Pulling my head out of the sand... 12 March 2020 at 9:40PM in Debt free diaries 3 replies 71 views

dmp_newbie2020

Hi all, 

I am starting this thread for my accountability of my debt but hopefully to help with my mental state in managing the process. 

I had a little bit of a mental break down this week and it’s forced me to admit I need help to get things sorted. (Cried all week, not slept, loss of appetite- the works!! I have since spoken to an Iva company - who have drawn up a proposal for me, spoke to some of my credit card lenders who have been lovely actually and frozen interest until I sort a solution and then today filled out a form of I&E, SOA, and listed all my debt with payplan.... they have since replied saying they think a dmp is the best solution for me and I’m now just waiting on next steps.... still feeling very anxious about everything).

My situation... 
I currently have just over £36k in debt to 5x credit cards and overdraft (overdraft at £1k maxed out). Up until now all credit cards have been 0% and I’ve been paying the minimum. 

From the end of this month each card slowly comes to the end the 0% rate and I’ll be hit with interest. 

In the last 2 years I have had a beautiful baby boy, spent 9 months on Mat leave and then have since returned to work part time at a reduced salary. This means that my debt now exceeds my income (£21,600). This means I have zero options to transfer to any other 0% offers, and a consolidation loan is completely unaffordable. 

I need a plan to pay everything back and have someone manage it until I feel comfortable to take the reins... hence the payplan route today. 

I personally can live with the debt and know I can sort it out now I have pulled my head out of the sand... however what’s eating me up is that I can’t tell my husband (who is wonderful and the best person along with my son - literally no idea what I have done to deserve them!). I know you will all advise I should but I really can’t. He knows about approx. £15k worth of debt but not the rest and it would horrify him. Plus he has so much stress with his work and the burden of most of the household bills plus really suffers from anxiety himself that I just can’t put this on him- So please don’t suggest it as it really is not an option talking to him about it 😞
One thing I would like a little advise about.... 
I am due to renew my current mortgage in 3.5 yrs. when I look at my mortgage lender now (Natwest) it states online that you can switch without a credit check to one of their other products. Obviously who knows if that still applies in 3 yrs but I wanted to find out if anyone has experience with renewing mortgage whilst on dmp?? 
If a credit check isn’t needed I can renew to another product available at the time (hopefully another fixed rate to help me keep on top of payments)... can’t I?!? 🥴
Also - I am hoping I am going to be in a position where I can overpay on some of the credit cards as well as being able to build savings- but not sure if this is possible/ allowed with a DMP- any advise??? 

Sorry for the long ramble- I think I needed to get that off my chest more than anything- however hoping this thread can share a bit of support/ advice and not judge me too much for being a deceiving wife in a stupid amount of debt! 

Thanks if you’ve lasted to the end! 

X

Rgib89

Hiya, happy new diary. Firstly I would like to say, it's good you made the first step and I find reading peoples diary etc gives me the help I need to keep pushing through my debt.
I have saved £1k to an emergency fund, for real emergencies only. Every spare penny I have spare I transfer to my loan, I'm in the middle of going through unwanted items to sell through my home and use the money to pay off debt (good way to declutter). Your not alone and we will all be with you to push u along the way. X

dmp_newbie2020

Just to add - all priority debt is joint and up to date and again never in arrears. 

All personal insecure debt is mine and again all paid with no missed payments. 

My credit score on clearscore is ‘good’ and average for area but again due to me being almost maxed out on all cards I have no options other than dmp/ Iva ...I think.

Anyone else ever had a similar situation? How did you tackle it? 

I WISH I could just freeze interest on all cards and close them so they can’t be used- agree a set min payment for each and then overpay as and when I can and snowball so I can see debts coming down better. 

I WISH I could do that without a DMP or it impacting a renewal mortgage in 3.5 years. And I WISH I wasn’t such a huge let down to my family. 

Feeling at an all time low. 

Always been able to find a solution myself before (even though that’s obviously resulted in more debt) ... but this time I can’t find the light at the end of the tunnel! 😢

[Deleted User]

Hi! I didn’t want to read and run whilst you sound so stressed. A lot of people from what i read on here delay the start of their DMP after having stopped their contractual debt payments, throw the money you would pay to your debts into an emergency fund, and THEN start repayments via the DMP so you have got that safety net there. There’s a DMP Mutual Support thread in this section of the forum that you may find very useful  

hope you feel a little brighter in the morning. You’ll get there & once you have got a solid plan in place that will inevitably relieve some of the stress