Finally making a dent in the debt

wildheart83

Forgot the actual point of my update, other than my terrible kitchen!

Work came back with a counter offer which would be funny if I wasn't so outraged. 

Boss apparently realised when he looked at my contract, that my salary has been wrong for the past year and a bit, and the benchmark salary should have been over £10k more than I'm on.

He dangled the carrot to say if I stay, he'll try his best to get me the benchmark salary and also get it backdated. But, he says, it needs HR's approval and it's not guaranteed. And the kicker is, if I leave then I don't get the backdated salary and the slap in the face of me being underpaid all this time. 

As usual, nothing in writing so I don't have a leg to stand on to say it was ever offered but it's confirmed that I'm right to go. I'd like to go now but need to work my notice for a while. 

wildheart83

Car went in for its service and I asked them to check why the tyre pressure light keeps coming on for no apparent reason. They said they'd fixed it, drove out the garage onto the motorway and on it came. Stupid car. Booked it back in, then got a row from the garage for resetting the light. I'm not driving round with the tyre pressure light shouting at me til you can take the car back in. 
Managed a wee NSD yesterday, and the dog's poor wee legs were walked off him when I was raging with work. I've had a quick off the record chat with my big boss about the pay difference. He wasn't here when I started but I've known him for a long time and he said he was shocked about it all. Not sure he's shocked enough to do anything about it mind you! 
Also, it's review time for my DMP with Stepchange but I'm waiting to see what my new council tax bill is before I submit it

wildheart83

Got to the bottom of the car problem, needs repaired under warranty so they'll do that at the end of the month. 

Been selling lots of clothes and shoes etc on V*nted so sending small but regular payments to the credit card with the smallest balances. So far I've paid off 3, just 9 accounts left on the DMP. 

Also did my DMP review with Stepchange once I got my new council tax bill in. Everything's gone up, and there are lots of payments I make that Stepchange don't have a category for. Human food is jumping up every month, dog food has also jumped by £6 a month.

New job confirmed starting in May subject to references. Still waiting for them to request my references though, wish they'd hurry up! 

Dog hurt his leg but made a miraculous recovery at the vets, especially in reception when he got to meet all the dogs! Cost me £80 for consultation and painkillers but V*nted sales will cover most of that

wildheart83

Dentist again - this time they managed the first part of root canal - who knew I'd be so happy! 

I've done my review with Stepchange, monthly payment has gone down slightly and my DFD has slipped by a month but I'm really hoping I can keep making small extra payments in the short term to bring that back to the original date. 

My debt is currently sitting at £39K, I've paid off £11k since my LBM in April. 

New job starts in May, I always feel so greedy asking when I'll get paid but it's what we go to work for! I'm not starting til part way through the month so I need to find out when payday is, and when the cut off is for payday so I can work out my first salary. 

wildheart83

Without going into too much detail, I feel like I'm being hung out to dry at work just now so very unhappy.

I'm on the countdown to when I leave, but there's a lot of work to be done between now and when I leave and the big chunk of work hasn't yet been assigned to anyone else yet.

Meeting with HR has been postponed til after the Easter break as well, which I'm not thrilled about either. 

wildheart83

Oops, not updated my diary for ages. 

Left my old job, things got so horrendously difficult the last few weeks but it's all in the past and it's time to forget that whole situation. 
Currently in talks with ACAS regarding the issues with salary but expect it to rumble along for a while but that's ok. 

In debt busting land, I've decided to go the self managed DMP route for various reasons so I'm furiously drafting a letter to Stepchange and template letters to each of my creditors informing them of my decision and giving them the new offers. 

One has refused to default the two accounts I have with them, so I'm hoping by dropping the payment down to £1 a month it'll spur them into some kind of action!

I'm back in the office for the first time in years so it's back to homemade sandwiches, bringing in my own coffee rather than getting a "proper" coffee and bringing in diluting juice and cans instead of buying everything. I will be disciplined and not spend any money! 

wildheart83

I sent letters to SC and each of my creditors advising I'll be going down the self managed DMP route and this morning have cancelled my DD to SC. 

