IVA vrs real cutting back

cantfindanamenotin

Yes definitely don't mean spare I ment that is food, travel , living expenses that don't have a contracted amount (if I keep to my current payments with all my debts without looking at a DMP) so I know it's not really spare but what I ment was it's a fair amount to be on and I need to really wise up. I am very annoyed as some debt was for reasonable things like a car But alot was me being impulsive so using my money to buy lunch at work then deciding to want to take the kids to the cinema plus then buying all the snacks and putting that spend on the credit card. What I should be doing is packing lunch for two weeks using what I have in the fridge, buying some sweets from wilko and going on a 241 day I could have then paid for the trip with no need for credit. Or rather then save for Christmas be stupid on the credit card. I know it seems impossible to accumulate the amount I have with that attitude but alot of it is down to that ( am not proud but need to be honest with myself). Years ago I had a debt and did pay it off but weirdly since about 2013 as I started doing better getting better paid jobs I started being irresponsible.

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like you know where you have been going wrong then. Try not to beat yourself up too much about it. You are not alone in thinking that you can loosen the purse strings when you are earning more. Having more disposable income does not always translate to no or little debt in fact some of the highest earners on here have a lot of debt. Fine so long as the job is there but nightmare if you lose it.

fatbelly

cantfindanamenotin wrote: »

People that get DMPs usually end up on IVAs ... Since fatbelly said about them being overly sold / mis sold I have done some googling and it looks like some people have regretted the choice.

At the start of this year, Debt Camel wrote this article inferring that mis-selling of IVAs is on the increase

https://debtcamel.co.uk/ivas-in-2018-numbers-jump-and-so-do-failure-rates/

I don't think it is helping that the FCA is being so heavy handed on legitimate debt charities (that they do regulate). The IVA industry just has its own Trade organisations and the government seem disinterested in changing this. Perhaps they have other things to occupy their minds

theoretica

cantfindanamenotin wrote: »

Years ago I had a debt and did pay it off but weirdly since about 2013 as I started doing better getting better paid jobs I started being irresponsible.

It is so easy to spend money more than once - you have a bit extra so you think you can afford something (which you can) or something else but somehow the 'or' slips into an 'and' and you buy both because you were spending without budgeting.


Maybe going in through the main page will work better for you to get to the statement of affairs calculator http://www.stoozing.com/

sourcrates

fatbelly wrote: »

At the start of this year, Debt Camel wrote this article inferring that mis-selling of IVAs is on the increase

https://debtcamel.co.uk/ivas-in-2018-numbers-jump-and-so-do-failure-rates/

I don't think it is helping that the FCA is being so heavy handed on legitimate debt charities (that they do regulate). The IVA industry just has its own Trade organisations and the government seem disinterested in changing this. Perhaps they have other things to occupy their minds

Once brexit is sorted, that will hopefully change.

cantfindanamenotin

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800.24
Partners monthly income after tax....... 220
Benefits................................ 137.6
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2157.84

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 121
Electricity............................. 113.87
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 33
Mobile phone............................ 48.99
TV Licence.............................. 13.2
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 365.5
Clothing................................ 35
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 20.56
Car Insurance........................... 6.9
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 96.75
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.8
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
subscriptions .......................... 17.99
Total monthly expenses.................. 1646.56


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2300
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2300

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco .........................15000.....319.......0
MBNA...........................2900......65.25.....0
Virgin Credit Card.............700.5.....25........18
Total unsecured debts..........18600.5...409.25....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,157.84
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,646.56
Available for debt repayments........... 511.28
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 409.25
Amount left after debt repayments....... 102.03

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,600.5
Net Assets.............................. -16,300.5

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/font]

