Iva

megabroke99

hi everyone,

Last night was the lightbulb moment!! This happened when i went to the atm and found yet again i was broke! so went home sat down and counted it all up , the debt that is , came to about £23800 :mad: . so what next i thought , ermm lets do a google and found tons of info on iva,s any good ?? is that the only option for me? i am in full time employment and earn around 1400 a month. the debt is split evenly between credit cards/ personal loan same old story i suppose.
any suggestions or info would be great as i am thinking of doing an iva that may adversley affect me in the future
Many thanks
mega broke

CLAPTON

i would suggest you post a statement of affairs, basicly a list of income and spending and all your debts (including amount, monthly payments and APRs) plus some details about you general situation...OH, children, own or rent etc.

see this for further details

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Verbatim

Welcome to DFW megabroke99 and well done on posting and getting to grips with your debt.

IVAs are not best for everyone, it depends on your circumstances. As Clapton suggests more info is needed to offer further advice.

megabroke99

hi again,
sorry i guess i was vague about where the debt is , ok here goes:
1, mbna 6k total
2, nationwide 12800
3, halifax 1400 overdraft
4, intelligent finance 400 overdraft + 2k on credit card
5, capital one credit card 2k
god i,m so ashamed at that debt as i type it !!
as i said i,m in fulltime employment and i am in rented property
appx monthly outgoings are as follows:

rent 420
poll tax 123
petrol 90
food 200
car tax 10
gas 25
electricity 35
loans etc 420
clothes 20


thats about it roughly speaking , i guess i could afford an iva just worries me that your locked into this for 5 years and are within their rights to take upto 50% of any wage increases you get over the 5 year period. My biggest worry with all of this is i will never ever have a clean credit file. I havent defaulted on any payments to my debtors but i can feel myself slipping into oblivion with it all and i guess that is far worse a thing to have on your credit history.

sorry for the long post

megabroke99

CLAPTON

although your budget probably has a few things missing it looks as if you could probably just about afford to pay your debts although it would be very tight.

can you increase your income.. maybe overtime or a part time job...this would make a real difference to help repay your debts.

stop using the credit cards.

as i said i think you have left off a few things from the budget... start to keep a spending diary and write down everything you spend and find out exactly where the money goes.

what sort of accommodation do you have ... could be let a room or move somewhere cheaper

before thinking about an IVA contact either CCCS or Payplan and seek their advice....they are both not-for-profit organisations and they don't charge you anything for advice

james32_uk

Megabroke - two pieces of essential advice.

Firstly you should try to do everything you can to begin paying off debts without resorting to a Debt Management Plan, or an IVA that will result in defaulted accounts. There's probably loads you can do to cut down on your outgoings and snowball your way out of debt. POst a full SOA including everything that goes out of your account each month. It can be a very enlightening experience just to literally write down everything one month to see exactly where it goes.

Secondly, please please please please speak to either CCCS or Payplan before you make any decisions on any repayment plan. All the companies you see on tv CHARGE for their services and creditors DO NOT like them and so will be less likely to accept anything. CCCS and Payplan are non-profit making and will not charge you for a Debt Management Plan.

Good luck!

megabroke99

hi again
ok here goes a full soa !

Rent 420
Poll tax 123
Gas 25
Electricity 35
Car tax 10
Petrol 90
Food 200
Dental cover 15
Car insurance 27
Clothing 20
“pocket money” 60
Alcohol 0 ( yes really I don’t drink!!!)
Tobacco 20 ( well we all have one vice!! Hand rolling type )
Contents insurance 14
Loan 208
Credit cards 250
Telephone 35
Internet 15
Mobile phone 0 ( have a work one !!)

i really cant think of anything else , clapton mentioned about part time work i do this already . the work i do is for my landlord and he knocks the amount off my electricity( i buy that from him). it is difficult for me to have a regular part time job as the nature of my job doesnt always mean i work a regular 9-5 slot. as such for me to do a regular part time isnt an option ,
I really do live a very basic lifestyle never go out on mad shopping sprees and only buy what i really need.

any other info please do let me know.


megabroke99

james32_uk

So you need to cut £160 out.

Gas 25/Electricity 35 Have you checked this is the best deal you can get?
Petrol 90 Car share?
Food 200 £200 for one mouth can be cut down. Even £150 should be more than sufficient even before you try shopping somewhere other than Tesco. Shopping at Lidl/Aldi would save even more
Dental cover 15 Fair enough if you make use out of it
Clothing 20 This should come out of your pocket money really. Havent you got loads of old stuff lying around?
“pocket money” 60 Try to give yourself £20 every other week rather than 60 per month
Tobacco 20 ( well we all have one vice!! Hand rolling type) This has to go! I'll say no more
Contents insurance 14 I'd think about getting rid of this. Have you got much stuff worth nicking? How secure is your flat?
Telephone 35 !!! This is massive? Who are you ringing? For £25 per month I get a BT line with broadband and free local calls through NTL NTL. That would save you £25
Internet 15 See above

megabroke99

hi james,
many thanks for your reply and your ideas.
my bt phoneline is signed up until jan 2007 so cant do anything with that!
i would love to get an ntl package but sadly i live in a rural area and as such cable will never be an option however net year i will sign up with talk talk , they can do me a line rental,calls and broadband for 30 a month ( i will have to pay for the broadband) i,m one of the 30% that are not covered by there deal .

as for the electricity i buy that from my landlord at the going rate and as such am unable to shop around .
most companies are only interested if they have both and i am considered a small user ( already looked into that one)

and again car sharing isnt an option as i really do live in the middle of no where, so much so the best broadband connection i get is half a meg (sloooooooow)

james32_uk

The long and short of it all is that because you have higher outgoings than incomings you do have a case to go to someone like CCCS and speak to them about your financial position. They could arrange a DMP or even try to go for an IVA for you. However with your debt only[!!!] at £22k it would be a shame to balls up your credit record and you should make every attempt to cut expendidure and snowball your way out of debt.

What you mustnt do is carry on as you are. Either make cut-backs or speak to CCCS.

Good luck!

megabroke99

james and all

Many thanks for all your replies via the chat forum , i have found them very informative, i have spoken to payplan today and one of there advisors is calling me back tomorrow , i guess if i can do a dmp that will be better than an iva although i guess either option does adversley affect your credit rating.
I WILL NOT BE GOING TO THE VULTURES FOR ADVICE.
i will post what their advice is so that anyone can put their input in , which is greatly appreciated.
many thanks

megabroke99