debt free in 1200 months!?

beanielou

Well done on your NSD!

Seaxwyn

Hi bountiful, glad to hear from you again, I was wondering how you were.

DMP seems a bit drastic when you know you have some money coming to you from your inheritance. Do you have any idea how long that will take? I wonder if there is some sort of 'bridging loan' thing you could get to tide you over until the money arrives. It seems a shame to be struggling so much now when you know that you have money coming your way.

The clifftop walk and bike ride sound lovely. I've had a weekend at the seaside too, and went for a walk today in an ancient yew forest on the South Downs - glorious. A friend has offered me her house in Selsey (Sussex seaside town) for two weeks in August, in return for feeding her pets, so I feel the universe has been rather bountiful to me too.

bountiful

Thanks Beanie!
Thanks Seaxwin! Your two weeks in Selsey sounds fab - aren't friends great?
I am off to work in a moment, but have spent the morning with national debtline and working out repayment offers - despite expecting money, I am in a desperate state with not enough money to cover my minimum repayments - so action needed rapido. I have toyed with the idea of approaching my siblings for an advance on my share of the inheritance, but somehow just cannot bring myself to do it. Daft isn't it? So near, yet so far.
Must have a belated lunch and get ready for work. Will let you know how I get on. Incidentally, I can't do a DMP because I don't have £100 a month to throw at it.

bountiful

Well - I made the phone call, downloaded the pack, did the calculations and printed out the letters. I am now officially in debt crisis and have used the national debt agency letters tools to make reduced payment offers to all my creditors. Have cancelled my direct debits and set up standing orders. The only one I can't easily crack is the Halifax Loan - I can't get payment information, because they insist on setting up a direct debit when you take out the loan. I tried phoning them, but they will only set up direct debits, not standing orders, and will not give me payment information - anyway, I've sent the letter requesting standing order forms so I can pay them. It is scary - and surreal.....I feel very vulnerable.
So - I am offering monthly payments of:

Halifax loan £21.26
Halifax overdraft £8.60
Halifax credit card £4.45
Post Office credit card £3.70
District Council £1.04

And my budget has got to be really tight. I feel a bit tearful:o but, I'll be alright! :rolleyes:

At least I know I can come on here and get support by reading other people's threads.

And I guess I can still snowball, when I can!

Seaxwyn

Hi bountiful

That's a big step, I can understand why you feel tearful.

But of course it will be all right, you know you will. There are countless people on this forum who are on DMPs and very happy with them. I'm sure you will get lots of great support.

Don't let it get you down. It's only money.

bountiful

Oh Hello Seaxwyn - so great to know you care..... :A
I sat at the computer from the time I got home from work (10.30am) until about 4pm, getting colder and colder - didn't even realise I hadn't had a drink, wee, or lunch! Thanks to the advisor on the Debtline - I did an on-line check for benefits and it does look like I should be able to get some housing benefit and council tax benefit - so that's tomorrow's job (I have a day off). Then, when checking e-mails I saw there was another bill from BT - which was almost twice what I was expecting - they have charged me £9 on top of my usual bill of £13 for a late payment last month - isn't that awful - I got quite shirty on the phone with them (to no avail). I have posted my outrage on the telephone board!
I am going to cook a decent meal for myself and my son - a paprika stew thing with potatoes and chick peas in a thick garlicky sauce - yum - and he has bought some crunch corner yogs for pudding (and he has also lent me a DVD to watch - The Golden Compass - which I missed when it was on at the cinema).
I will pop over to your thread and see how you are getting on - I always read your thread.

bountiful

Wow - I had a cheque in the post this morning from my sister for £565 - my share of the sale of some of my deceased father's possessions (B&O stuff). Initially I thought I could use it to snowball my credit card - then I realised that I am already into my overdraft on my current account (which is my 'safe' account!) after paying the rent and council tax etc, so I reckon I am going to have to put it in there to give me a credit balance to see me through the month. Which at least means I can keep that account debt-free!

bountiful

I guess it's not surprising - I just want to sleep and sleep and sleep!

Picked up a housing benefit application form (although I am sure they are debt-creation agencies - from my past experience).

Posted offers of reduced payment letters to Post Office card services and to the District Council - but haven't posted the Halifax ones yet, because I am waiting for the rent cheque to clear (in case they foreclose on me!).

Paid £5 into my Post Office Xmas Club Card - so that's £61 saved towards Xmas so far.

Went into Age Concern and picked up info on contents insurance (as I don't have any at the moment and debt agency strongly suggested I consider it).

I am going to set up my own spending diary spreadsheet now, so that I can make sure I stay within my limits for each item. "MISCELLANEOUS" has got to go completely!
:money:No Spend Day! had to strongly resist the urge to buy a baguette and some chocolate.

Cleosmum

Its probably the weight off the shoulders thats made you want to sleep and feel a bit low. You are doing really well, and getting the housing and council tax benefit sorted will give you a breather, so get them in asap.

Keep up the great work!

bountiful

Hey Cleo'sMum - your little message brought the tears to my eyes! Thanks for your support.