I have not posted for a while but thought i would let everyone know how my IVA is going and how i feel about it.
I am now in month 52/66 the 6 month extension due to job loss last year, so even more stress.
IThis is how i can best tell you how an IVA works for me and how it has made me feel.
After being Accepted you are elated and feel like a Big Weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
Year 1 - It all seems to go quick but you do get those struggle months sometimes.
Year 2 - You have had the stress of your first Annual Review and now look forward to another year of the same.
Year 3 - Is exactly the same as year 2 but now the Frugal Fatigue has set in and it all seems like a dark wilderness as by now you are Fed Up with the whole thing.
Year 4 - You can now see a small glimmer of light at the end of the Tunnel but still have those Yearly Stressful Annual Reviews to get through.
I haven't got to year 5 yet but feel like i am doing Porridge with this IVA and cannot wait for my Sentence to End and the Annual Reviews and Variation Meetings seem like a Parole Board Hearing that seems to be a Tool of Anxiety and Stress every time they come around.
I can relate to some of your years but always grateful as they took my pressure away of paying my creditors. I was paying my creditors and myself and my family were going without so the IVA gave me money for food on the table etc.,
x
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
Surely 5 / 6 years in an IVA is better than never ending repayments to creditors? While I can imagine that the reviews can be stressful I wouldn't think it's any more stressful than wondering how you are going to meet your repayments and put food on the table.
I know exactly how you feel. I am now in year 3 and finding much more of a struggle. Not sure of what will happen re equity release and I do feel like I am serving a prison sentance.
I'm finding that it's dragging but have been so grateful for the lifeline I have been thrown. I dread to think where I would have been otherwise.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Yes that is true Jan I keep trying to tell myself that but it is a real drag at the moment. It does not help that everything keeps going up. Just after my annual review my bus fares have increased by £2.80 per week and as we all know petrol is on the up.Together with food etc. I know it is a problem for a lot of people at the moment.
It is a lifeline that should be grabbed and clung too.....life the otherside of the IVA is so so much happier and if like me you have learnt your lessons then life will always be good !
You have all done so well to get to the stages you are at - you have climbed so many hurdles and reached so many goals ....you will very soon be smiling and offering support to those just starting out !
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
I'd agree that it does drag but pre-IVA I was only treading water by making minimum payments etc whereas now the debt is being chipped away.
I remember sleepless nights from way before I started my IVA, payday coming up and realising that by the time I had made all payments and bought petrol that I would have nothing for the month.
I'd say that feeling was worse.
I agree with those that see the positives in obtaining their an IVA.
For me the IVA was a LIFELINE at literally some of the most darkest days of my life and whilst I may struggle at times (too much month left at the end of the money), cannot spend money like water and have to consider even the most basic living expenses, like others I could not see an end to my spiralling debt.
I appreciate the IVA can be viewed as a "sentance" by some but like others I have a set date when it will end and look forward to that date.
What pains me every day much more than the IVA is actually how/why I got myself in this position in the first place:(
I came into this world with nothing and still have most of it left!
Year 5, you just want it to end every month you count down seems to be getting longer and longer. Then you reach the end and you feel like screaming from the rooftops and then realise no one other than yourself knows about it so you quietly celebrate, in my case with Fish and Chips from the chippy and a good bottle of wine to wash it all down with.
We're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation.
Whilst it does drag at times, it's no worse than a loan you have agreed to pay for 5/6 years. At least at the end you know you will be debt free.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Andrewgoodman21 - I know at tines you may find this hard to believe but yourover the hardest years and the next 14months will start to really motor soon. I had my term extended due to a job loss And a dramatic reduction in income' so share your pain !!
Pennyless - your post made me chuckle as I could have written it myself. I made my last payment yesterday and whilst elated, feel like I don't want to naff other posters off who have some way to go. I've said before how I've had very dark times, hovering round the reduce section in the chiller at the supermarket as that al I could afford on occasion and my self esteem at those times wasn't great. I bought some new clothes at Xmas to cheer myself up, but nearly starved as a result ! If I told you how much I have left till pay day, you would feel sorry for me or even send me a donation ! It will be my next payday before I have any spare cash, but after almost 6 years of being pennyless , I'm not sure how I will feel; I suspect I may not squander it like the old days
Keep hope all and back ti the original poster, like me it won't be too long before your finished.
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
Although we're only 2 - 3 months into our IVA, so still in the 'honeymoon period' I have to agree with Skippy, the IVA is a far better prospect than continuing as we were.
Pre IVA we were paying a total of almost £1400 per month over to debt, each month around £1250 was added back on as interest. If we'd carried on like that it would have taken over 28 years to clear the mountain.
The amount of money we have to live on month-to-month is actually better now than it was then thanks to the allowances we have. We used to be treading water, now we can doggy-paddle, and in 5 (or 6) years, we'll be able to breast stroke.
Personally I think a lot of it is to do with a persons mental attitude to an IVA. If we look at it like a 'sentence', then it will feel like a sentence. Its only 5 years, thats 60 short months. Instead of looking forward, look back for a moment and think of something 'big' that happened 5 years ago; a birth, a wedding, a death if you must. Now think how that doesn't really feel like 5 years ago as time seems to have passed so quickly.
In 5 years we'll all look back and think.... "pah, IVA..."
DragonKeeper - well said, a very postive approach, i agree when things go wrong in a iVA (car,boiler ete etc) it is a struggle - perhaps its because we became dependant on the plastic to pay for it.
Sad fact there is NO EASY way out of debt regardless of which way you choose, however an IVA does offer a chance to start and rebuild, and for that i am really grateful !!!
Five years ago we were drowning in a sea of debt!!! As you say DK - we can keep our head above water now and, though I may moan at times, I'd do it all over again if I had to.
My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
