Preparing for the New Year

With the New Year fast approaching many of us are reflecting on the last year’s events and preparing for the new year ahead of us. For many of the people who contact Payplan, they may be looking for free debt advice or some assistance with their financial issues.

At this time of year we see many new clients contacting us as they resolve to start a fresh.

By contacting Payplan early on with your debt problems you can get everything in order before things spiral out of control. Many who come to us say ‘I wish I’d called you sooner’ in doing this they would have avoided further hassle from creditors, legal action or unnecessary distress.

This New Year, what are your resolutions?

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Christmas Wishes

From all of us at Payplan we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

For those of you that are looking for free debt advice you can fill in our online form and someone will call you back or you can call during our opening hours of 9am to 3pm on the following dates:

Friday 23^rd December to Saturday 24^th December

Monday 26^th December to Saturday 31^st December

Monday 2^nd January 2012

Normal hours will resume on Tuesday 3^rd January.

For those of you that are already in a plan with us, you can access your account via PayplanPlus and email your case officer with any queries which will be answered when they are back on Tuesday 3^rd January.

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Learning from your mistakes

For those who have experienced debt and what it feels like to not know how the monthly bills will be paid, how the family will be fed or whether their creditor commitments will be met may be looking for where it went wrong and ensure they learn from their mistakes. Here is a Payplan client talking about her experience:

“My problem with debt began when I became a student aged 18. I opened a student bank account and was “sold” an interest free credit card and got a huge student overdraft by a cashier in the bank. It seemed like a good idea to buy in books and help when I was short on cash but then I started living beyond my means and mis-spending. I then got into a relationship with someone who earned a lot more than me and he encouraged credit cards in order to live a lifestyle of social events, eating out and luxury holidays. I felt under lots of pressure to match and keep up with his lifestyle so the credit cards got out of control. When one was maxed out, I got a new one and another and another. I also supported my family financially when they were in times of financial difficulties and would use my credit card to withdraw money. When I split from my partner I was left with a lot of debt to repay on my own and I became much stressed and under pressure regarding money, I was struggling to pay debts. I was only making minimal payments but the debt wasn’t reducing that’s when I decided I had to take action and after a lot of research and recommendations I chose PayPlan to help me. Now my debts are being dealt with and I am much more assured about my finances and can live my life without the financial worry hanging over me.”

You could try writing down how you got into debt and what lead you to getting in the situation where you could no longer afford to pay it back. We often ask a lot of our clients to do the same and many say that this helps them reflect and learn from their past experiences.

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Karl’s story

Payplan client Karl knows only too well how being in debt often leads to severe depression. Here he shares his story in the hope that it will help other people:

“I have never been good with money. I have always bought what I want and had expensive tastes. Over the last couple of years the debts have slowly begun to mount and there has been less money to spend on my family.

“I had to have my wages paid into my wife’s account so that the bills were being paid. This got worse and when I was offered a credit card I very soon amassed another debt. Towards the end of last year things were pretty desperate for me and I often thought about taking the easy way out. Harsh I know! Then at the beginning of this year I changed my job and went to monthly pay (still with the same company). This was even worse and there was pressure at the end of the month when I couldn’t make ends meet.

“I spoke to a debt company and, after a brief telephone call, they asked for a £5 deposit – before I had even received an agreement to sign they had taken a substantial sum out of my account. This led to bounced direct debits and bank charges. I eventually got the money back, but it was too late to cancel the charges. In desperation I called the Samaritans and the National Debt Line, who referred me to Payplan. Since I switched to Payplan I have not heard from my creditors and they have agreed to my repayment plan. I feel happy and positive, but it’s early days.

“Living with debt nearly drove me over the edge. Up until this point I had always taken pride in being able to support my family and provide a good standard of living. My wife has stood by me and has had to go without many things and we will have to endure this for another six years (length of Debt Management Plan), although things will get better.

Talking about living with debt Karl added: “The feeling of shame is overwhelming sometimes and I still have some very dark days. There is no way to live with debt, you can deny it, you can hide it for a while, but you cannot live with it. It stays in the mind and is there constantly.”

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