Help needed - no judgement please

SuzyN

So a quick update... thank you all for your kind and helpful words of advice.

Today I negotiated a better rate on my mortgage saving me £58 a month for the next 5 years. I am In negative equity (house was £220k and now under £100k) and had assumed I couldn!!!8217;t do that but it seems I was totally wrong and I have been overpaying for 9 years!

I also spoke with StepChange today and have received advice and figures on a DMP. I am going to delay the start to pay some bills that need paid now eg vet bills and car tyre and servicing.

I have cancelled all my non priority direct debts.

I have set up a new bank account with a lender I don!!!8217;t have any debts with. Need to somehow get all my normal direct debits moved to my new account between payday tomorrow and next payday.

Tomorrow morning I will post each creditor a letter to say I am considering my options and ask them to freeze my accounts and only contact me by letter.

Once the plan is all in place I will then look at my insurances, entertainment etc... and see if I can bring them down.

I can only hope that my creditors will agree to the payments and will default the accounts asap.

They are MBNA, Barclaycard, Barclays, Santander, Tesco, Bank is Scotland and Next Directory. Does anyone have any experience of any of these being particularly difficult?

Thanks again,

SuzyN

theoretica

Great news about the mortgage. I suggest you also go over all your insurances and your energy and utility bills and shop around to see if they are the best possible deal and if it is worth switching. Sometimes you can get the same thing for less.

gozaimasu

What about the cost of parking? Some places in cities at £20/day is £100/week, £400/month. Motorbikes have free parking - surely that's worth it to save £400 a month. I read the posts about getting rid of the bike and not the rest after that before commenting, so maybe someone or the OP has already said something about this.

SuzyN

Yep will definitely look at the bike. We dont pay much for parking its petrol costs as we both have to travel to get to work. The joys of not working where you live.

Just hope I can cope with the anxiety of the bill letters coming in now.

Suzy

chunkytfg

SuzyN wrote: »

Just hope I can cope with the anxiety of the bill letters coming in now.

Suzy

If you're properly on top of your finances then you'll know when to expect each bill and how much they will be. If you manage that then there shouldn't be any anxiety as its not a shock.:beer:

Kitten868

Well done OP! That's fantastic work - already saved yourself £58 a month without sacrificing anything. And great news on the chat with step change. You are doing it. Do you feel comfortable with the budget on the step change site?
With changing the direct debits without completing an account transfer you have to ring each company and change it. Write the list and make the calls. Yes, it's a pain in the butt but once it's done, it's done. Keep going. Xxx

enthusiasticsaver

Well done. You are making good progress. Some utilities will let you change bank details online. Only move the essentials like mortgage, council tax, utilities and house insurance. What is happening about the cars?

I am amazed your house is so much in negative equity. What part of the UK do you live in (roughly)?

SuzyN

So far so good. The first email and text came today asking for payment that hasn!!!8217;t been received. Felt a bit sick tbh but then reassured myself that it!!!8217;s all part of the plan.

I!!!8217;m going to print out my letters to each creditor this weekend to say please give me some breathing space while I work with step change and give myself some time to turn everything back to where it should be.

I think my budget is realistic. I went through my online banking and looked at what I was spending and it!!!8217;s quite shocking - need to get a tighter reign. Am going to use my card only where possible this month (and hubby the same) so we can track every spend and see what we can cut back on.

I bought my house at the height of the property boom in 2007 and paid way way too much. Lost every penny I!!!8217;ve put down for deposits etc but what can you do?! It is what it is and I!!!8217;m not moving any time soon so will just keep paying the mortgage- annoyed with myself I didn!!!8217;t change to a lower rate much sooner but hey ho!

Suzy

Kitten868

So glad I told you to fix the mortgage yesterday not today!