DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part Three)

loopylu36

rayday2 wrote: »

Easy one first its 6 years from when the defaults were ISSUED not when the account is settled.

Its tricky with the uneasy financial climet I would try to inflate my figures a little, every time I see the news they say fuel is going to keep going up along with everything else. It really depends on how you feel I tend to pay as littles as I can get away with as I think the damage is already done and I want a "lifestyle" as such back.

So basically yes its down to you to decide lol! Depends if you want to be debt free or fairly comfortable - not helpful at all am I!

Helo,

I wondered if I could please joint the support group? I am about to start a DMP with the CCCS. I have £120k worth of debt:eek: but also have quite a good income so will be paying £1,497.00 on my DMP which will make me debt free in June 2015 - an excellent result as far as I am concerned (although I have already become slightly obsessed along the lines of "if only i could pay 3.5K per month, i would be debt free in 3 years"!):D

I also just wanted to say that i agree with your comments about haveing a life Rayday. If you have seen any of my previous posts you will see that I was rather berated for wanting to do this even tho I am in debt. My SOA budget has been trimmed a little but because i forgot petrol and a couple of other essential items, the budget CCCS have given me is not a great deal different to mine in terms of what i have left to live on - i must admit i inflated one or two items such as life insurance and school meals (DS has packed lunch) but felt I needed to do this for my sanity and to avoid falling off the wagon!

Anyway the advise you give Rayday is fab, and I will probably be popping up now and again with stories of woe about horrible nasty banks and bankers!

rayday2

Added number 158 if I remember!

Good luck with your DMP, plenty of good support in here, everyone has kept me going.

bowz25

hi all
had probs with pc so not posted for a while.
i have been reading with interest about dmp and figures given.
we have been dmp since june 07 and it is really tight budget as is everyones.
When i did a review i was advised guidlines by cccs like buying newspapers etc was told only £3.00 a month. Pocket money for children £2.50 a week which is not a lot for a 13 year old.
Also we have very little for petrol £50.00 am month so £10 to last a week. Clothes we have £30 month for 4 of us. I was told £25.00 was budget for going out etc.
We do have £360 a month for food which i can stretch, however my other half smokes and he was only advised of £40 a month should be given for smoking.
I was very honest when i completed my budget and now i am beginning to slightly regret this.
By the beginning of the month we are really struggling and our gas/elect water council tax along with everyone elses has increased, our fixed rate due to end soon as well.
I tried to call cccs yesterday but busy it look like we are going to have to decrease payment at the moment i feel.
sorry to moan but it is so hard sometimes and i now can really budget thanks to this dmp but i think our figures are too tight however we owe a lot and our plan is over 15 years so dont really want to decrease.

take care all
bye for now.

smilealot

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice, I agree with what you are saying. Paying back the debt is important but we need to be able to live. I gave myself the shock treatment tonight when I went to the cast point and could take £30 out for the rest of March. I haven't felt like that for ages, as I've been naughtily depleting some savings I'd managed to save up. Perhaps I'm being a little ambitious trying to up my payments and reduce my repayment time. 7 years is a long time to scrimp, perhaps 14 years is more realistic and I could reduce it to 10 in time.

Rayday - thanks for your fanatastic comments, as always. I'm thrilled by the news that it's 6 years from the date it's recorded that will make such a big difference. Good to hear about your mortgage, hope it all goes okay.

To the newbies, try not to worry too much about all the letters. I totally understand that it's easy for all us to say, but they really are computer generated and therefore are not specifically aiming threats at you. Try to forget about it all and have a stress-free Easter weekend... you've already made the hard decision and now you've found us :beer:

smilealot :rolleyes2

mazmc

HI everyone

I had my LBM a couple of weeks ago and have now signed up with payplan for a DMP which will start on April 1st if my salary goes into my new bank account

Its all very scary and the phone calls have already started. A couple have been quite nasty(from the same lender) and i no longer answer when they call but they are persistant.

I am hoping I will manage on the tight budget but I am sure I will with the help of all the stuff on these boards

Its looking llike its going to take me 10 years + to be debt free, i owe around 42k to 10 creditors

My marriage has broken down and am thinking that when my fixed rate deal ends in October I may have to sell my house which will give me some money(after OH gets his share) to put towards the debts. I do nt think I will be able to afford the mortgage when the deal runs out and because of all the changes am doubtful that I will get a new one.
I get a bonus a couple of t imes a year and occasionally some over time so more money in the pot

Anyway I will probably be around for a while and look forward to getting to know you all

Maz

rayday2

bowz25 - Everyone is struggling we all feel the cost of shopping, fuel bills etc I am sure they will understand that you just can't manage and at least you did try. Not sure if its applicable but rather than up costs on mine I made out the children have school dinners (not a chance!) and expenses that would normally be zero I put an amount in - even *coughs* made out I had a regular perscription! *coughs* - can you tell I need one

rayday2

mazmc - took the liberty of adding you to the long list 157 we are up to now :O

When you say 10 ten years on a DMP it sounds bad but most credit cards only paying the minimum means you could have been paying them up to 15/16 years anyway! Which is scarey.

