All Agreed - best tips?

[Spark28]

Evening Folks

My IVA has been all agreed! I have a very long road ahead!

I have already earned bonus on my first wage (back from mat leave) so I've had to make a overpayment - so I've got that down. I know how to work it all out ect.

Can people please share and hints and tips to make this journey as easy as possible?

How did you manage your budget? Write your spend down and how much you have left? An app on the phone?
How did you manage to keep costs the same for the reviews ect?

What I dont want is to have too much surplus income left over every month (unlikely!) and for the payments to creep up, I am happy with my current payment (and any over payments!)

Any advice/hints/tips pretty please? I am feeling a little overwhelmed!

[Spark28]

Also - do I need to be checking my credit report for default dates ect?

I am with McCambridge and Duffy and I seem to struggle to speak to my actual case handler - I get the impression I dont have one person but a team, which makes things a bit challenging when I have questions!

Thanks

[Foggy]

Payments will only creep up if your income increases or you make a massive saving on expenses -- like ending HP on a car, cancelling Sky ... that sort of thing. If you have, say, £400 per month agreed for groceries and spend £350, pop the £50 in a tin for emergencies (or Christmas).

In my early months I opened two co-op cashminder accounts --- my salary was paid into the main account. I left enough in there to cover all of the essential direct debits ( rent / mortgage, utilitites, insurance, etc ) and the balance was transferrred to the second account. From this one I did the shopping, petrol etc and anything left over went into the bank of mattress.

[Foggy]

Also - do I need to be checking my credit report for default dates ect?

I am with McCambridge and Duffy and I seem to struggle to speak to my actual case handler - I get the impression I dont have one person but a team, which makes things a bit challenging when I have questions!

Thanks

General questions can be addressed to Michael Peoples, who posts on here .. no doubt he will pop on tomorrow to advise regarding the more confidential / case specific questions. There is no point checking defaults etc for quite some time, but no harm in signing up for the free Clearscore and Noddle online reports -- no point at all in paying for any of the subscription services.

[Spark28]

Thanks Froggy! Your so helpful. You were very welcoming on my first post too.

My budget has things like Medical/Dental costs - these arent things I would necessarily pay for a monthly basis, am I best to withdraw those funds from my account as cash and put away?

Also, am I able to pay for things in cash? Or do I need to leave a trail of everything budget wise on my bank statements?

I have been given more wages than I originally declared for my IVA, for a small while only as I am not yet getting taxed - so this provides me more disposable income, its included within my 10% allowance, and then anything over that I understand is split and paid to the IVA, but I just worry come my review, they'll expect it to be increased permanently, although my wage will go down once I start getting taxed again.

My budget has been done so it literally leaves me dead on for disposable income to match my IVA payment, since I've never really budgeted before, things like Car Fuel is only a guesstimate, what happens if I go over the petrol figure?

I can earn bonus, but its a hit your figures kinda situation, so its not guaranteed every month. It says in my paperwork, any overtime/bonus ect isnt included as disposable income, but is just dealt with via 10% for you, split the rest make over payments agreement. But if I get it every month, this wont change will it, as its not guaranteed moving forward?

Presumably, if I have continuous free money left at the end of every month, this is the amount the Creditors would wish to increase my IVA payments by, am I correct?

For the 6 monthly/yearly reviews, do I need to supply all paperwork or is it just bank statement/wage slips that are required?

I am so sorry for all the questions, I just really need to get this all straight in my head ,I am hoping after a few months it'll just become second nature. I am just kean to get started in a good way and make good habits!

Failure to prepare, is to prepare to fail and all that

Thanks for any help!!

[Foggy]

Yes, you need to save up the monthly dental / medical expenses and the like so you have the funds there when and if they are needed .... you can leave these in your bank if you wish, or pop them in a tin. Your firm is very understanding on this point and will not make a fuss.

Cash is king -- can't spend it if yiou don't have it on you in readies . Evidence is only needed for the biggies, like rent / mortgage, insurance, utilities etc. Shopping isn't scrutinised in any detail and they won't worry if you shop at Lidl or Waitrose. Any modest savings you can make are yours.

Budgets are always done so that the disposable income figure is your IVA payment --- once this has been established and agreed you usually stick to those figures.

Permanent wage increases are yours to keep until the next review after the rise and the IVA payment will only increase after the review --- by your next review I expect the tax situation will be sorted. Art review, I think McCD only have payslips, not bank statements -- but they will tell you in advance.

[luluj]

Great news.

We dealt in cash during our iva and I would have several envelopes each month set up so once paid I withdrew all the money for food, petrol, clothes etc then put into envelopes. At the end of the month whatever was left went into a pot and was used at Christmas or for a overnight / weekend away.

[ridingthestorm]

Morning

I did the same as luluj, withdrew everything on payday except for the DDs etc and just used cash for everything and because I did that it made me aware of what I was spending and so made budgeting for the first time ever at 35yrs old somewhat easier than I had imagined.

Good luck on your journey and like me use this website like your new best friend. Foggy and the gang are so knowledgeable

[Francesca]

Thanks for the idea Luluj. Definitely going to do the same x

[lisakent86]

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