New beginnings.... lets get this debt cracked!!! 24 August 2016 at 11:00PM in Debt free diaries 59 replies 5.4K views

Tiggerlou

Hello... new to the forum and hoping this diary keeps me focussed & positive on the long road ahead....

My lightbulb moment came this July (2016) .... Just been paid and the same day the bank was bare (overdraft blitzed) after paying all my bills... this has been the case for as long as I can remember but this time something was different for me & I knew I couldn't carry on. My mental health was starting to suffer as I felt guilty I couldn't do nice things with my little boy, I wasn't sleeping due to my problems and my moods with my OH were horrendous.... friendships were (& still are) virtually non existent as I never had any money to go out with them and I started questioning what was the point to life.... then it clicked - I needed help and needed help now and so I contacted step change.

As soon as I contacted stepchange I immediately felt relief; relief that there could be and was light at the end of the tunnel and that someone could help & support me to get me out of this mess. I felt guilty, embarrassed and ashamed but on the phone the lady was so empathetic I immediately felt at ease... I am not the first person to get into a financial muddle and doubful I'll be the last.

The first solution they discussed was an IVA and set up a telephone meeting with an IVA practitioner. I sneaked to work early one morning and had the meeting on the phone in TESCO car park of all places - no one but me knows about the situation I am in... OH knows about some bills and goes mad so I feel I can't sit and share anything with him - he doesn't understand - yet he doesn't work and expects all the nice things to just pop out of thin air!! Anyway, after the meeting the guy suggested an IVA may not be the best solution after all and suggested trying a dmp in the first instance. So I phoned stepchange right away and when someone answered and I began to explain, I just cried and cried and cried...

So here is where I am up to now...
Decided to go along with a dmp with stepchange and the first payment is due out at the beginning of next month.... can only afford £244 each month on debts of 38k to 18 different creditors so its gonna be a while - but I am determined to be debt free & will work hard to get this cracked sooner rather than later.

I read thread 10 and thread 11 of the debt free wanabee sections for support and advice and this has really helped - along with the replies that calmed my nerves about my expectation of a flurry of letters, none stop phone calls and door step collectors.

I have contacted all my creditors to let them know about the situation and had one reply out of the 18 so far to say they accept the reduced payments and will stop the interest.

So there you have it - the reason why I am here and where I am at now. Its going to be a tough slog but I will get there & I think doing this diary will be a great help...

Tiggerlou

Well the first pay day since taking the steps in the dmp world... feels strange not logging on as soon as I have woken up and paying all 18 creditors what I can barely afford.... it feels very strange not having to do that!! X

Kitten868

Hopefully now you have a plan and you know you're fixing this you can sleep better. I thought I wouldn't sleep until I was debt free but making inroads and having a plan got me there. You will do all of this better without insomnia you're already doing better xxx

Poor_Single_lady

You are doing so well getting this sorted. A diary should help you, I hope it does. I hope its not a stressful day today although I know 100%.its not easy.
You sound like you have a lot on your shoulders so please remember to be kind to yourself. It will be ok and you will get through. xxx

monz

First step is always the hardest

Tiggerlou

Going for new school shoes and coat tomorrow and actually paying for them with money I have - feels like a small achievement.... however car going for a service and MOT tomorrow so wish me luck it costs less than my budget!!! Xxx

System

Hi Tiggerlou,
Waving hello to your shiny new diary.
We started a DMP in June and so far so good. SC, but I did talk to SC and they were great. It definitely feels tough to begin with but I didn't have one creditor cause any issues or any phonecalls - scarily easy actually!
Going to send my car MOT luck over to you - passed with flying colours today - I don't think that has ever happened to me before.

Subscribed x

Tiggerlou

Thanks Ramblehan.... great news about your car MOT - I do hope your luck comes my way x

louby40

Good luck with your debt busting. It's such a relief getting things straight and beginning that journey!

Everyone is so supportive and positive on here! It's a great forum.

Louby

Tiggerlou

Car passed the MOT and had its service today so quite pleased it only cost £125 out of the £200 I had stashed!! Feel so relieved - for a change.... had a nice letter off capital one saying they accept the plan and a not so nice one of the halifax but after a quick phonecall they said they'd accepted the plan and to ignore any further letters as these will be just automated.... Halifax and Capital One have stopped charges but still waiting to hear off the rest... anyhow the sun is shining and feel good that the car has passed so off to enjoy the day.... hope everyone has a good weekend too xxx

System

Yay for good MOT's!! Hope mine is as cheap as yours - in which case I will
have some spare pennies too!
Great news on hali and C-1 - hopefully the others will follow suit quickly. I was so impatient to get things sorted and it seemed to take forever but in reality it was only a matter of weeks.
Hope you have a lovely weekend. X