I have come here to chew bubblegum and clear debt - and I'm all outta bubblegum AKA the £83,000 saga

Guybrush_Threepwood

anita55 wrote: »

Guybrush - your amazing just read through while the GS was asleep will subscribe if that's OK and I love Dave Ramsey as well as Martin x

Thank you so much

adg89

Hey Guybrush,

Hope all is well? Usually see an update from you by this point in the month... I hope everything is alright!

adg89

Guybrush_Threepwood

adg89 wrote: »

Hey Guybrush,

Hope all is well? Usually see an update from you by this point in the month... I hope everything is alright!

adg89

Hello! Thank you for the message, and yes, you are correct - I have not updated here in a while! Apologies for that - it's been a busy month with work and family stuff, plus a short 'stay-cation' holiday. I've also become more involved with the GA group I attend which has been great.

In terms of the 'D' word, nothing major to report. I still have a couple of Ombudsman decisions that I seem to have been waiting an age for... I really have no faith in that organisation. I didn't see the program, but I recall reading that C4's 'Dispatches' did some kind of expos! on the Financial Ombudsman. Their Glassdoor reviews tell a worrying story: Glassdoor.

It was payday yesterday, so this month's payments have all been made. The balance now is £61,527.35. Will update my signature shortly! Edging closer and closer to the 50's, which will be a great achievement and feel good mentally, though of course it's still a hell of a way to go.

17 creditors still on the list. Although four of them are under £500 so I plan to clear those sooner than scheduled if I can. I'm a fan of clearing smaller debts, even when they perhaps may not be incurring the most interest. The reason for this is two-fold: (1) It frees up more cash to assign to other debts. For example, those four debts of under £500 collectively have a minimum monthly commitment of £175. If I clear them all, that's £175 back in my pocket each month that I can use to pay towards other debts, and (2) It feels good mentally! It gives me a huge lift to see a company drop off the list, knowing I have paid them back everything.

Also just realised that the Device Plan for my mobile phone (which I don't include in the 'big list' of debt - it comes under my regular monthly expenses) is almost paid off which will be another £25 per month that can go towards something else.

By ensuring that the monthly agreed commitments to my creditors are such that they still allow us money to live on and to save a little, we've managed to build a pot that now has enough in it to get our bathroom done. This isn't a vanity project - it's falling apart! It's long overdue, but due to my gambling addiction and accompanying debt, well, it was never a priority (nothing is when you're a compulsive gambler). So we're both pleased that this will finally get done.

Not much else to report, taking things a day at a time. It's bonus season at work so hopefully within the next few weeks I'll learn if I'm due one this year, and can then see if it's enough to make some nice big dents in these debts!

Guybrush_Threepwood

Guybrush_Threepwood wrote: »

...I still have a couple of Ombudsman decisions that I seem to have been waiting an age for... I really have no faith in that organisation.

Funny... the day after I posted this I had three emails from the Ombudsman with updates on my remaining cases. No decisions yet, but at least some progress!

Guybrush_Threepwood

Looks like I’ll just miss out on getting my debt down into the £50’s this month. That would have been nice, from a psychological point of view. Once all this month’s payments are done, I’ll update my signature. Looks like it’ll be around £60,200 or there abouts.

Had a disappointing result from the Ombudsman this week. Essentially NewDay provided me a credit card under the Aqua brand which I grossly misused, and then gave me another card under the Marbles brand which I also grossly misused. My argument was that I went over the credit limit on the first card every month in the six months leading up to me applying for the second card, and so the second card should never have been approved. Sadly, NewDay and the Ombudsman disagree.

Pip_Boy_111

Hi. Great diary and you've made amazing progress in a short time. Following along with you.
Quick question. Is the diary title a duke nukem reference? I'm sure I've heard a similar line in that game Also monkey island rocks!

Guybrush_Threepwood

Thanks! The thread title is taken from “They Live!” - a cult 80s movie: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChewBubblegum

Guybrush_Threepwood

OK, so after March's regular batch of payments, the outstanding balance is now £60,242.95.

However, I've also got my year end bonus from work coming this month... I need to see what I'm left with after the tax man has taken his share, but it should be enough to make a few more dents in my debt pile.

However, some fantastic news.... a few months ago I made a complaint to one of the online casino operators through whom I incurred a slice of my debt. I argued that they had failed to adhere to the 'social responsibility' measures specified in the 2005 Gambling Act and that they should have 'stepped in' when it was evident that my play was evidently problematic (i.e. depositing increasingly large sums over shorter timeframes). Of course they initially refused to take any responsibility. But after some back and forth, and a complaint to the Gambling Commission, they contacted me this week to offer a refund of the money I had lost with them since the date I suggested that my gambling 'crossed the line' into being problematic up to the date I quit gambling altogether. There doesn't appear to be any admittance of wrongdoing, but I'll happily take the refund (around £2,000) and use this to make a few more "debt dents". A very surprising and unexpected result.

(A Google search quickly showed that the company in question have been fined by the Gambling Commission previously for failures under the "social responsibility" code...)

Guybrush_Threepwood

The refund mentioned in my previous post arrived quicker than expected! I've used half of it to clear two overdrafts that have freed up a couple of hundred pounds per month that I can now use to pay more down on other debts. That brings the number of creditors down to 15 (there were 30 when I started). It also means...

I'm now in the sub £60k club!!

Outstanding debt now is £59,211.24. All being well, I should be in the sub-£50k club by the end of July, but I won't count my chickens just yet!

Choccygirl123

That's amazing news....to get under 60k in a matter of months is outstanding! Congratulations on tackling the debt, but a bigger well done on facing your gambling.