The long haul supporters thread...

Northstar68

Same here, we havent had a holiday for 3 years because things were tight and I was off work due to maternity leave and illness, then once the recession kicked in and my husband had no work it was awful.
Anyway, we have to focus on the future and this week I am sorting out all the direct debits/letters/moving money etc, I am sure we will feel a lot better when things calm down a bit. I am expecting the next round of threatening texts though and phone calls and letters etc, I suspect that 1 or 2 creditors wont be happy with our DMP even though they will be getting a bit more than their £1/2/3 a month!
Then we have the court hearing with Alliance & leicester in february to look forward too, I'm trying not to get stressed by that one, it's a long way off but will come round soon enough though wont it!
Who knows what will happen by then eh!

It's hard to say no to the kids, its hard to do without the luxuries but yep, the sooner we can throw the spare cash towards the debts the quicker they will go down. I'm still in shock having to get rid of my car, my work is local so I got myself an oyster card and am getting used to bussing it everywhere....that's been a steep learning curve I can tell you! LOL
We are really trying to save money now to put towards our DMP. Not looking forward to Christmas though, so I will be visiting the other boards here for some good ideas.

bailey59

Hi Northstar, looks like we are in the same boat and are in the same position with our debts CCCS told me they should be able to start my DMP on 1st Dec too. Sorry to hear about your car, so far we have kept ours but we need new tyres!! We try and not use the car at weekends, we go for long walks instead now. I have just started my Xmas shopping as I cant leave it till the last minute this year, I wont be able to just go to the shops and buy loads of things on my cards. Cash only this year. I am going round car boots and looking on ebay for things. I am now a car-boot aholic! Check out the Xmas forum on here. There are loads of ideas. I am doing hampers for everyone this year. Luckily my family has a £5.00 gift limit rule so that takes the pressure off a bit but its the kids that I will struggle with. They are 16, 17 & 21. I know they will understand but in order to understand we will have to tell them we are in serious financial hardship. Not an easy thing to do. We should be able to provide for them and give them nice things not say sorry Xmas is cancelled cos we are rubbish at looking after our money. But hey-ho! I am looking at buying presents that are useful and not a waste of money. I dont want the bit that I can afford to spend on them just being chucked in the back of a drawer. I have also turned my house upside down for old Xmas presents that I can give to people (as long as I remember who gave me what, I dont want to give them something they bought me back lol) I made up a pamper hamper for my sons girlfriend using a lot of my old make-up, smellies etc and it looks good. Sorry to hear you have got a court hearing. I cant imagine how scary that must be for you. The only thing I can say to that is that as least you now have this forum and loads of people will be able to offer you help and support

Northstar68

Aww yes looks like a very similar scenario here. Good to hear I am not alone but also sorry to hear that you are also going through the same.
I have just managed to move child benefit and tax credits over to my new account, wahaaaay, although I will have to wait for 2 weeks to see it has worked! Wages next but cant do that until next Monday.

I will check out the Xmas forum. My 2 girls are 10 and 4. the 10 year old knows what is going on but still asks for x,y,z! The 4 year old is happy with anything bless her as long as she has something to 'open' LOL

The car boot thing sounds great, havent considered that. I have an account with ebay when I sold off loads of things last year to help the situation, I think I should be doing that again....but I will have to change the account details and get it verified again I think (

I like the £5 gift rule too! Thanks for that!

As for the car thing, it's ok, we had 2 old bangers, now we just have the 1 which my hubby has to use as he is self employed and has to carry his tools everywhere..........he's not keen on bussing it with his buckets LOL
So new tyres you need? Ours failed the MOT last week, break shoes, ouch. Nightmare. Trying not to dwell on it too much!
Now it's half term week and my 2 need to be entertained, today is a DVD and pyjama day so I can get on with all the CCCS stuff and letters to the creditors. i'm making meals last longer too so we are finishing off yesterday's food....... no cooking at least for me today! :T

This forum is great, I was here for months reading and reading and never posted out of embarrassment whatever, god knows, soooo glad I did now.
Something great will come out of all of this mess I am sure. As my mum always says to me and my grandmother before her
'Everything will be alright'

Northstar68

Forgot to say that it's all about changing how we think, keeping our eyes on the lookout for cheaper deals etc.
Also forgot to say how refreshing it is to pay by cash!!! Havent had that feeling for many years and Im liking it! Trying to teach my daughter that if we havent got the cash we cant have it!

bailey59

You're right about the cash. It was just so easy to pay by cards all the time, almot like a bad habit. I never thought I cant afford so I cant have it. Its a harsh lesson to finally learn. And yes I will become a proper little bargain hunter by the time im through. Hope you have a great week with the kids. When you think about it there are loads of things you can do for free or on a tight budget.The park, feeding the ducks, nature trail, conker hunt, collecting leaves, baking session, girlie pamper afternoon doing nails and make-overs.

Keeping_Positive

Hello :wave:

Glad you have found help and support on here. As you have found there are some many tips on here to help I find it almost impossible to keep up.

My lightbulb keeps flickering. I can still get credit so very easy to splash out in a moment of weakness .

bailey59

Hello Keeping Positive. I think this board is great. I dont feel alone at all now :beer:

Know what you mean about credit. Freemans have just upped my limit to £1100 from £200, and I keep missing payments at that!! Are they mad or just trying to trick me? Have they done it cos the more I spend the more payments I miss, so the more late payment charges they can charge me :mad:.

Keeping_Positive

I think retailers are desperate for sales at the moment but I do think they rely on the charges they pile on. Choice my catalogue keep wanting me to spread me debt onto a nice long repayment term at nearly 30% :eek:. They say it will SAVE me a whole £1.73 a week .................NOT!

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi yes they are, i mean my little brother cancelled his halifax card after they upped the intrest a week later they write to offer his a credit card at 12 % where is the sense in that i think the people have retalliated and now they dont have any business HAHAHA hope all is well x

In_Search_Of_Me

Morning all....have people also found the dmp thread on here? A great help me thinks! I'm not there yet but may be and also have to get used to the thought of loosing my car but if needs must! I've sold pretty much all I can (very little left and certainly nowt of worth) and am not surrounded happily with precious things rather than loads of things...Also find that I am much more away of simple, cheap fun (bacon sandwich on the beach - bliss!) and spending time with friends, doing voluntary work etc rather than spending aimlessly. Also lidl and aldi now faves!! Would have died of embarassment even going in there before!! Can understand the feelings of shame etc...its hard having to tell people how foolish youve been but most, in my experience, have been great. The ones that havent have fallen by the wayside and probably not a bad thing!