I am about to commit to an IVA any comments

jellycat40

:santa2: :santa2: thanks to everyone who has responded to my plea. I have now posted the forms off and will wait to hear from Payplan as to what is the next step.

I have had a very scary moment removing all the cards from my purse and got myself a new (secondhand) purse to put my life into!!

Louise :xmastree: :snow_laug :xmassign:

phil999_2

Louise,

Whilst i cannot offer much finanacal help as i came here for the same i would like to say the following

Firslty i have tried to commit sucide a couple of time before and i was very down about my debt but have always looked at the people around me and the effect it would have on them. You said you now have a fantasic patner and your kids which is great.

You have taken the first biggest step which is to come here and acknoledge that you have a problem and seek advise. For me this was the hardest thing i did and since i actually feel better about the fact i am doing things. The budgetting thing is very hard but if you do the spreadsheet you will start to look at things in a different way i know i have i now question everything when before i didnt care i just spent money i didnt have..

Small savings that seem not worth doing all add up. Below are just some of the small things i have done recently

Reduce my sky package - Saved £7 a month
Paid my way out of cell contract - Saved £25 a month (in addition i am now looking to cell my cellphone)
Started shopping at tesco's online and followed the food guide and reduced my food bill from £80 a week to £50
Drive slower - this alone has saved me about £30 a month (also reduced my chances of getting caught for speeding )


DONT GIVE UP..

Phil

jellycat40

Thank you phil that is really encouraging and supporting. I called sky today to discuss reducing my viewing package with them but felt it would be false economy to hang on when the automated voice told me that I was in the queue and my call would be answered in "approximately - fifty--- four----minutes!!!! lol. At 0870 rates i would have spent my first months saving!!! I will try again on a weekday.

Louise :money:

Crispy_Ambulance

I am a debt adviser and see people all the time whose debts have gone out of control. The relief people feel at finally acknowledging the problem and finding a way of dealing with it is very encouraging.

You have made an enormous step by just admitting that there is a problem and by tackling it. It is not easy to go to complete strangers in the money advice profession and admit that it has all gone wrong. You should congratulate yourself on contacting Payplan and starting to find a solution. Many others will still be at the head in the sand stage.

An IVA is great for some people whereas bankruptcy suits others. Making sure you draw up a budget and actually stick to it is really important and hopefully you can start to relax and look to your future.

Good luck.

Hitme

Jellycat40,

Please let me know how you get on, I'm in a very similar position finance wise, i.e. £100K debts and about to complete my IVA forms.

Good Luck.

jellycat40

I will Hitme. I woke up this morning shaking with worry but I am calming down now.

Today I am going to send out letters to my creditors to tell them that I will be only paying token payments, I have been putting it off but have promised myself that I will do it today.

I would really like us to keep in touch re progress.

Louise

Tim_L

The housekeeping spend is an interesting one, though I don't think the spend you quote is in any way unreasonable. I've been working on reducing my spending without compromising too much on quality, and got the weekly spend for a family of four (two children 8 & 5) down from about £85 to something peaking under £50, and often much less. In my case this is not because I actually have to - I have no debt at all - but as a sort of exercise in applied moneysaving.

I started by switching to Tescos and Asda from Sainsbury's, which saved 10-15% straight off the bat - I've more or less settled on Tescos now as I find the quality is slightly higher, but there are some things that Asda do well and which I occasionally visit to buy in bulk. I also like to arrange visits to particular stores for bulk buying around something else I'm doing in the area so that I don't waste petrol getting there. I still use Sainsbury's for some things, particularly when I have Nectar points (which arrive through a number of routes not requiring shopping there - for example I got £30 worth for test driving a Ford Focus, £20 for complaining about some stainless steel pans whose handles fell off, and various other things).

I have also been using coupons, including the Sainsbury's £X for a £Y spend which are accepted at Tescos, and others sent with freebies or found in various places (I don't use printed Internet ones). When I need to fill out an amount to use one of these I bulk buy things I know we will use but will not use faster just because we have them - lightbulbs, instant coffee, that sort of thing.

I use a list, but I also look for good offers in store too. I don't buy big brands where there's a decent own brand alternative and try to avoid packaged and processed food where I can, but we don't get a lot of time to cook so this is tempered by practical considerations. I try out the 'value' brands in Tescos and Asda, for which the money back if not satisfied offer is useful. Most have been OK.

Probably the biggest revelation recently has been Lidl, which I had previously not shopped in much. It's probably on a par with Asda for price, perhaps a little cheaper here and there, but on certain items the quality is extraordinary. My current favourite is their frozen steaks (2 per box in the freezer cabinet), which are about an inch thick and tender as anything, but there are also bargains in the black forest ham, salami, cheese and elsewhere. Their strong flour is the best breadmaking flour I have ever used.

The biggest problem (which I haven't completely solved yet) is forgetting something. This usually means my wife pops into a convenience store, or one of the expensive supermarkets (Waitrose, Co-op, M&S) and ends up impulse buying other things and spending £20 off plan.

I think that if you can pare off just a tenner a week, it's a worthwhile saving, though clearly is not in itself going to solve the larger problems you have.

But I suspect that engaging in this sort of thing is going to be useful therapy in itself, as in many ways it's a sort of challenge to beat the supermarkets at their own game. I always like to think of myself as the sort of customer they absolutely hate to have! It is something you can do yourself and see the benefits quickly in a quantifiable way.

Curlyz

Depending on how fussy your men are with their harcuts. A couple of years ago I bought a set of hair clippers for 14.99. OH loves his three weekly no 1 and son1 has a no. 4 about every four weeks. Son 2 won't go near it with a barge pole! Still quite a saving I'm sure you'll agree. I had never cut hair in my life ('til one christmas when I attacked my brother in a slightly tipsy frenzy with his clippers and it turned out ok - it;s easier than you think with the cutting guides).

tommyt_3

I have just started an IVA, which i am hoping I can sustain. Did consider bankcruptcy, but decided to try and pay what I could back. It seems unfair to me that someone who tries to repay his debt is still subject to the same 5 year credit blacklisting as a bankcrupt. There is not enough incentive to try and pay back debt. If there was only a 2-3 year credit blacklist for IVA's I think this would be fairer. I am currently 35. By the time I finish my IVA I will be 40, and 45 by the time my credit rating improves. If I went bankrupt tommorrow, my credit rating would be better at 40, as far as I understand the situation. Feel this situation needs addressing.

Addicted2Chocolate

Hi TommyT
although i see your point, that you should have some credit for doing IVA rather than bankruptcy, i think as both are insolvency they both need to be on the credit file for same amount of time. It would be on credit file for 6 years for both. Many people find bankruptcy is only option, eg only income benefits due to discbaility, i would not want to see these people penalised.