Well done on taking the plunge - see what next year brings regarding the house when the time comes - you honestly never know whats round the corner.

Look forward to seeing you around - unless you win the lottery and then I will expect you will have better things to do

loopylu36

bowz25 wrote: »

hi all
had probs with pc so not posted for a while.
i have been reading with interest about dmp and figures given.
we have been dmp since june 07 and it is really tight budget as is everyones.
When i did a review i was advised guidlines by cccs like buying newspapers etc was told only £3.00 a month. Pocket money for children £2.50 a week which is not a lot for a 13 year old.
Also we have very little for petrol £50.00 am month so £10 to last a week. Clothes we have £30 month for 4 of us. I was told £25.00 was budget for going out etc.
We do have £360 a month for food which i can stretch, however my other half smokes and he was only advised of £40 a month should be given for smoking.
I was very honest when i completed my budget and now i am beginning to slightly regret this.
By the beginning of the month we are really struggling and our gas/elect water council tax along with everyone elses has increased, our fixed rate due to end soon as well.
I tried to call cccs yesterday but busy it look like we are going to have to decrease payment at the moment i feel.
sorry to moan but it is so hard sometimes and i now can really budget thanks to this dmp but i think our figures are too tight however we owe a lot and our plan is over 15 years so dont really want to decrease.

take care all
bye for now.

Hi there

I recently completed my budget with CCCS and basically went along with their figures (£316 for food I think) but some of the figures they gave me are different to yours. We have two cars which are needed for work (although one is a company car so no tax/maintenance, we still have to pay for the petrol to and from work and private usage) and they automatically gave me a budget of £180 for petrol and/or parking. I have to say that we will probably use this amount as I work 10 miles from home and OH works 20 miles from home and what with the cost of petrol.. But that seems hugely different to your £50?

However, our budget for "entertainement" is £15 but then there is another £10 for "hobbies". These figures were already in the budget sheet and I didn't change them. Also it said £10 for pocket money. I didn't put anything down for papers and magazines. I think our clothing allowance is £40 ( i don't have the budget with me) You could always go back to the CCCS site and complete a new budget as if you were a "newbie" and see what it comes up
with.

The only "extras" that i added were school meals at £40 per month and life insurance at £60. Life ins is actually about £20 so i have managed to gain an "extra" £80 per month there.

I don;t think they can question you on the cost of utlities too much.

It is a tricky one really because as we have all said, we want to repay the debt, but want to have a life whilst doing it. I think ultimately, if you need to reduce your DMP payment you will have to - everyone knows the cost of living has rocketed, (heard gas and elec going up AGAIN by some companies today).

Your post reassured me Smilealot (a bit anyway!) As we owe such a vast sum I am beginning to panic about creditors trying to bankrupt me. I don't see the point as they will receive much less of the debt back that way, which will be my argument if they try it - I assume that a judge can decline their petition to b/r me if i can show that actually i am being more responsible by paying the money back on the DMP?

WhoopieDoodle

Good morning everyone!

rayday, what you have said regarding credit card debt and the time it takes to pay (if not on a DMP etc) never occured to me! It can take 30 plus years to pay those off, if just making the minimum payment and even longer if the card keeps being used. So, in the whole scheme of things, our DFD isn't that bad really.

That's a nasty cough you have there

maz - don't worry too much about the phone calls and letters. They will ease off (we had our first phone call/letter free day yesterday, woo hoo!)

We do speak to creditors when they ring however as we feel we are happier to take the stick over the phone as it shows we are serious about the situation. Also, we did find that if we ignore the phone calls, they ring more and more. Once you speak to them, the calls will ease off for a few days.

Develop a thick skin and a sense of humour - it really does help.

WhoopieDoodle

It appears to me that CCCS and Payplan have different budget allowances?

Payplan do not allow for pocket money, digital tv, leisure, cover for gas boilers etc, newspapers and some other items. Also, they give a maximum on gas, electric and telephone.

Does anyone know why their figures are so strict?