Whoop whoop .... made it
Answers
LBM was back in 2012. I had been promoted at work and was told I was been flown out to Argentina in two days! I was struggling to work out how to pay for my expenses before I could claim them back! My credit cards were all full and, although I had a works Amex it did not work everywhere!
My debts were around gbp19k
I then contacted PayPlan who were recommended by a counselling line available through work. They set me up paying gbp100 per month to start. Debt free date was somewhere around 2025 (minimum). I kept this up and just increased around gbp20 a month. Then, due to a change in circumstance (remarried so two household incomes) I have been able to blast the debt this final year at gbp450 per month
My pearl of wisdom is to allow yourself enough money to live. I will not lie when I say I exaggerated my expenses. I thought initially that I would be paying this back into retirement and there was no way I was going to have my time with my children spoilt. I massaged the figures shamelessly and justified doing so by knowing I could have gone for an IVA or full and final settlements rather than choosing to pay my debts in full. Remember a DMP is an informal agreement so you do have some leeway. I think my creditors accepted by plan simply because I always managed to increase it annually.
The entire site has been my saviour and Martin Lewis my god.
I do have a credit card now but the balance never exceeds my savings. I use it for the protection it provides rather than it making me it’s prisoner.
Good luck everyone xxxxxxxx
ST xx