My DMP diary - 2026 (year 1)

ArtyJ931

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82138016#Comment_82138016

spoke too soon - managed to check my credit file and no defaults yet. These letters are tricky to say the least!

abaka

it could be just a case that they haven’t wrote to the CRA yet? For example I closed an MBNA account back in May, and it only updated on my credit report as closed last week!?

ArtyJ931

could be. I’ll keep checking

ArtyJ931

Week 26 check-in (!!!)

Debt things:

• 0 emails, 0 letters, 0 phone calls! Momentous week (6 month mark) yet nothing really happening still.
• Managed to log on to check my credit file and all debts still showing as late payments, no defaults showing as yet.

Other money things:

• Once again stuck to the weekly budget so that is a win. Things seem to have settled a little more.
• Have split my house maintenance/ white good replacement pots as I have so much house maintenance to do it would never build up enough to replace anything.
• Managed to complete and return my son's PIP review form. All I can say is ugh.

6 month check in

• Can not believe it's been 6 months already. It has FLOWN by. Without the constant worry and stress it has felt like a new lease of life.
• None of my debts are showing as defaulted as yet. People on this forum are 100% correct:
  • Nothing goes quickly in the world of debt collection
  • you are just a number
  • nobody is physically looking at your debts
  • Nothing has fallen in or collapsed in the last 6 months.
• Financially I have a healthy emergency fund, pots that are pretty much working as they should and covering costs as they arise. Everything feels very smooth!
• 3 cases still at the ombudsman for affordability complaints.
• Still planning the self managed DMP route. Have considered IVA but don't like the inflexibility of it, the insane amount of oversight, the additional costs added to the debt.

Still feeling very much at the beginning of the process and I'm 6 months in. When I think of the fear at the beginning of missing that very first payment I do wonder how I was brainwashed into having that level of fear and it's odd to think that I believed that these faceless giant companies had that level of control over my life.

abaka

Whilst I wouldn't personally advocate for an IVA. What I would say is weigh up the costs of the IVA fees against how much your debt is growing by compounding interest/missed payments etc? But 100% the formality of it and the inflexibility would put me off also!

But you are doing great so far, and as you have shown, the world isn't caving in and you're getting on top of things.

Makingabobor2

Definitely go for the self managed DMP. You can start off on very minimum payments & increase as you can. When they ask for an I&E, you can tweak it accordingly to suit what you really can afford to pay.

ArtyJ931

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82140371#Comment_82140371

Yes - the interest on everything will be frozen once defaulted and then I’m hoping that with settlements further down the line that will counteract the added interest now.

ArtyJ931

Week 27 check-in

Debt things

• A few letters this week (all today). One is about a small balance CC which has been passed to Moorcroft to act as the agent to collect. First one passed on.
• No emails
• No further movement with the FOS re: affordability complaints
• I now can't access my TransUnion statutory credit report for some reason and have had to request a paper copy. This is a real pain in the !!!!!! as I need to keep checking for defaults so I hope that sorts itself out soon.
• A random phone call from virgin money with an automated message left (deleted).

Other money things

• My expected pay rise hasn't been actioned this month and only assurances from work is that it will be backdated whenever they decide to action it.
• Got pet insurance renewal for one of my dogs that made me so ragey that it spurred me on to do a comparison for all of them and found better cover for over 2/3 less for one and about 1/3 less for another. Trying not to kick myself for paying over the odds for God knows how long. An annual saving of almost 400.00 and hopefully a 54.00 Cashback payment at some point.
• Got the blasted email from Netflix increasing price from 5.99 to 7.99 a month which also made me ragey. Not saying I would in a million years of course, but can see why people buy certain stick-y type things.
• Preparing for a new freelance client which will give me an additional 140.00 a month ish… just in early stages of negotiations
• Sold, sent and have already banked about 20.00 from Vinted this week
• Spent ages signing up to prolific and at the end of the process got an email saying 'thanks for updating your waiting list information' - apparently I applied last year and have been on the waiting list. This is typical of my ADHD brain: lolsigh.

I think that's about it for the week.

Rhyddid2026

I love it when the rage spurs me in to action 😄

abaka

I also signed up for prolific and got told I was already on a waitlist and I don’t think I’ve looked at survey sites in years so god knows how long ago that was!

Great stuff on the saving for pet insurance!!