I just reviewed my credit ratings on Noddle, Mse credit club and Clearscore, something I avoided entirely before my IVA. The Experian powered MSE is so far behind that my IVA isn't even shown.
As I was looking at those sites, I realised I am now around 6months on since my first contact to set up the IVA and how I have found life so much more relaxing since I made that call. I used to log into all the five banking apps on my phone each day to see how little was left available to spend on my credit cards, now I check the only account I have daily for anything unexpected on there but not in the same anxious state. I used to walk into shops fretting over buying normal every day things such as bread, and wondering which card I could put the payment on.
I was stressed to the max constantly. As I was looking at the credit scores, I remembered how a few months ago my head would be buzzing constantly about money and how to get by, yet now it seems a distant memory. I know life in an IVA is no bed of roses and I am really only getting by month to month, but doing so without the constant anxiety of the phrase 'what if' echoing around. Having the one account to manage and a set budget is the best feeling.
My only regret is not having done this sooner! It was been building for almost 3yrs, I thought Christmas of 2014 that I would just about make it to May 2015 then need to declare myself bankrupt (didn't know about IVAs back then) but instead... I took out two loans to pay off most of my other credit and reduce my overall repayments. This worked for a while, but the proverbial hit the fan when I "needed" to spend on credit again to get by after a change to the household (ex left, less income overall) and the books only just balanced for paying bills, but left no budget for food.
