pocket money to children

[hara]

Can children be given any pocket money if one is in IVA and can it be classed as expenditure.

hara

[MelanieGiles]

Hi hara

Small amounts of pocket money can be paid, but you would need to deduct this from your housekeeping or miscellaneous budget.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[BlueShoes]

Hello
I am starting to worry about how far our miscellaneous budget will have to stretch! By the time we have paid for haircuts, kids' birthday and Christmas presents (x 3), familys' birthday/occasion cards, stamps, window cleaner, pocket money, topped up the dry cleaning bill and paid for any other little emergencies which might crop up (such as 2 pairs of school shoes falling apart a week before the end of term, and our tight budget not stretching to 2 new pairs at that time)I am panicking about our proposed figures.
I don't expect us to live in the lap of luxury for the duration of the IVA, but I am wondering how realistically we are going to be able to live within the figures we have proposed. (Especially as two of our three children will be transferring to secondary school and needing additional uniform/kit/travel etc)
Does everyone feel like this?
(We have a great IP who has given us some guidance re: figures, and they are realistic reflecting the regular monthly payments we make, but it is something which really concerns us. The £50 for contingencies is going to have to be pretty elastic!
Blue

[emmaxpete]

Hi - I now what you mean! The contingency amount could go in 1 weekend (£8 per child for haircut - x 2 kids), kids underwear (did you ever realise before how expensive underwear is for kids), swimming baths on a sunday morning (£10 for a family), trip to the cinema (£20 for a family)!!
You are so right about the kids shoes aswell, my son needed new shoes 2 weeks before the summer holidays, so I sent him in with his trainers! Got a letter from his teacher saying he wasn't allowed to wear them (it's ok for her to say) - in the end I bought a pair of Ebay!! And have kept them for the new term (he is only 4 so is not yet at the stage where he wouldn't dream of wearing them to a new year - but I'm sure that time will come!!
It does seem unfair that our kids do suffer (for material things), during the process of us trying to dig our way out of debt!!

[hara]

Just being curious how oftendo you go to cinemas?emmaxpete.

How about just sticking to T.V. and going to cinemas on special occasions.

hara

[emmaxpete]

Don't go very often - but when we do go, it does seem to cost a lot! I do see what you are trying to get at - that the cinema is not something we NEED to do! Yes, we do just go on special occassions, but what I was trying to say is that a contingency fund of £50 (Thomas Charles has put down just £30 for us - a family of 6), does not stretch very far, especially if you have a weekend of things happening all at once!!

What we do now, is have a cinema night! We get a movie, some microwavable popcorn and dim the lights - the kids love it! we are only at the very beginning of the IVA proces - so are really just 'learning' about budgeting!
Perhaps we went to the cinema too often in the past, that's why we have debts of £60k - lol!!

[kandh]

You are lucky. Unfortunately we dont have a contingency fund!! We have £600 budgeted for food (including toiletries, cleaning products, school dinners). If we need anything extra, it has to come out of this budget.

When it comes to school shoes etc, we just cut down our weekly shop for a couple of weeks. (£45 is the lowest we have ever shopped for - there are 6 of us!!)

[Adam Davies]

Hi
It,s important to give yourself and your family treats every so often whilst in an IVA and I think your cinema night is a wonderful idea.
Good on you,remember there is a better life out there after the five years are up.
Stick at it.
regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[hara]

dear Emma the contingency sum allowed is ver low,i think the minimum most IP set is in theregion of 50 and above.

hara

[emmaxpete]

Hi kand - that's a similar situation to us - there are 6 in our family (3 adults and 3 kids) and have a budget of £600 for household expenses!!
As we're only at the beginning of the IVA process, everything is fairly new! We are really trying to knuckle down and stick to our budget (well - we have to, really)!

Andy - thanks for your positive input - it's nice too think that that some of things we do are doing is making us go down 'the right path'!

I was actually really proud of myself this weekend - I took 4 children out yesterday - from 10 in the morining till 6 at night and spent just £4.20 (this was for return train fares) - we went to the museum and art gallery, and took a picnic with us - we had a great day and my neice (who's 11) said it had been the best day of her life!!! It just goes to shown, I don't need to spend a small fortune on trying to entertain the kids - sometimes the best things are free!![:)

[hara]

£4.20 for an adult and Children and had a great day! WOW fantastic. Well done

hara

[emmaxpete]

Thank you - and even i enjoyed myself!

My son, who's 4, is still learning that when mummy says no to things he wants, that she really means it! I told him we where poor, and he said, 'no we're not, we don't live in africa' (I tried to teach him about people worse of than us when red nose day was on - but seems to have backfired on me) lol!!

[hallway]

My iva allows me £480 for food,housekeeping,£160 for clothing,£35 for haircuts,£70 for contingency this is for 2 adults and 2 teenagers,6 months in and so far with lot of planning seem to be managing ok,just had to buy both lads school uniforms which with a lot of shopping around managed to get for £200 half what i would usualy have to pay,does make you feel guilty though the other day my 15 yr old told me he was sick of being poor(i wouldnt mind so far theyve gone without nothing really)still suppose thats teenagers for you,xmas should be ok (i hope)my husband saves £15 a week out of wages (iva just in my name)so come nov should have enough for xmas presents,just have to remember that no matter how hard things get still so much better than before iva,am managing without credit, just using cash and in 54 months will be debt free,without iva would have spent rest of my life living on credit.

[R1chard]

reading hallway last post - exaclty the reason im decided to go onto an IVA.

hopefully when i finish my IVA my son will be 9 - just about when they start wantihng expensive clothes / trainers etc etc