My DMP is about to start and I am scared.....

rubydoiwannabee

Hi everyone,
here is my story...

I AM IN DEBT (there I have said it)
My OH and I have just under £26K worth of unsecured debt, overdraft, credit care, loan, store card and electrical item on credit. Over the last few days I have got advice from the national debt line, opened a safe account and completed my personal budget (i&E). I have an appointment tomorrow to talk through my I&E with debtline. I am so worried though that the budget is so tight and we only have £105 per month left each month to pay everything. I can see now we have lived off credit for a very long time, e.g. just reducing and then growing the overdraft limit each month. By doing this we probably at this moment in time have a good credit record because everyone is paid up to date. The time has come though to face up to things because before long we will be borrowing again to keep payments on other things going.

I am worried now that I know the reality that the £105 a month will not be acceptable to the 5 creditors. Can anyone advise me?

Also, I would be really grateful to hear from anyone in a similar position that feels the DMP has been a positive step.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

CCCS_Sarah

rubydoiwannabee wrote: »

Hi everyone,
here is my story...

I AM IN DEBT (there I have said it)
My OH and I have just under £26K worth of unsecured debt, overdraft, credit care, loan, store card and electrical item on credit. Over the last few days I have got advice from the national debt line, opened a safe account and completed my personal budget (i&E). I have an appointment tomorrow to talk through my I&E with debtline. I am so worried though that the budget is so tight and we only have £105 per month left each month to pay everything. I can see now we have lived off credit for a very long time, e.g. just reducing and then growing the overdraft limit each month. By doing this we probably at this moment in time have a good credit record because everyone is paid up to date. The time has come though to face up to things because before long we will be borrowing again to keep payments on other things going.

I am worried now that I know the reality that the £105 a month will not be acceptable to the 5 creditors. Can anyone advise me?

Also, I would be really grateful to hear from anyone in a similar position that feels the DMP has been a positive step.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

Reading your post you are doing great! You are doing everything that you can do and nobody can’t ask of anymore.

If all you can afford is £105pcm that’s all they will get because the creditors are not your priority at the moment.

Be strong and stick to your guns! There is a DMP support thread kicking about, have a read through that and im sure you will feel a little better.

If you would like to ask me anything feel free

rubydoiwannabee

Thank you so much, it feels like we are doing the right thing but at the same time we are both paraylsed with fear... I haven't slept for weeks and my work is suffering. Ignorance is bliss!!!!! We have spent too long canoeing up that river of D nile!!
:>)

CCCS_Sarah

You are in safe hands with the National Debtline. If you have any concerns or questions write them down before your appointment. So if your counsellor does not cover it you don’t forget to ask (That’s what I do I always forget things;) )

scooterwife

Hello:j

We are on a DMP (have been for about 16 months) and our starting figure was about £35k debt and payments to CCCS of £122.00 a month.

Some of your creditors won't like it, and will try to get you to pay more.

However..... you haven't got any more, so just keep sending the payments regularly, and advise them that they have your income & expenditure form and you can't pay any more than you are doing.

I found I worried less after starting DMP and could actually sleep at night.
yes we are in debt BUT we are dealing with it instead of sticking our heads in the sand (like we were before). We now have enough to live on reasonably, and we aren't using credit to get by. If we haven't got the money, we don't have it.

Good Luck & keep posting

Deep_In_Debt

Hi and Welcome.
I'm on a DMP at the moment - I've got roughly the same amount of debt as you and I pay £244 pm and have been since March. 3 of my creditors want me to pay more, I don't have it, so they can't have it and it would be unfair to the rest of my creditors if I paid more to these 3. Yes, they hassle all the time but I just ignore their calls. I'm paying what I can afford and they know I am as they have my I&E.

Going onto a DMP is the best thing I've done in terms of money for a long time. I robbed Peter to pay Paul for years and had a mega lightbulb moment earlier this year when I started to go through my finances and realised that my monthly unsecured debt payments were more than my monthly mortgage repayment! I've never missed a mortgage payment but missed quite a few credit card payments so decided to take action.

I'm less stressed now and sleeping better and am managing my money better now and realising that I can live without credit. I've cut back a lot but have not really noticed as my cut backs have not really changed my lifestyle - I'm just more aware of what I spend.

Good luck. We are all here to help.

bank_of_slate

Hi Ruby and welcome!

You've made a great start, try not to worry about it! There are many in a similar situation who can tell you about their experiences so keep posting for support and to keep us updated.
...Linda xx

rubydoiwannabee

Thanks to everyone for your kindess and taking the time to read and reply to my post. It is a real help to see that we are not alone and in fact the more I read the more I am going to tell myself that this is the right thing to do, I so want to keep my house and give my two children a safe and secure home.
Thank you all again, I will return regularly.
xx

rubydoiwannabee

I thought I would update you on my progress today. I spoke to a lovely man at debtline and we talked for 40 minutes about my I&E. Before the appointment I had prepared a spreadsheet with everything on it, including an amount each month for car servicing, mot etc, clothing, prescriptions. Never before have I had a budget and at this moment in time it feels odd to be 'allowed' to allocate money to such things as clothing when I owe so much. After a really helpful, totally non-judgemental conversation we ended the call with the promise of the pack being in the post today. I am excited?!! Is that normal?

I think I may have replaced my addiction of shopping with an addiction to this site??!!

Happy Friday to everyone.
x

poorandindenial

Ruby that is brilliant, yes you shuld be excited, you are taking back control of your money instead of letting the money control you. We have a spendaholics anonymous thread here for those of us that have had or still have spending problems (see my signature and then guesstimate how many bags, shoes, clothes, make up bits and holidays that paid for)

I'll post to the thread in a bit - feel free to ignore, have a read through or post if you want.

Well done for doing this - now feel that debt free date starting to edge towards you.

PS I also replaced my addiction to shopping with this site - saved me a packet. lol

poorandindenial

Here is the link to that thread - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=751363