desperate to sort my life for last time

Desperadoo

Hello

Bit of background, been a serial debtor all my life....into debt £10k....clear it all ....into debt £110k....IVA and clear it all after 3 years then  remortage ( paid back 80p in the £ ....into debt and now DMP me £36k OH £19K...please no judgement as to where all the money went as could not actually tell you although a lot was on holidays and cars 

At the age of 58 now and no pension I cannot afford to do this again. I also suffer from depression. Married and hubby on DMP as well which is due to end in 35 months .....mine has about 15 years if dont do something 

I have decided to take over my DMP and run myself from organised one as feel will be more in control and also due to increase in cost of living and decrease in wages ) self employed ) and also when I went through my DMP yesterday realised that they last review was calculated wrong so in theory on paper cannot even afford the 200 a month I am paying.  Now know what it has been a struggle . 

Hopeing to be able to save a bit of money from overtime and economising and be able to offer full and finals settlements.  One debt is only £48 which i will pay off and not include when change DMP and one is £800 which i think they sent me letter offering a F&F of £200.....shredded letter but wil watch out if the write again . Mortgage also only a few years left to run so that will be more money to pay towards my DMP 

Have actually sorted myself out since entering the DMP a few years ago and have even some saving for emergency....plus Christmas, car repairs, birthday presents etc . Amazing what you can do when you have no credit cards, loans to fall back on.  


So here is the plan !!

Once this months DMP is paid will sort out changing to self managed....can afford 150 per month and will increase once mortgage paid off in 3 years but will still take years 

Stop eating out or ordering food in so much.

Any spare money left over from groceries each week will go into savings

Meal plan and see whats in the freezer/cupboards  to use up 

Have spent most of the last 24 hours on MSE so need to go get breakfast now and ready for work.  


Wish me luck 

foxgloves

Some good ways to plug money leakages there, @Deperadoo. Eating out & ordering in pre-made food, take-aways, etc, simply gobbles money when we are in debt or trying to keep our finances straight, & meal planning is essential. I'd say it was one of the most useful practical things we did when we were debt-busting because it meant we were able to write a properly meaningful shopping list containing just what we needed for those meals, breakfasts, packed lunches, etc. It makes much more sense to check pantry & freezer first to see what can be shopped from home, rather than not be able to remember in the supermarket & keep chucking stuff in the trolley you don't actually need to buy that week. We don't have debt now, but the cost of living crisis will impact our ability to save if we are not careful, so we have also decided to try & come in under budget on groceries & pay the leftover bit into savings. I'm the same age as you & conscious that while I'll get a works pension & state pension, I won't get the full amount on either because of taking VR in my mid-40s. We no longer have debt or a mortgage, but I think it is important in our 50s to think about the future. I wondered how my partner would feel about doing these sensible grocery spends so as to be able to save any underspend, as he has a big appetite & loves his food, but he was all for it. It seems we've hit a funny age & are suddenly talking about our next decade, where previously it felt like a thousand years away! 
Wishing you luck with your mse plans,
F

theoretica

Desperadoo said:

.please no judgement as to where all the money went as could not actually tell you although a lot was on holidays and cars

Wish me luck 

Of course, that is one big thing to address going forward - as it shows you were simply spending before and not budgeting.  You need to know where your money is going, wherever you choose that to be.

Desperadoo

So a sleepless night and money constantly on my mind.

As I am self employed my income can go up and down but for last 8 years I have taken a set "wage" from my business account so that on the less busy weeks I can still take this wage.   I usually have a few quiet months a year and this has worked for me.   

My DMP was set up on a wage of £250 but in reality since pandemic this had dropped.but never told Payplan this ..now only take £200 and my "extra money " in business account now running out .  This week I earned less than £200 😞  ( one of the reasons I have decided to change to self managed DMP)

I must admit though after years of just paying Payplan and not really worrying about my debts except the stress at review time last few days it has consumed my life again !!!  

I have a work  day today and tomorrow so really need to try and stop worrying about the money until Friday when a day off.  

Desperadoo

PAY DAY AND MONEY SORTED 

We spend a lot of money eating out / ordering food in and last week decided to cut down and allow £100 for food /cleaning/dog food etc and £15 for one breakfast/lunch out.

