When you owe more than your annual net salary

lindez

Hi Lexi
Hope you managed to call SC and got your mileage sorted out. You are doing well x.

LexieLou

Spoke to Stepchange....

I love how calm they are and how they make you feel that all will be OK.

Mileage increase has been put through, means DMP increases from 6years and 11 months to 9 years and 2 months....

I'm OK with that, especially as I refuse to let it be that long (I may eat my words on this one!)

Other options were bankruptcy and insolvency, like they really asked if I would consider it, I can't due to my job. If I chose any of the above I don't work. It literally is that simple.

The lady in SC was so nice....so nice. Thankfully I'm not crying....ha ha

Tesco are being awkward about the budget, but I can provide fuel receipts and toll receipts. And I can produce the dog and the optician receipts etc if they think I am lying about that too...

So thats the DMP revised. Must go and buy a lottery ticket

Did a shop today, faffed about in the pound shops, couldn't get what I wanted, spent that much time and fuel detouring to them, that I'll just go to Tesco from now on and bulk buy the offers when on...the way I currently do.

Had to buy some household cleaning products and bought the months worth of dog treats etc. plus stocked up on store cupboard ingredients, so while it was 4/5 to this weeks budget, it means that I have it done for the month.

Does anyone else get a real sense of satisfaction from writing down their spends each week?

Thats me for now. I'll pop back later tonight and lurk at everyone else's threads

Oh yeah, I bought a lime as I'm having a lovely G&T tonight...cos I deserve it.

Lots of Love

LL xx

Poor_Single_lady

Hello. You sound like you are doing a lot better than you think. But it is very stressful!
It does feel like we are at the same point but I haven't used Stepchange. And funnily enough Tesco were probably the nicest to me. They didn't blink at my £100 every 3 months hair bill which I am feeling very guilty about. They should understand driving is non-negotiable- as is feeding the pets.

You sound like you have budgeting all in hand, doing much better than you think. keep going. (I'll pop back in from time to time if that is ok) Xx

beanielou

Enjoy your G & T.
Good news on Step Change.

pidge04

There is nothing better than a gin and tonic! Oh yes, 2 gin and tonics!
I had not thought of writing down my spends each week. Do you keep your receipts then?
I am a try it once and give up immediately kind of a person!
Glad your phone call to Step Change went better than expected.

LexieLou

pidge04 wrote: »

I had not thought of writing down my spends each week. Do you keep your receipts then?

I keep all my fuel receipts and I also started keeping the receipts from the local shop as it has a loyalty scheme i signed up for and have no idea how it works.

So, yes I have stared to keep all grocery receipts.

Just an excel spreadsheet and then I can see what I'm spending on what....those sneaky fudge bars all add up!

Never did have the G&T...used the lime in the Thai Red Curry instead.

Night Pidge xx

natlie

Hi Lexie

You are doing really well Im in a really similar position to you my debt is around £4k less than my salary. I am not on DMP doing it myself but will be following your diary and hoping to be debt free at the same time as you

Nat

DancingUnicorn

Hi, well done on taking those first steps!
I was very similar and cried multiple times to SC, mostly because they were just so kind, patient and lovely! A bit of advice they gave me - don't worry about those creditors who are playing games. Stick with the DMP and they'll eventually get the message. I was getting letters from one of my lenders for months which I just ignored. They eventually got the message and got used to the DMP.

LexieLou

natlie wrote: »

Hi Lexie

You are doing really well Im in a really similar position to you my debt is around £4k less than my salary. I am not on DMP doing it myself but will be following your diary and hoping to be debt free at the same time as you

Nat

Thanks Nat. Welcome to the journey...lets hope its a short one!

LexieLou

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

Hi, well done on taking those first steps!
I was very similar and cried multiple times to SC, mostly because they were just so kind, patient and lovely! A bit of advice they gave me - don't worry about those creditors who are playing games. Stick with the DMP and they'll eventually get the message. I was getting letters from one of my lenders for months which I just ignored. They eventually got the message and got used to the DMP.

Thanks Dancing Unicorn (love the name), you've cleared an impressive amount of money. Do you have a diary? I'd love to read how you knocked off such a good percentage in such a short period of time.