i'm new here,

[Pennyless]

I think the biggest savings in relation to vehicles when on a tight budget can be made in the insurance you pay.

As for vehicle repairs even the area you live in can play a big part in repair costs and when it comes to any repairs some widely known "quick" repair garages can cost you an arm and a leg, so I'd steer clear.

[Skippy]

That's where I've made the biggest saving - I switched from Churchill, which was over £400 a year to the Co-op, which was under £300.

Unfortunately we both have accidents that we have to declare, so that pushes it up instantly!

[kallis3]

We use a local VW/Audi/Skoda independent garage for our repairs and services and have found them far cheaper than going to a main dealer.

We run two 1600 cc cars and there is no way I would downsize.

[Pennyless]

Problem is when your in an IVA I dont think theres much of an opportunity to downsize, even if you know a car is much more economical. Not many garages will part ex and give you money on top.

Theres a few vehicles that now do 70mpg which would save me an enormous amount of money but with no money and two nigh on 10 yr old fords I dont fancy my chances to get another car at least for 5 years.

[comoy]

with regards to the car subject we have to have two and one is a 3.1 isuzu 7 seater we have 5 kids!!! and the other a 2.5 vauxhall, the isuzu is very expensive to run, but we are now stuck in the situation of not being able to change it as could not afford to buy a new car now as have no money and couldnt manage without two as both work in different places. thats the trouble.x

[moneypenny]

firstly thankyou all for your wonderful comments, i have read them and taken them on board, thats why i'm on here to get as much help and support as poss, especialy on those down days. I respect your comments no matter how hard hitting.

Mrs Moody,
hi, The iva was set up rather quickly, the only advice was to stop paying creditors, in the three months that it took, i paid H/H £700 over two months, with a promise of DMP whilst iva was being sorted, then the first payment of £380 on the day of the court hearing.

Melanie,
The IP gave us until the next day to accept the courts demand or lose the iva. I did explain that the plan was too tight, but it fell on deaf ears.You have said that we don't have the usual allowance guidlines can you elaborate on that please.

Ronald,
The car tax is for both cars, i have a Ka car, i need this for my 8yr old hospital appointments that are in another town, i also have a 21yr old with mental illness, who needs to be in my care for 5 days a week, and that a round trip of 18 miles a day, and i also look after my 86yr old aunt,who has medical condition's, i need to be able to get to her house in an emergency, so i need my car.
My husband has an almero tino, and has a 22mile round trip to work and back. We have had two cars for as long as i can remeber. i have however reduced our car insurance to meet the requirements of the iva, and i'm using the cheapest garage in town, it was the clutch and some sort of wheel in the gearbox that went, so that may be a resonable price, its a heck of a job you know.Thanks for the info on online products for my animals. i will check this out, we are being very careful with our money and working realy hard with the budget, and best of all is that we are discussing our finances on a regular base's with out condemnation of each other, i'm so proud of us both.

Kallis and skippy,
We are getting basics on prescription, such as bread flour pasta crackers and dry biscuits, but she is only eight and she always crys when we go shopping, its so hard for her to adjust, so we buy the free from stuff, such as, gravy yorkshire pudding, choc cereal, cake biscuuits, crisps, and some choclate, she has got to have her own toaster utensils, even butter, jam, marmite, nothing has got to be used by anyone else.Our IP has given us an extra £55 per month for food, which has reduced our IP payments to £325.

pennyless,
we have downsized from a four bed detached to a three bed terrace, which has reduced our elec/gas from £300 to £92 per month, but we sold as the market crashed and lost the equity, our mortgage is interest and capital and runs until we are 65, and i am 50 next yr.

again thankyou all for your comments they are gratefully recieved. x

[MelanieGiles]

Looking at your budget, and using CCCS guidelines for a family of four, the following maximum limits could have been used - but only if that is what you actually spend.

Food etc - £471
Clothing - £68
Meals at work/School Meals - £63
School Trips and Actvities - £5
Sports, Hobbies & Entertainment - £43
Laundry/Dry Cleaning - £10
Newspapers and Magazines - £5
Church/Charity - £2
Hairdressing - £28
Child's Pocket Money - £10

I do stress that these are for guideline purposes, and may not bear any relation to your own budget which hopefully your own IP would have gone through carefully with you when the IVA was first being proposed.

[Nicinamess]

Reading all this has really made me think. I am returning my signed IVA proposal today and know that there is no space to save for sudden bills although my IP has explained about payment holidays. I'm not working at present but am looking at homeworking to up my income.

I hate to admit that I drive a Mercedes ML430, albeit 9 years old and paid for with cash by my estranged husband soon after separation as I had a newer Mercedes E class that we returned to Mercedes. Yes, I realise that I am sounding ridiculously unrealistic here. I have 3 growing boys and the reason I chose this car is because instead of the glamorous holidays we had in the USA when I was with my husband, we now load the car up and drive to France for cheap, self-catering Gite holidays. I know that Mercedes is a luxury brand but they are incredibly reliable and tend to go on for 200k miles before engine failure. The car is not fuel efficient for local drives but I got all the way from Paris to Surrey on 3/4 of a tank of fuel which cost approximately £65. It is definitely most efficient at 80mph (French speed restriction on motorways).

My car tax is actually £210, due to the car having 4 catalytic convertors and it's age. My car insurance is £38 a month (8 years no claims) with Swiftcover. I always had my car serviced by Mercedes main dealer (£150 p/h labour charge) but have now switched to a local Mercedes specialist (£55 p'h labour charge). I am hoping that nothing major goes wrong as the car may have to sit on my driveway.

I have been told that as my car is only worth £4000, it won't have to be sold towards the IVA and I intend to keep the car running for a long time because it is so useful with kids.

I agree that any money saving tips are always welcome. Even if they end up not being relevant to the initial poster, others that follow the thread can benefit.

Good luck moneypenny x

[kallis3]

Our car was worth about £8k when we entered into the IVA and was just over two years old at the time. OK, it's only a Skoda, but there was no mention of us selling it.

Yours may be a Merc, but it's not as though it's a new and expensive one, you're cutting back on the running costs and it is going to have to last you for a few years. I hope it keeps going and doesn't cost too much in repairs!

[MelanieGiles]

Don't worry about the brand of the car - it is the fact that you have a reliable motor which will last the next five years if looked after which will count on the day of the creditors meeting.

[Nicinamess]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry- this afternoon I took my reliable Mercedes into town, shopped for 20 minutes and went back to the car. Dead as a dodo! AA came to save me, my battery was dead, it was the original Mercedes fitted battery so has lasted 9 years and you don't get a warning when it's going unless it is just not charging properly!

Would you believe that at the same time as this happening, my watch battery has gone. Spooky!

Just had to share it as in future I will keep my mouth shut about my lovely, reliable car!!! LOL!

Nic x

[MRBLUESKY]

jan skoda,s are excellent cars you made a good choice,is it a diesel.

[c.j]

just read Melanies post on allowances.We too only have the first 2 allowances.the others would be extremely welcome as they are actually things we spend money on each month.The problem is though if we had been alowed these our IVA wouldnt have been accepted as it was 31p/£, now reduced to 20p/£ due to a variation, so for us it was worth it even though we still have to find the money every month.It has been a struggle but over 12 months on it is still the best thing we have ever done.