Right spent all my time going through statements, I am on lead then I thought (forgot is done some overtime), this is everything ..... Until I realised that the number I put in for insurance is my breakdown recovery !!!! My insurance is £27 a month. There is alot of room for improvement my partner does agency and doesn't actively pick up work as I always think we save on child care but actually if he did more shifts and we paid breakfast club at £2, after school club at a £8 plus getting transport £2 - clearly that care is alot less then a shift (care work). Plus I'm in a new role which allows some home working so I can look at pickups . We don't pay water it's in with our tenancy. We don't own passports and don't go on holiday . Do you think we can get ourselves out of this without IVA or even DMP ??? To be honest now I feel like I can't looking at this

fatbelly

Excellent

So your benefits are Child benefit 34.40 x 4. I'll gloss over that there are more than 4 weeks in a month for a bit. Do you realise that you could probably get some Universal Credit? Check https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check/

You're paying a lot for your electricity. Check https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

That's probably not enough for car maintenance, and that car insurance seems very cheap. However, taking them as valid for the moment ...

you don't need an IVA nor any other form of insolvency. You can pay the two (hopefully low apr) loans and overpay the credit card until it gets back to zero , in maybe 8 months. Then just use it and pay it off in full each month.

Lots of small changes will make a big difference to you so as well as the electricity spend you need to use the guides on this site to review your spending on phones, food, clothes, insurances. Is there anything there that can be dropped (subs?). Are you spreading your council tax over 12 months?

Anything that can be bought online can probably be bought through topcashback/quidco for some extra cash, and you should look at cashback credit cards and bank accounts (switch guide here)

enthusiasticsaver

cantfindanamenotin wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800.24
Partners monthly income after tax....... 220Why is this so low?
Benefits................................ 137.6
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2157.84

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 121
Electricity............................. 113.87Can you move to a cheaper supplier?
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 33
Mobile phone............................ 48.99 This is high. When does the contract finish?
TV Licence.............................. 13.2
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 365.5
Clothing................................ 35
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 20.56
Car Insurance........................... 6.9
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 This is low for a fairly cheap car.
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 96.75 What is this for? If it is for a train ticket do you need the car?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.8
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 You need this unless the landlord covers it.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10 This is low
subscriptions .......................... 17.99Can this be cancelled? What is this for?
Total monthly expenses.................. 1646.56


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2300
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2300

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco .........................15000.....319.......0
MBNA...........................2900......65.25.....0
Virgin Credit Card.............700.5.....25........18
Total unsecured debts..........18600.5...409.25....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,157.84
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,646.56
Available for debt repayments........... 511.28
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 409.25
Amount left after debt repayments....... 102.03

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,600.5
Net Assets.............................. -16,300.5

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/font]

Right spent all my time going through statements, I am on lead then I thought (forgot is done some overtime), this is everything ..... Until I realised that the number I put in for insurance is my breakdown recovery !!!! My insurance is £27 a month. There is alot of room for improvement my partner does agency and doesn't actively pick up work as I always think we save on child care but actually if he did more shifts and we paid breakfast club at £2, after school club at a £8 plus getting transport £2 - clearly that care is alot less then a shift (care work). Plus I'm in a new role which allows some home working so I can look at pickups . We don't pay water it's in with our tenancy. We don't own passports and don't go on holiday . Do you think we can get ourselves out of this without IVA or even DMP ??? To be honest now I feel like I can't looking at this

I think you can get out of this if your partner works more. Not sure why he is only getting £220 a month as that does not even cover half the bills if he keeps his finances separate. I think you can get out of this without a DMP. Is the Tesco and MBNA really 0%? I would target the smallest debt first which is Virgin anyway and get rid of that. Your soa is tight but with some discipline you can sort it. What would help is your partner bringing more income in and if you can do without the car that seems to be costing you a disproportionate percentage of your income.

If the income cannot be increased and the interest rates are high on the Tesco and MBNA then I think you should look at a DMP. If the car is essential you need more than £5 a month for maintenance considering it is presumably quite old and you need to keep some of that surplus as emergency savings. Throw the rest at Virgin then the most expensive out of Tesco and MBNA or if they really are 0% the one that expires first.

theoretica

I agree - your partner looks to have considerable capacity to earn more. You also have scope for quite a lot of savings on the food - definitely don't throw stuff away (probably more environmentally friendly to cut out the middle step and just bin the money rather than buying food and binning that).

JayRitchie

How old are the children?

I think the solution here is for your partner to work a full time job. How much would that add when child care costs are deducted from the income.