My plan is to put the money I would normally be paying to the naughty creditor into my savings/EF until they default and I can start paying again.
Week 3 of being in the office and have managed to negotiate working 3 days / week in office and 2 from home.

Furry childcare costs are still high, but a family member has offered to take furry child to help out. 

I'm still bringing in lunches/snacks to work rather than buy lunches and meal deals. Just need to get a bit better at meal planning instead of snacking in the evenings. 

My food shopping is ridiculous for one person just now - eggs used to be a staple now it's like they're a luxury. Poor dog is feeling it too. 

wildheart83

Furry child is at family member's as doggy daycare is closed due to the heat. Understandable but it's messed up my plans somewhat. 

I'm getting very grumpy dealing with DCAs - especially Advantis Credit on behalf of Sainsbury's. 

Webchat went a bit like this:
Can I have bank details to set up a standing order please?
Oh we don't have a phone number for you, would you like to put one on file?
No thank you, just the bank details please
Oh we have here that you have xxx available for repayments, is that correct (some made up number as I've never filled in their Income/Expenditure form)
No, not correct but I'm just phoning for bank details please
We can't give you them until we know what your income/expenditure is
Oh well then I'll take my £250 per month and pay someone else since you don't seem to want me to pay you. 

I think the heat's getting to. I'm fat, hot and grumpy. And I'd really like to not have to go on their sh*tty portal every month and give card details when I could very easily set up a standing order when I get paid. Is it too much to ask for? 

I have 2 big birthdays coming up next month so I'm trying to find lovely presents MSE style, but that don't look like I've cheaped out on them. 

I got paid end of May, but only for 3 weeks in the new job, June's pay will be the first full month on the new salary so I'll have a better idea then of my new budget. My amazing family member is away for 2 weeks in July so it's 2 full weeks of doggy daycare to be paid as well  

On the plus side I should manage to pay off the lowest credit card this month - £100 left to pay on it woohoo! 

CC1 £8626 hoping Advantis will send me bank details to set up a standing order
CC2 £8358 only paying £69 since they started adding interest if I paid anymore than this
CC3 £4184 have set up a S/O to pay them
CC4 £1440 have also set up a S/O to pay them
CC5 £1070 have a S/O to pay them
CC6 £100 - will use the money meant to pay Advantis and clear it this week
CC7 and Loan 1 are with Naughty Bank who refuse to default me so no payments for now. 
Loan 2 is £5755 and I've requested details of how to pay this by Standing Order

Total is currently just under £37k, down from almost £51k last May. 

wildheart83

I've got paid the first full pay so now I can update my budget properly. 
CC3, CC6 and Loan 2 are with the same bank and when I contacted them to confirm the details to pay they told me CC3 wasn't in arrears so they couldn't/wouldn't set up a payment plan. I checked my credit file and it's the only one that's not defaulted and incidentally they've added £73 interest onto the balance on my statement. 
I've stopped regular payment I have to them until they default this account but have sent £758 off to creditors this morning. Anything extra I make from V*nted will go towards my debt.

wildheart83

I forgot to say, it's amazing how quickly these companies will provide the info requested when you say you'll take your money and pay someone else. 
Advantis sent over bank details to set up a standing order after I sent them a message, as did Link Financial. 
Naughty bank have sent a letter regarding Default Notice on one account but not the other. I'll wait til my credit file shows the default before I set up an arrangement. 

I've sold trainers that although lovely, crippled me every time I tried to wear them, so that brought in £47, and also some work trousers that I said I'd slim into - so now I've paid off CC6 and brings my balance down to just a tiny bit over £36k. If I can sell some more on V*nted then it'll go towards bringing it down to below £36k this month.

Still an eyewatering amount but it'll mean total paid off is £14k since May 2022.