Afraid of whats to come

[Goffy]

Thats a really good gadget herb! I have manged to block them on my mobile and it just goes straight to voicemail when the number calls me. I have spoken to 2 of them since friday and they STILL called me all over the weekend. I have explained Im applying for an IVA and its in progress and gave them the name of the company im going with yet they call. I had one at 8.30 this morning! Good luck for tomorrow Smiler, i am sure it will be fine. I havent got that far yet, hopefully my IP should have my paperwork by tuesday at the latest, so im trying to see some light. x

[gman]

I have just made my first IVA payment and to say I am ashamed about the whole situation is an understatement.

The feeling that I have let my wife and kids down is hard to deal with. Knowing it will be seven years of living on a rubbish budget. No fun, , no holidays, no days out, no meals out. Just feel kids are going to miss out on so much i want to cry.

Goffy we all feel like you have so don't worry. I wish you luck with your IVA.

[Shining]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Try not to be too hard on yourself, by entering the IVA you've taken positive action to remedy your debt situation and to make a better future for your wife and children. Might not be able to afford fancy holidays but try a Sun holiday where you collect tokens and pay a minimal amount. Any extra monies you earn (if that's possible in your job) you will retain your share of the extra. Ask for money for Christmas/Birthday presents and use it as treats. Look out all that old stuff you have and sell it on EBay or a car boot. Most of all family time can be valuable and needn't cost a fortune, an ice-cream after a picnic on the beach in the summer etc.,

It's not all bad honest although I do acknowledge after completing my IVA it's not easy either, hang in there lots of good advice on the forum and money saving tips.

Wish you luck too and hope you manage to have fun along the way. x

[esgt1967]

Happy New Year to you all. We have just completed the first year of our IVA's (have just made the 13th payment!) and I wanted to say to gman that it really is not all doom and gloom and no fun. We truly believe that with the help of Melanie Giles our budget was set at a realistic level and some good budgeting this year has meant that our first year in our IVA's has actually been really good. We had a wobble in the first month with a fairly hefty plumber's bill and September was a poor month in terms of husband's income but we soldiered on and had a good year with no worries about credit card statements in the new year or robbing Peter to pay Paul each month! With some careful budgeting along the way we managed to save enough to have some trips out in the summer, buy Christmas presents and give my daughter a decent 21st birthday present this year, so life really isn't that bad! Just budget strictly, spend sensibly and it doesn't have to be that awful, we are living proof of that.

[Shining]

Great post and hopefully encouraging to gman and others. To be honest I often felt better off in my IVA due to the fact that pre-IVA I had never missed a payment I would live on basically fresh air for me and the children and pay the creditors. Once we were in the IVA we had money for food and clothes...a luxury to us!

[esgt1967]

Lesley, that's exactly how we feel with no pressure to pay any credit bills that we couldn't really afford anyway and, like you, we now have "real money" to spend each month - no more borrowed money whether in overdrafts or on credit cards. We did spend over budget in December due to reduced income as husband is self employed and took 10 days off at Christmas and with Christmas and daughter's birthday present spending as I said but we know that with a bit of strict budgeting/spending over the next few weeks, we will be back on track again soon. Yes, it is a hard slog but I don't regret going into an IVA for one minute.