Saving in an IVA and improving my budget

Southpaw18

Hi All,

Ive been in an IVA for around 2 years. I recently had my payments cut due to a lesser paid job and had a new budget drawn up.

I find it very hard having any money aside at all any month, and although the payment size is fair and I do pay it, I find if anything small pops up I struggle all month.

If i get a higher paid job, what position am I in with regards to being able to put money aside? Ive not had a car for a couple months so I save here (even though i havent told the company) but overall I feel like im struggling, and with the IVA company wanting as much as you can pay I dont want to live like this for 3 more years.

Any help is always appreciated!

Moi_63

That all depends on your IVA. If it is protocol compliant the 50 / 50 split on any extra may come into effect.

Charco_2

50/50 split is only for overtime or bonuses which cannot be relied upon and therefore not budgetted for... a new job with higher or lower pay would require a new Income and Expenditure to be drawn up.

However, make sure you are getting the most from your Income and Expenditure.
If you are genuinely struggling at any month, your can approach the IP and attempt the have your repayments reduced by up to 15% - your IP has the power to do this without having to ask your creditors... just be aware though that if you adversely affect the dividned you may be required to make extra payments after the normal term of your IVA (ie - make 63 payments instead of 60 to make up the difference)

Have a look on the the old "school money savers board" on these forums for tips on making your money go further and see if you can't give yourself a contingency that way...

If you want help with your I&E post a copy of your current I&E up here and we'll see if there are further allowances you could try.

Southpaw18

Hi Charco,

Sorry for the late reply, ive posted my current I&E below:

I rent a house with my girlfriend, currently dont earn much above £900 a month.

income = 960

Rent - 325 (this is actually now 340)
Council tax - 60
Gas - 15
Electricity - 10
Water - 5
tv license - 5
telephone and mobile - 30
car insurance - 43
car tax - 15
fuel & parking - 65
spares / servicing - 10
food toiletries cleaning - 175
clothes and footware - 18
sports / hobbies - 5
sundries - 5
satelitte rental - 15
dentist - 5
laundry - 10

expenditure = 816
Surplus = 144

I recently had a year added to my IVA as when i lost my old job i was dropped in salary and cut my payments from around 215 to my current 144. I do feel I can easily add more to this however i also think they will be very wary of allowing me to really lower it much.

I sometimes feel i need to lie in order for me to have any form of money that i maybe able to save, otherwise im feeling like im gunna be really walking a tight rope until ive paid it off.

any advice would be great.

thanks

Charco_2

It does seem a bit bare but then your payments to your IVA aren't really very high either.

This can't be the I&E for two people renting together... is this just as a 50/50 split of costs woth your partner?

You mentioned before that you don't have a car... how are you getting around instead? Even without the car you'd be allowed public transport! I wouldn't encourage lying to your IP.

There's definitely more to be saved there but your repayments are low too... did you not consider Bankruptcy?

In your original post you mentioned looking for a better paid job... if you did find a job paying say £100 or £150 more... Id say you'd still get away with repaying £144 a month (that's how tight i think your current I&E is!)

Southpaw18

The IVA is based on me only, my partner is nothing to do with it and i kept her well away from it so this is just based on me.

My payments are low right now, but im not really taking home 960 a month anymore either, so at the minute its all i can afford.

I didnt want to go bankrupt because of the issues with getting a job, a house and the stigma of it all, do you think it needs to be considered?

I had a car, however it fell apart andfor a couple months ive not had one, I do intend on getting another, but again, the issue of money is the big problem, I may have a new job soon, which pays slightly more, so im sure I could pay more, but again id need to find a way of being able to get the money (possibly a borrow from my parents) and paying it back to them.

Because of the VAT increases, and cost of living im quite worried about my payments, but i know £144 a month is a fair cost to be paying. When you say its tight, what do you mean? for me or for the IP?

Southpaw18

Also, they did add another year to my payments, so although my payments are low, they are getting more than I (or they) originally expected right?

Charco_2

But a joint I&E wouldn't mean that your IVA had anything to do with your partner, it would just be a fairer division of the costs of the household based on affordability.

I'm not knocking your low payments... I just wouldn't see that there be much scope to reduce them any further at the minute.

Would Bankruptcy affect your job? What do you do?

If you got a job paying you more, i would try to argue that your Expenses should increase rather than your contributions increasing. £175 is not a lot for food a toiletries for example. Electricity and gas is also rather low! Even £5 is not half a tv licence! £65 for petrol and parking??? That wouldn't run a moped!

I think it's tight in both directions... but let your creditors worry about themselves.

When did they add another year? What happened?

Southpaw18

The household costs etc are all my half of things anyway, but my IP gave me the indication that if my partner is involved, then she shares the burden. . ive not been impressed with them at all, but thats another story, on another forum!

About 8 months ago I lost a well paid job (about 20k a year) and ended up getting a temp role paying about 900 a month after tax, so when i asked to lower my payments, they dropped them from around 215 to the current 144, and at this my IP said they would accept lower payments if they can add a year, as ever very reluctantly, I agreed.

Your right, my budgeting was not good, however Since starting ive felt nothing but pressure from the IVA and have just been sticking in figures to satisfy a decent kind of payment, so i will need to look into this, and your right things like petrol and food need to be much more, but this I&E is about a year old now.

I have a degree and have had jobs in financial services, civil service etc, and find getting jobs after bankruptcy in these areas is near impossible, but then again im struggling to get one anyway! its mainly the stigma of Bankruptcy that stopped me doing it, it worries me for the future, but after starting the IVA i realised that 6 years of payments and never being able to save was pretty awful too, when i started i was very vulnerable, and was in a DM scheme, the DM company threw me straight at an IVA company even though I had never missed a payment, so i definately felt conned, but thats past now.

Thanks for all your help on this good to get your professional advice!