Debt Advice

Fellalis89

in_need_of_direction said:

sorry for having little to add but I noticed you get your petrol from Tesco.  I recently used my club card points to get breakdown cover as they were multiplied by three for this.  If I were you, I’d try to free up available cash by challenging myself to income generate to clear the dwp debt and then maybe a month’s gym membership, sofa payment etc. I know surveys are a pain but I generally hit £15 to £20 a month between prolific and swag bucks. I also get roughly £200 a year from cash back sites that I use to buy what I actually need.

I’m aware of just how draining facing debt is.  Try and stay focused on the fact that outgoings are due to reduce in the next six months which I’m guessing is a really short time frame compared to how long you’ve had debt.

best of luck and take care,

That is such a good idea, I will have a look now and see what is available to me. Once I get my head around it all I will take a look at the surveys as this is another option for income.

Thank you

Fellalis89

Can I ask, does breathing space affect your credit rating? TIA

SusieT

If you still have access to your credit card statements it may be a good idea to go through them to see what the extra things are that you have bought with them. So for example if you had no money when the washing machine broke (with an emergency fund in place it could have been paid for from that), if you got groceries, petrol, car repairs, presents, books - all these things should be in the budget. If there is anything you have bought on cards but do not use it may be possible to sell them and use that money to help biuild the emergency fund or pay a little more on one of your debts. If you read a lot, is there a local library that you could join so that the books are free, or, there are often books in charity shops for a fraction of the new price? Could you use one of the book buying companies to get some money back for the books you already have? Just a few things to add to your new ideas of how to save money and budget for things in the future. 

NeverendingDMP

Can I ask, does breathing space affect your credit rating? TIA 

Yes I think it would, as would a dmp or missing payments. Are you better to muddle through perhaps till your new mortgage fix is sorted. Also is your credit score relevant to your job. That's another consideration for you.

Also re repairs allowance I'm sure one of the dmp examples allowed up to 25 a month for household repairs, that was 5 years ago now, I never used it as our budget was at minus due to change of circumstances but I would include it if you can, 

And I'm 5 and a half years in nd still forget to budget for things.so don't worry.  School photos and the annual charge of having my garden bin collected being prime examples!!

RosaBernicia

Fellalis89 said:

Thank you so much for your help!

You're welcome.  Don't worry about 'getting it right' all in one go - figuring out what you spend and whether it matches your priorities is a constant process.  It gets easier as you get used to it... you get a clearer picture on both spending and that helps with reflecting on whether it's what you want, so you adjust, repeat...

kimwp

Just had a peek on your SOA on the DMP support board (apologies if my advice to ask for help there was wrong), I think your car finance goes into the secured debt section if there is one - because if you stop paying this, (I think) you lose the car. I don't think it makes much difference to the overall numbers though.

It feels like you have your own DMP support crew here though, how are you feeling about it all?

Fellalis89

SusieT said:

If you still have access to your credit card statements it may be a good idea to go through them to see what the extra things are that you have bought with them. So for example if you had no money when the washing machine broke (with an emergency fund in place it could have been paid for from that), if you got groceries, petrol, car repairs, presents, books - all these things should be in the budget. If there is anything you have bought on cards but do not use it may be possible to sell them and use that money to help biuild the emergency fund or pay a little more on one of your debts. If you read a lot, is there a local library that you could join so that the books are free, or, there are often books in charity shops for a fraction of the new price? Could you use one of the book buying companies to get some money back for the books you already have? Just a few things to add to your new ideas of how to save money and budget for things in the future. 

Thanks for this Susie, I will take a look and see where my spending has been and look into selling what I am no longer using. That's a good idea using libraries, I will take a look into this to see what they have available and see if I can sell some of the books I already own. Your advice is much appreciated!

Fellalis89

kimwp said:

Just had a peek on your SOA on the DMP support board (apologies if my advice to ask for help there was wrong), I think your car finance goes into the secured debt section if there is one - because if you stop paying this, (I think) you lose the car. I don't think it makes much difference to the overall numbers though.

It feels like you have your own DMP support crew here though, how are you feeling about it all?

Don't worry about it ah very true, I will add that into the secure section.

It definitely does and I cannot thank you all enough. Terrified if I am honest, I have read that there is nothing to be worried about and it will all work out but it doesn't stop you from thinking about it constantly. I feel once I am in the process then hopefully it will all calm down, it's just working out an SOA that will be a reflection of spending and an SOA that will be accepted by the companies. It's such a hard guess especially when I haven't ever budgeted. I have looked for other people's SOA's on the forum but I am only finding examples that aren't reflections. I am going to take a look at the SC website to see their guidance, as someone mentioned earlier.

Again, thank you so much for your help!

Fellalis89

NeverendingDMP said:

Can I ask, does breathing space affect your credit rating? TIA 

Yes I think it would, as would a dmp or missing payments. Are you better to muddle through perhaps till your new mortgage fix is sorted. Also is your credit score relevant to your job. That's another consideration for you.

Also re repairs allowance I'm sure one of the dmp examples allowed up to 25 a month for household repairs, that was 5 years ago now, I never used it as our budget was at minus due to change of circumstances but I would include it if you can, 

And I'm 5 and a half years in nd still forget to budget for things.so don't worry.  School photos and the annual charge of having my garden bin collected being prime examples!!

My plan is to fix a mortgage today for 5 years before starting my DMP as I want the security in place for actioning anything. Taking your advice I was going to complete this online. Luckily my new job doesn't take into account my credit score etc I have just checked both my letter of engagement and the employee handbook.

Do you have the link to the budget examples on the SC website, as I am struggling to find it? Is the repairs allowance the emergency fund?

I know haha as I have been working through it I keep remembering little spends that I haven't accounted for. How have you found the whole process? Are you self-managed or working with a company? 

StepChange_Aidan

Hi,

The spending guidelines used by StepChange and other organisations are not publicly accessible. However, if you enter your figures into our online Debt Advice tool it will highlight any areas of spending which are higher or lower than recommended for a household of your size.

Based on the information you’ve provided, it does seem that a DMP would be a good option for you to be able to make a reduced payment to your unsecured debts. It also gives you some flexibility to amend your budget if your income and spending changes.

Even if you’d prefer to set up a self-managed DMP, we can provide some help to review your budget and the solutions available to you.

I can confirm that Breathing Space itself doesn’t affect your credit file, but any missed or reduced payments would be recorded in the normal way and could affect future borrowing.

Regards,

Aidan