My journey to a debt free life 31 January 2018 at 1:15AM in Debt free diaries 7.8K replies 445K views

Onebrokelady

Well I’ve been reading everyone’s diary’s and thought it’s such a good idea I would start one myself,I’m hoping to use it as a way to record my journey to freedom from debt and also to have somewhere to come and just offload stuff
My financial meltdown happened two weeks ago when I realised I just can’t afford to pay my debts off properly,I’m sinking under the strain and jut adding more and more onto the total because it’s just not sustainable. I came here and was given some brilliant advice then I went away and procrastinated for a week while pooping myself some more about what I am about to do I finally got my !!!! in gear this week and started the ball rollin by registering on the SC site and partially filling out the budget form,I then came unstuck because some of the info wasn’t to hand,I’ve now sorted that and can proceed with finishing the budget form which I am doing tomorrow,by the end of this week I want to have contacted SC and set the ball rolling to set up a DMP.
I then had problems with my online account for one of my creditors but I sorted that out this morning whilst also finding out exactly what I owe them,it was actually not as much as I thought but still too much so swings and roundabouts 😊 actually sorting that out today took me ten minutes but it’s taken me days to do it,I just get overwhelmed and put stuff off then before I know it another week has gone by and nothing has changed. Still I’ve done what I set out to do today and tomorrow is budget form day then I will see where I go from there
In other news I changed my phone provider on Saturday so now have a sim only deal for £9 a month instead of £20.02 plus I cancelled the insurance at £6 a month,I’ve also paid for the phone now too so there is a small saving,two weeks ago my phone contract was costing me £35 so I’m quite pleased with this new deal.
Ok I think that’s enough waffling for one day and I need to try and get some sleep,let’s see what tomorrow brings

Lilith1980

Welcome, I've not long started a diary too. I think it's a great way to keep accountable and I finally feel I can kick this debt into touch.

Looking forward to hearing more about your journey

fatrab

Good luck on your journey and that's a great saving on the mobile contract!

enthusiasticsaver

It might be worth putting an soa up here too. There is a link on the sticky on the DFW forum.

If you are definitely opting for a DMP then you should concentrate on building up emergency savings and opening a clean bank account. That is a basic account not with any of your creditors. No overdraft. Let the debts default and write asking for breathing space while you sort this out. Ask them to freeze the interest.

Prioritise
Mortgage and secured loans if you have one
Rent if you don’t own your home
Council tax
Tv licence and utilities
Food

Hope you get sorted soon and welcome to DFW diaries.

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

It might be worth putting an soa up here too. There is a link on the sticky on the DFW forum.

If you are definitely opting for a DMP then you should concentrate on building up emergency savings and opening a clean bank account. That is a basic account not with any of your creditors. No overdraft. Let the debts default and write asking for breathing space while you sort this out. Ask them to freeze the interest.

Prioritise
Mortgage and secured loans if you have one
Rent if you don’t own your home
Council tax
Tv licence and utilities
Food

Hope you get sorted soon and welcome to DFW diaries.

Hi,I’ve just got off the phone with Sc and they have told me to open a new bank account,so I’m going to try to do that this week,I have temporary cash coming in at the moment that I am going to save for an emergency fund, at the moment I have £200 will this be enough to open an account and what is an soa please😊

EssexHebridean

Ha - I just suggested on one of your other threads that a diary was the way forwards - so welcome to diary world!

Agree that an SOA in here is a great place to start as well - it's a Statement of Affairs - you'll find the link to the calculator in my signature and also in the "sticky" thread at the top of the board. You need to fill it out as honestly and accurately as you can and it needs to reflect your current situation, not the way you think things "should" be.

As you move forwards open a new savings account to put your emergency fund money into as well - this will keep it separate from your main spending and income and will help you to both not dip into it and see it grow.

Onebrokelady

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Ha - I just suggested on one of your other threads that a diary was the way forwards - so welcome to diary world!

Agree that an SOA in here is a great place to start as well - it's a Statement of Affairs - you'll find the link to the calculator in my signature and also in the "sticky" thread at the top of the board. You need to fill it out as honestly and accurately as you can and it needs to reflect your current situation, not the way you think things "should" be.

As you move forwards open a new savings account to put your emergency fund money into as well - this will keep it separate from your main spending and income and will help you to both not dip into it and see it grow.

Hi thanks for the advice,I will do a statement of affairs as soon as I have more time,I’m about to go off and so some actual house work now,I think I’ve fried my brain this morning looking at all this stuff,I am still shaking and have an upset tummy again today so I think that what I thought was a bug is actuallynerves and stress,my next challenge is to set up a bank account and I’m going to look into that tomorrow,I’m thinking of checking the CO Ops basic account out as that comes recommended on the site,I don’t not have any ID though so this might be a problem,I’m going to go and do my ironing to try and calm myself down then I’m going to see if I have any letters from the taxman I can use for id😊

Crikey123

Hi 1BL, I recently started my debt free journey too, a few months ahead of you but still got a massive debt to pay off so will be here for the long haul. I'm really getting the bug for it though & trying all sorts of things to save or make money elsewhere, so I can put more of my wages towards the debts & pay it off quicker. I've decided to do it on my own & not enter into a DMP because with our wages I can regularly make overpayments, but not always the same amount, so I just think it's easier to do it all myself.

Good luck to you.

Onebrokelady

Lilith1980 wrote: »

Welcome, I've not long started a diary too. I think it's a great way to keep accountable and I finally feel I can kick this debt into touch.

Looking forward to hearing more about your journey

Hi,I think its an excellent idea and Im going to make sure I make full use of it too,I will have a look for yours too ,so far as my debt is concerned I’m still in panic mode at the moment,but I think I will start to calm down once my bank is sorted and the DMP is set up, good luck with your debt free journey too

enthusiasticsaver

There are lots of people on this forum who have done DMPs and swear they got the best nights sleep after doing them. They are not for everyone and some prefer to do their own rather than use stepchange but it usually means that the debt stops rising, you stop robbing Peter to pay Paul and the monthly payment is affordable and allows you to live. It still requires some financial discipline but before you know where you are you will be advising others on here too. Good luck.

Onebrokelady

Crikey123 wrote: »

Hi 1BL, I recently started my debt free journey too, a few months ahead of you but still got a massive debt to pay off so will be here for the long haul. I'm really getting the bug for it though & trying all sorts of things to save or make money elsewhere, so I can put more of my wages towards the debts & pay it off quicker. I've decided to do it on my own & not enter into a DMP because with our wages I can regularly make overpayments, but not always the same amount, so I just think it's easier to do it all myself.

Good luck to you.

Hi Your very brave doing it yourself,I am way too scared,I just wanted someone to take me by the hand and say this is what we are going to do,I’m really good at following instructions so this will work well for me,also and I know it sounds mad but this is going to trash my credit score and I kind of need that to happen so I literally can’t get any credit anymore because I am not to be trusted with CC cards,I just hope this all works and I ge to be debt free without too much upset,good luck with your debt free journey,I will keep a look out for you too