I was thinking on the way to work this morning that DAB (Debt Advice Blog) is loosing its sole purpose, to provide updates about the debt I am in and how it is being paid. Whilst it is true that quite a lot of what I hope is useful information has been written, updates about my own debt have been a bit thin on the ground.

Somewhere along the way I lost sight of what the main aim was, which was to document exactly how I am doing each month with debt, how much has been paid and how much is left. Instead you have been given information about how you can set up payment plans for payday loans and why a debt management plan might not be for you. To be honest that wasn’t what I had in mind when this blog was first set up. There is currently no voice here, it’s all a bit cold and dark.

Whilst the information posted may be helpful to some it has resulted in this blog being quite quiet in terms of comments and to be honest a bit of a dull place to be. The Facebook page is a grave yard although Twitter seems to be doing OK. Time to step it up a notch or three.

Quite a few people visit this blog (around 400 per day) but not many people comment or ask questions, I suppose because it is all a bit too serious sometimes.

To conclude this opening statement I would like to apologise about where DAB is today and make a promise that things will change. Starting now.

The StepChange Debt Management Plan – I am getting cold feet.

One of the last updates provided on DAB (Debt Advice Blog) was that I had entered into a Debt Management Plan with StepChange. I am getting cold feet if the truth be told and I shall tell you why.

Earlier this week a County Court Judgment Landed on the door mat. I was a little surprised by this and it was a bit spooky seeing as though dealing with CCJ’s was a recent post on DAB. I phoned the creditor who took the matter to the County Court to find out why they would do such a thing. It was for a debt with Natwest and the company collecting the debt is called Moorcroft. You may have heard of them or even be dealing with them at the moment.

I called them and asked what was going on, they told me they hadn’t had any contact from myself for a long time. Because of this they went for a County Court Judgment under instruction from Natwest. I said that StepChange should have sent something to them. Their reply was that they hadn’t heard or received anything. Doh!

I decided to call StepChange to find out what was going on and then it hit me, I have no control of the debt any more. When I got through a recorded greeting advised they were closed. There was nothing further that could be done. I sent an e-mail and the auto reply advises it could take 5 working days for them to work the e-mail. That was another strike.

Cold feet it is then. What do you think? Should I revert back to doing it myself? Your input would be appreciated. The bit that puts me off is setting up all the payments again but it will be done if needed.

Debt Progress one year on

It is almost one year since I started DAB. At the time of my first post I owed £43,368.07  and today debt mountain stands at £37,617.73 tall which isn’t great to be honest although it is still progress. Part of the problem is that the focus I had on repaying this debt got lost somewhere and things just plodded along. The spark went, things happened all around me but not much happened with the debt. It was like a candle that was once alight being put out of its misery with a cup of McDonald’s coffee.

This year was my 30th year on the planet and looking back I doubt I could have ever imagined being in the situation presented to me today. It is what it is though and was my own doing. It is definitely time to reassess what the plan is from here.

There is one debt I must destroy before the year is over. It is tiny and must be taken out. I am of course referring to a debt with Wage Day Advance. It’s only £170 ish so it’s easy. If I do decide to say goodbye to StepChange then you can guess what will happen to that debt. The laser sight is hovering over this debt at the moment, the trigger just needs to be pulled.

So what are your thoughts? Do I start taking control of things and put back in place my own Debt Management Plan? Do you think it will help if I write more stuff about my own debt rather than all the other stuff? Get in touch and share your thoughts. 🙂