www.iva.co.uk

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In the past, and I suppose that's what got me here in the first place, I never really paid that much attention to what I was buying, let alone paying for something - unless it was wildly over priced and then I thought twice.

I recently went into BHS and looked at the prices of T-shirts and some other items - I nearly died !!! I didn't know whether it was because they are trying to "upgrade" to compete with the new look M&S or whether I have suddenly turned into the Queen of Mean !

I looked at bottles of Diet Coke the other day - 2 litres was £1.49 - I left them on the shelf ! I had intended to get 3 for £1 diet Irn Bru from Asda but they have either stopped doing it or had run out.

This week they had 3 x 2 litres diet coke in Tesco for £3 which seemed more reasonable (this is one of the branded products that I won't buy own brand on as I find they never taste the same).

Has anyone found that, rather than it becoming a hardship, it's actually become a challenge to "dress for less" and still look good, and eat for less and still eat well ??

There are still months when I struggle, of course, but I am a lot more careful about what I buy these days - it's done the trick and made me think about what I am spending.

(I'm already planning what I will be spending my CASH on when I have finished my IVA !!! Holiday - yippeee - only three more years to go if I don't re mortgage !!)

You have an absolutely great positive attitude to life, and at a time when I see many of my clients despair that their IVA payments are never going to end you are planning what you will do when the IVA has concluded! Well done and keep up the positive spirit, the next three year then ought to fly by.

And do use e-bay for bargains - I am a big fan and have had some great clothes bargains recently.

Oh yes for sure!! The first place I head for in Asda is the reduced meats section( it’s a hit and miss thing sometimes you go there and there is nothing, sometimes lots!) I may have to elbow a few old ladies aside but hey I have 6 mouths to feed! You can get big chunks of braising steak, pork, turkey etc reduced so straight home and in the freezer with it! We eat better now than we did pre IVA because now we prepare most of our food instead of the more expensive pre packed foods.

I like many would just pile 'em high and bung it on the card!!!!
Now when I look at clothes I look, put it down, walk around and if in 10 mins I can honestly justify having it I will then seriously consider buying it! (can I add I'm a HUGE fan of Primarni so you're not talking expensive!!!!) [:D]
Food shopping I do online and book it the week before so that I can amend it through the week and take out all the impulse buys. I once reduced my bill by £30+ by taking out all the rubbish, pop/crisps/snacks.
Scary when you think about it!!!!

Thanks Mel. It helps when my fathers side of the family live in the Bahamas !!! I'd like to aim for Christmas/New Year 2011 as long as job etc stays as it is or better.

I have never used Ebay and have heard some horror stories so I have stayed away. Clothes - I head to Peacocks or TJ Hughes if I get any !!

I also need to lose weight, in which case, I have so many NICE clothes that will fit once I lose it. Stuff I got before the IVA and part of the reason I have one !

I am actually glad, with the credit crunch, that I took out the IVA. Once it's paid, those of us that have them and pay in full will be in a great position in couple of years. If the credit crunch continues, I KNOW that I will have enough to pay my bills and still eat.

My mortgage was on a SVR anyway, so I don't have that sudden increase to look forward to. In fact, I haven't reduced my repayments since the rates went down.

I had a sharp increase in the repayments because I banked with First Direct and had one of those all in one accounts but when FD told me I had to get an account elsewhere because of the IVA, I lost the interest that it was accruing so my repayments went up quite a lot anyway.

I guess what I am trying to say is that an IVA HAS been positive for me (despite being with Debtmatters !), and I believe that it will continue to be that way until it is paid.

**As a side note, is it worth getting the IVA protection insurance ?? I've seen someone here advertising it, but wondered whether it was value for money ???

@ Maxdebt - yes. I was just saying to my mum that I always check out the reduced section before I shop. It's at the front of the Tesco that I use so a lot easier than traipsing all over the store !

That was where I discovered a large chicken reduced, which I roasted and had two roast dinners from, attacked the rest and left the carcass looking like it had been chewed by a dozen pirahna fish and had meals for a whole week off it (I did freeze some so don't panic !).

As well as being pricey, those pre packed foods have all kinds of ick in them too. The only pre packeds I tend to get now are frozen or fresh pizza's if they are on special or my Tesco Finest pork and sweet chilli sausages ! I even found some of them in the reduced cabinet the other day and they are now in my freezer !!!!

I used to just pick up anything, now I check the prices of everything! Problem is they keep going up! If something I normally buy is on special offer I get lots of it.
I can now fit into Matalan/Tesco clothes which are cheap enough but I'm resisting at the moment as I'm losing about a size a month so they won't fit for long and therefore a waste of money!
I find myself justifying everything I buy!! The good thing is I now have rainy day money put aside and no worries at the end of the month!!

@ Chris.G

I haven't seen many plus size clothes in Primark so I don't go in there. Tesco and Asda do some which is great if I am looking (rarely these days as I am not in the mood for clothes).

There's only me to feed which helps (sometimes) so I have to spend a minimum of £25 with Asda which can be hard. Tesco didn't take Electron cards online last time I tried so that was a no go. On the other hand, it does mean that you can miss any reduced items.

I also tend to think that I could spend the delivery money on a bottle of wine or something too.

I also discovered that we have a shop better than Poundland - we have a 99p shop !!! Every little helps !! They only take cash though, where Poundland will take Electron so it does make it a little easier.

Not being able to afford a holiday till I finish the IVA, I hate looking pale so I treated myself to 2 bottles of self tan from the 99p shop ! I will at least look as though I have had a holiday !!! It smells rank but I live on my own (always will if I keep using it !) and I put it on before I go to bed and then shower it off in the mornings !!!

It's a crazy life sometimes !!

@ Pixie

Well done on your weight loss. Are you dieting or healthy eating ? And yes, there can be a difference ?

I have always had a weight issue - yo yo dieting for many many years has taken its toll. I splashed out on a book from Amazon about dealing with food addiction which I am hoping will have more of a long term effect.

It's called Eating Less - Say Goodbye to Overeating by Gillian Riley. It's my weekend project to read as it's not a long book and I rather hope that re focusing on eating properly for health reasons rather than for the superficial looking good reasons, will have more of a long term effect than a diet.

I'd love to look good in a swimsuit again for my 2011 planned trip !

I find that I spend more than I save when I go shopping myself!!! The delivery charge does mount up but if I can reduce the shopping down and stick to my budget, it's worth it.
I agree with Primark and the larger sizes though. I use ebay quite regularly and have only had 1 item go missing which I got a refund for anyhow. You could start off with cheap items before you plunge into the dearer stuff.

Mrs Torch uses ebay quite a lot for clothes.
She has quite a few big name brand bargains, still with the shop ticket on.
Most of my gear comes from Primark.Good stuff too.

Chris you have hit it on the head when it comes to ebay shopping. Keep it cheap when buying unless you know what you are doing. I have got some excellent clothing bargains from ebay proper branded stuff for a few quid

Oh I'm an Artisan! Better look that up I never was very good at art [:D]

I've yo-yo dieted for years too! It either goes up or down. I've never been able to maintain it though. It's either all or nothing! It's probably not very healthy but it works!! It also means I can keep within budget every week!
We have a dieters corner on the forum to support each other. The more the merrier!
I've bought a few bits on ebay but you can't try them and by the time you add postage it can be as cheap to go to Matalan! Try ebid as well, with fewer buyers you can get some good bargains. It's also free to sell if you want to clear out the wardrobe.

Most recent bargain from ebay, pair of kswiss trainers for hubby, barely used and I mean barely, 99p+£5postage!!!