Go your own way

gd55

Forgot to post an update at the beginning of February - was too excited for my holiday! We're back home now after an amazing time in Barbados, where I'm pleased to say we managed our spending right in line with our budget.

Monthly budgeting continues as expected, although there have been a couple of extra social events added to the calendar for February and March which will make things a bit tighter but still doable with a bit of tweaking.

Saving for the house deposit also goes on, and of course we're dying to get back to Barbados as soon as we can so trying to factor that in as well!

gd55

Been a steady enough month overall. Car tyres paid for out of the dedicated pot I have set up for things like that, and I saved nearly £800 into my house deposit fund plus a few hundred into the holiday fund - we're going to Portugal in September.

Big goal reached this month was maxing out the £4k LISA contribution for 22/23. 😁 That £1k government bonus is definitely not to be sniffed at!

Having got debt free in November 21 I'm really proud of the new financial habits and mindset I've built. Never thought I'd become a committed saver!

Only six months until the IVA and associated defaults drop off my report then we can start exploring mortgage options as we get ready to buy in spring 2024

gd55

Not a right lot to say about April - just plodding along.

Had a couple of nights out and a shopping trip so a bit spendy but nothing crazy.

Saved £832.26 bringing my total for the year so far to £3,323.50.

gd55

Well the day has finally come when the IVA and all defaults have fallen off my report! 🥳 Had a series of notifications on ClearScore confirming they were gone so got a little dopamine hit from that. 😁

On checking the ClearScore and MSE comparison tools I'm getting a good handful of results, including a lot of healthy 0% balance transfer and spending deals, and even a Virgin rewards offer. Of course I've no need for any further credit products, but I may begin moving away from the credit builder cards I have and on to the mainstream lenders at some point.

The main thing is still to build a deposit and buy a house. We think we'll be good to go next summer. I've had an initial conversation with a broker and there will be options.

I have also just accepted a new job which brings a significant rise in income so I am in such a different place than six years ago - it's amazing how things can change!

enthusiasticsaver

Fantastic that the IVA is now off your record. I am not sure how much lenders pay attention to the type of CC you have but yes ideally getting one mainstream one should be good enough. Stay clear of making applications for 6 months prior to mortgage application. 

MrFrugalFever

Great news! My IVA and all associated accounts have also now dropped off (26/9) with the exception of one account with PayPal who have been an absolute nightmare to deal with (owed them the least at £950). They managed to default my account over a month later than the start of the IVA, permanently ban me from their facilities and made it very difficult to communicate with them.

I finally managed to get through to them that should they not follow a court order (IVA) and amend my dates I would pursue this myself legally, i've finally had a response to say they had adjusted the date but I am yet to see it drop off my reports.

Nonetheless, like you, I now have pre-approved for most mainstream lenders now.

Good luck with the property purchase! I have maxed out this years LISA balance and i'm now eagerly waiting for April 2024 to max out next years and start looking at properties in June 2024

gd55

MrFrugalFever said:

Great news! My IVA and all associated accounts have also now dropped off (26/9) with the exception of one account with PayPal who have been an absolute nightmare to deal with (owed them the least at £950). They managed to default my account over a month later than the start of the IVA, permanently ban me from their facilities and made it very difficult to communicate with them.

I finally managed to get through to them that should they not follow a court order (IVA) and amend my dates I would pursue this myself legally, i've finally had a response to say they had adjusted the date but I am yet to see it drop off my reports.

Nonetheless, like you, I now have pre-approved for most mainstream lenders now.

Good luck with the property purchase! I have maxed out this years LISA balance and i'm now eagerly waiting for April 2024 to max out next years and start looking at properties in June 2024

Glad you've finally made headway with PayPal!
Sounds like we're on a similar timeline.
Ditto good luck!

MrFrugalFever

Absolutely, i'll look out for your 'i've moved in to my new home' post

gd55

An update for the end of 2023...

Saving has been going less well the past few months because I've been enjoying shopping and hoping on holidays! Which is absolutely OK.

So my total saved for 2023 is £7,940.55 - short of my £12k target (which was pretty ambitious for my first year of saving and being debt-free).

I am heading into 2024 with a new job so will be able to save more thanks to that, and the goal remains to buy a home - this is likely to be spring/summer.

MrFrugalFever

gd55 said:

An update for the end of 2024...

Saving has been going less well the past few months because I've been enjoying shopping and hoping on holidays! Which is absolutely OK.

So my total saved for 2023 is £7,940.55 - short of my £12k target (which was pretty ambitious for my first year of saving and being debt-free).

I am heading into 2024 with a new job so will be able to save more thanks to that, and the goal remains to buy a home - this is likely to be spring/summer.

Don't wish your life away!

Great news on the savings for 2023, considering where you were that's a MASSIVE achievement, please don't underestimate just how much of an achievement that is. It requires turning your life around to do it.

Just a bit of a heads-up with regards to the mortgage bits, I am in the process of application (done stage 1 & 2 already and then the actual hard credit search, valuation and underwrite is next week).

Mortgage Lenders will vary their view on lending to those who have been in an IVA and it works like this;

- X% will accept those who have just finished an IVA (specialist bad credit lenders)
- X% will accept those who have been discharged (IVA completed and certificate of completion received) but only if been discharged for 2 or more years (so 7 years since start of IVA unless IVA continued for a total of 6 due to property involved then it would be 8 years)
- X% will accept those who have been discharged for 3 or more years (so 8 years since start of IVA)
- X% will only accept those who have been discharged for 6 years or more (so 12 years since start of IVA)
- X% will never accept anyone who has ever been in an IVA


This is irrespective of whether the IVA and default accounts have formally dropped off your Credit Files / Insolvency Register.

I had done a fair bit of research on this prior to my application as I was under the impression that once everything had disappeared from my credit file I was able to approach any lender for a mortgage but in actual fact I can't and it would indeed be 12 years since the start of the IVA that would then ensure you are eligible for almost any lender - with the exception of those who won't entertain anyone who's ever had IVA irrespective of when it was (Santander I believe?).

Find a good, experienced Mortgage Broker and explain the entire situation.

If your credit file is now 'thin' because you've been unable to obtain credit during IVA and show that you can spend and pay back responsibly it reduces your chances, hence why lenders consider the completion/discharge date and not the start date.

As you'll now have a 'clean slate' with your 3 credit agency files, there may be little to no credit history on them which means it could be a few years before you'll get top mortgage rates for example.

Hope this helps to clear things up as from my own research it wasn't immediately clear online and I found so much conflicting answers.

Happy New Year to you and your family.