www.iva.co.uk

I've been negotiating with about 12 individual creditors (I quite enjoy it, actually - the key is to be calm, very polite, very firm, and take no nonsense from them whatsoever) over the last few months, and have been using a web service called highrise to record who I've spoken to, what they said, when, what the agreed next action was, and reminders for what I need to do next.

Even better, the basic version is free. If you're not using a system (even a paper notebook) when dealing with these people, I recommend it. All of them have systems to record your interactions with them, and when they know you are doing the same, it discourages them from playing silly games.

How have you found neogiating yourself with your creditors

Fine so far - but then I'm a good (and trained) negotiator. I also keep in mind that it's just a job to them, and don't get upset by any of their tactics. All negotiations are a game, really.

I can see how they would be very upsetting and intimidating to people who haven't experienced this sort of thing before - some of their ploys are underhand, and/or heavy-handed.

The main problem I have is that it's time consuming, so as soon as I have more income (for a DMP) I'll get one of the professionals to handle it.