no further damage. It is the thought of what might happen - suppose it is the equivalent of the horse's head in the bed from the Godfather..the signal of threat. Though not quite as bad and gruesome as that..:D

The policeman was very helpful and is going to do 'house-to-house 'enquiries' to find out whether anyone saw anything. That we he can get a sense of the people living facing the car park, as I have told him there are some social problems with drug dealing etc. He said it is good to report each crime as that way the know where to send their patrols. He said it might even come to them using unmarked vehicles if it got really bad. Hopefully it won't as I don't need the stress. Will leave my car there for now if anything else happens I won't park it there again, I will have to 'hide' it and cut my losses. It could help that the police have gone round (to the house I suspect and a few others, though it is only suspicion at this point) under the pretext of anyone having seen the crime. It might make them realise that I won't take it lying down.