Im looking at signing up for love2shop vouchers through Park as a way of budgetting for next christmas. On Creditfix's I&E sheet it states a section for christmas/birthdays or something along those lines. Is it reasonable for us to put a DD amount (£45 amonth) for this purpose in there? It wouldnt affect our payment (in our eyes) however im worried about our review and how CF would view this. Surely for a family of 5 this isnt unreasonable considering amount of birthdays etc we have through the year.
I sincerely doubt that the creditors would accept this as an allowable expense in it's own right. You really need to budget for this amount from other agreed expenses.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Not unreasonable but outside the CCCS/Stepchange guidelines. Personally I would maximise the figures on the guidelines and then how you spend your own money is up to you. There are allowances for sports/hobbies/sundries etc which could be used for the budgeting you describe.
Perhaps CF are different but I would be concerned that they would disallow any expenses not listed on the CCCS/Stepchange guidelines.This could lead to an uplift whereas maximising your allowances may not.
we can do it from our current allowances. their sheet is so complex and detailed. have tried putting our numbers into it. We're going to do it as christmas has been hard. Tried putting money away but then it was still handy to transfer/use for something else. At least this way we are commited and tied into the payment. Hopefully CF wont punish us when spot it on the bank statements. I wasnt going to see about deducting it from our iva payment.
They won't notice it from the bank statements. If, say they give you £400 housekeeping and you decide to buy Lidl beans to live on and save the rest for Christmas, that is your choice and one which you are perfectly entitled to make.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Im worried about everything i do with my bank now. It didnt matter before as like you say you can do what you like with allowances. But now CF want statements im
getting myself in a tizzy everytime i spend money or use debit card. My sister uses them (she had a DRO few years ago) so thought we'd give it a try. Not using a CC this christmas (again) has been great. Still got a bit of money in the bank but to know by Nov we'll have a chunk of money (vouchers) coming would be even better.
Hi, rather than pay money to someone else and get vouchers back, I suggest you put the money you manage to save want to put towards birthdays/Christmas into a savings account each month. I appreciate you need to be disciplined and don't use it but I do this with all the big bills we have to pay, for example, for MOT, car service and car tax, we save a certain amount each month to cover annual expenditure (in line with allowances) and take the money from the savings when we need it. I find this preferable to paying money over to another company for vouchers - look at the fiasco the other year with Farepak.
I put 30 a month away all last year and the love2shop vouchers made an excellent xmas. just too it out of home repairs/contingency. Worth doing if you can abbey
Definitely worth tucking away each month ready .. It depends what you want to buy with the money at the end as love2shop have limited retailers to use them in.
Personally I would tuck away £30-50 a month (£10/wk) into a savings account which I had control over and could then spend freely come November or before if I saw xmas bargains through the year!
Yesterday I brought my xmas cards, wrapping paper and my first 2015 Christmas Present in the sale ...saved over £18 in buying early ... i will look to buy one gift a month between now and xmas 15 ... mad but achievable !
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
I saved for Love to Shop vouchers every year throughout our IVA but I did this out of other allowances - we never had an allowance for it.
I will continue to save with them too as I find with a young child Argos, Toys R Us and Matalan are pretty much all I shop in for her at Christmas. The shops Love to Shop vouchers are accepted in are great for me and I know that if I put it in a savings account something would come up that needed that money instead.
"Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent." - Jean Kerr
IVA approved Aug 2008 - 6 year term - last payment made 6 Oct 2014. CC received 14 Nov 2014.
I've been thinking about buying these vouchers too...
Abbiesmum - I've kinda stopped worrying about what I use my debit card for. I just can't see what they'd make of different amounts going to Tesco, Lidl, B&Q etc. [:I]
Exactly Til...we started putting money aside but it was too available. If do love2 shop vouchers it will just become another direct debit thenNov wont become such a headache!
Hubert...i knowi should stop worrying about it. Just anxious about unknown i guess.
If you are worried about the £45 mth DD showing up on your bank statements - ask friends and family if they are a Park agent (or would consider to be an agent). Then you can pay them cash which can 'come out of where ever e.g. food - even though you have budgeted this separately) so it leaves no paper trail. This is what I did.