Last Thursday put any money left in chase account into saving and put £165 into my chase card ( £50 extra in case we needed it ) 

Today had £35 left so spent £130 😪  transferred the £35 to saving and added.£115 for next week...no buffer this week 

BUT when I looked at account was shocked 

Iceland/lidl/asda/pounland  £70.13 ...a lot but £12 was dog food for a few weeks 

Round ups to saving account £4.28 😃 

Eating out /chippies £55.60 😲 

Total shock as though we were ' cutting down "

So new week and will be no chippies this week🤞  working today but when I get home going to see what in freezer/cupboard and do my shopping list. 

Spoke to DMP company yesterday and waiting for a review and need to get ky life in order !!

Today also put away money to birthdays/Christmas as have 10 grandchildren do soon adds up and car MOT.  Going to put these amounts into signature when I get chance 

HAPPY THURSDAY GUYS !! 😃 

elsien

What about your husband - is he on board with this? I know you are separate DMPs but it would be easier if the two of you were working together to cut down on your spending. 

Desperadoo

elsien said:

What about your husband - is he on board with this? I know you are separate DMPs but it would be easier if the two of you were working together to cut down on your spending. 

He's just leaves me to most of it household stuff  although when I showed him the figures today he was shocked .   

He has his own "pocket money " which he buys his lunches for work from ( hasn't taken a packed lunch for years )  and his beers ( for home) which does not come out of groceries money so that works for him.  

foxgloves

Taking a packed lunch was something Mr F & I had to embrace when we started debt-busting. I unpicked every element of where our money was 'disappearing' to, & we were horrified to see that around £2000 per year was spent on work lunches. Both of us would pop out every lunchtime, convincing ourselves we were being virtuous for choosing a meal deal (despite buying extra things to make it more interesting, of course!) & I'd often buy a couple of magazines too while I was out picking up my lunch. With around £35k of assorted debt between us at the time, that was a ridiculous leakage of money. We started making packed lunches straight away & have stuck to this despite now being debt-free. Every time we buy lunches & takeaways, we are paying somebody to make that food for us, as well as a % for all the packaging/containers which come with it. I don't say this in judgement - Mr F & I have been shocking spenders in the past, when we firmly believed budgeting was for boring squares!
F

Desperadoo

Well a productive day for me ..... have emailed to cancel my current DMP and letters ready to send tomorrow to tell creditors I am going to do it myself form now on.  Scarey !!!  I did speak to one company today on chat to get an address to send letter to and they were so lovley, kept asking me was I ok , had I someone i could talk to as I had said how stressed I was then said they would put my account on hold for 60 days until i get sorted and if not sorted by then just let them know. 

Need to drop DMP from £197 to £107...hope they accept as really going to be tight to even pay that at the minute. 

No money spent today which is great and think tomorrow will be there same . 

Desperadoo

So a change of plan today when I emailed all lettersto creditors, spoke to one company who were very understanding, productive day all round on this 

No money spent yesterday and only £4.50 today out of grocery account !!! and 50p into my round up account. Heading out tomorrow and had arranged a lift so no petrol to use up but change of plan now and going on train and as will be out all day will have to think about lunch....will be cheap and cheerful. As out tomorrow will be freezer dinner tomorrow night and will get shopping sunday.

Desperadoo

Desperadoo said:

We spend a lot of money eating out / ordering food in and last week decided to cut down and allow £100 for food /cleaning/dog food etc and £15 for one breakfast/lunch out.

Yesterday update 

Had a family day out and rather than apwns almost £10 on bus ticket took car and found free parking.  Also unheard of for me only bought hubby and me lunch ans we shared part of it rather than but a mcdonalda meals each ro keep within out " £15 eating out budget 😇

Also had withdrew £10 for my purse in case we wanted anything else...came home with it !!    Needed a new coat but when I could not see one for
 less than I had budgeted for decided  not to bother 😌 

Spend so far from Thursday Payday had been £1
£15 /£100 ...£85 left but have not done shopping yet so that will.come down today  ....eating our budget for the week spent!


Happy Sunday 😀