The long haul supporters thread...

JoJoB

Well I had fun answering the phone yesterday. Creditors aren't used to someone saying "No, he doesn't want to come to the phone". Cue stuttering and spluttering from outraged call centre operative and lies like "He has to talk to us" and "the phone calls will increase in frequency until he talks to us".

They went all quiet when said he had been instructed by his doctor to avoid stressful situations because of his health and that their phone calls would constitute a stressful situation. That he is on a dmp with payplan. That they can put all their communications in writing instead of phoning, and any increased frequency in phone calls would constitute harrassment under OFT guidelines.

I couldn't even remember if it is the OFT, hope I got the abbreviation right lol. Either way I haven't had a phone call since which is nice. And it was quite fun getting feisty with them.

Now for the nasty letters. :rolleyes:

Keeping_Positive

Good luck with the car boot ISOM

Jojob - I generally pick up the phone calls for OH so annoying. I like the stragey so hope it works. Letters are fine he just ignores tham :doh:

Budget not looking good need to reveiw that this morning . Did some retail therapy yesterday - looking to finally paint the house. Thankfully it was all (except 48p) covered by vouchers :j.

DD1 went to her new school yesterday and I realised Im going tohave to let her have school dinners although I am worried what she will spend it on. Ill pay by cheque so at least it will be spent at the school. Another £10 a week to the grocery budget.........

In_Search_Of_Me

well done jojo...hugs for you. Will no doubt have a few of those to follow and dread it! Made130+ at the booty after the fee so not bad I am told! Plus only one room done so far! Still kitchen, bedrom and "the cupboard" to go! Birthday meal this eve so bath is running and glad rags to put on plus litter trays to do!

muddlemess

Hi just wondered if I could join please, not sure of your criteria though! Just about to embark on DMP with DFD of approx 20 years :eek:.

cheesedoffwithdebt

HI-I am not new to this site b ut didn't realise there was a little thread here just for me! I am most definitely a long hauler- debts due to business closing down mainly, am on a DMP with payplan and have endured the calls, the letters and other nonsense from creditors.
My DFD is about 14/15 yrs now although I am working hard all the time to bring that down- dumping unnecessary expenditure where and when I can- and learning to live on what I have!

Keeping_Positive

Hello Muddle mess and Chessed off :wave:

There is no set criteria this thread is for thoseof us that will be here for a while so budgeting and debt busting are a long term job that can be both daunting and draining.Harder to be "good" long term especially with lifes little way of chucking stuff at you along the way!

Sept as usual a tight month am at least £150 short so using what little xmas/birthday savings I put aside to clear and aim to keep as close as I can to that figure although £20 went on the girls for guides/brownies yesterday . Shopping in so caneasily sourde lunch for later.

In_Search_Of_Me

muddlemess (182)
cheesed off with debt (183)

welcome both! Theres no criteria other than being a longhauler - that can either be a couple of years or couple of decades...all welcome!

Had a productive money making w/end. bday money, sold 230 of stuff and mum gave me some to help so all good as every penny counts at the moment...more sorting today and will need to get cat food from asda but am sitting here with blanket and jumper on!! Horrible weather here - the kind of day where you look outside and are happy to stay in!

HairyHandofDartmoor

Hi all! Horrible day here too. Misty, damp, gloomy - you get the picture . Luckily I can work from home when I want to as a perfect day not to venture out.

Debt busting isn't going very well as the recession has been affecting our family income, but have noticed an improvement the last couple of months, so I think things are looking up .

Just trying to keep working and not overspend, but not easy when DD2 has started a new school and had to spend £150 approximately on uniform! :eek:

Did you make all that money at the car boot ISOM? What will you spend your birthday money on?

poorbabe

Afternoon all and welcome to the newbies.


I have to, shamefacedly, confess I might have to take out (yet another) personal loan - will look at the figures again tonight - if I want to clear all my debts by my 50th year.

I'm really disappointed with this possible action but it's my own fault. When I took out two 0% BT cards a while back I was convinced I'd make a serious dent in the totals but I haven't. Of course 's*it happens' events during the year didn't help and I didn't keep a close enough eye on the running totals and the end dates for the BT cards

So now I'm almost at the end of the periods and whilst I'm fairly sure I'll be ok with payments on one card, the Virgin card will probably hike up quite substantially and as they couldn't give me a general figure I'll have to wait til the next statement :eek:.

I calculated my current total monthly payments for loan and credit cards against a new personal loan (with my bank) and it appears that I'd pay less each month with the loan, but the final payment would be due 2 months into my 50th year which is NOT what I'd wanted (I'm 46 now) . I have to admit I shed a few years of embarrassment when I first looked at the figures last week. Not great as I was on the phone to my bank at the time !! The staff member was very sympathetic and made helpful suggestions, all of which MSE covers very well.

I'm still in a quandry although I realise I need to make (more) savings where I can and if a personal loan is the way to go then I might have to swallow the bad taste and go for it. I was so adamant there would be no more, now look


At the moment I have some options:

1. (Another) personal loan over 42 months, which would mean an extra £57.38 per month in my pocket (put aside for rent/council tax increases/unexpected events)
2. Loan over 48 months, putting even more in my pocket (still set aside for rent/cc increase during that time)
3. See what the min payments on both cards are in October/November then panic/cry, apply for personal loan
4. Continue with min cc payments til present loan ends in July 2011, adding that sum to CC payments (snowball). Problem is, I don't yet know how much (with interest) and how long that would take to clear, but I'm betting more than 4 years

Bloody hell I'm so annoyed/embarrassed with myself right now, but I'm NOT giving in. I'll find a way round this somehow :think::think::wall:

SarahNeedle1872

Sorry things are a bit pants at the minute poorbabe, I seem to be going backwards myself at the minute too.

How long is it until you get statements for the cards? And what int rate will the cards go up to Vs what int rate you will get a loan at? It might be a good idea to check these first before getting the loan....

Sx