1st xmas in iva

[Anthony.78]

just thought id share with you all how my first xmas in an iva went.. firstly with 5 children to buy for my wife and i were very worried, as much as to say we were regretting the iva, we are only a few months into it and this xmas just gone was my wifes very first xmas in 17 years without relying on credit or catalogues of some form- so to say she was anxious was an understatement! but... from the very first month of our iva we both put our brains into action and went about doing all we could to provide our kids with a half decent xmas.. we searched the garage / house for items to sell, cut back on shopping by buying only basics.. it was tough going BUT we did really well by our children, our daughter even said on xmas day to her sister- weve done really well this xmas.. my wife said she is so proud as not only did we do well, but we did better than we usually do, plus by not having these extra credit card bills or extra catalogue payments to pay this year, we have now started saving for xmas 2013 with park, we are managing to scrape together a little each week to pay into it so that this coming xmas will not be a struggle either it really is amazing what you can achieve when you put your minds to it, we are still daunted by having over 4 possibly over 5 years left ( if extended) but we try to put the iva to the back of our minds and just see the monthly payment to the iva as another bill payment. happy new year to you all

[Reliefman]

A little pointer for you Anthony I started my IVA way back in 2009 and have since kept an excel sheet of what i have paid in against what i owed the first few months it didn't look good but over time i have watched it chip away at my debt which gives some relief towards the light at the end of the tunnel!! Everybody has their own way of looking at the positives and this has been mine.

[MrsR]

Hi Anthony,

It was our first Christmas in the IVA and we were a bit worried how we too would deal with our 2 kids and rather large families, but we managed to do it and our kids and family had a great time.

Luckily this year we ate at parents both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so tht saved us a small fortune, but we too put a bit aside each month for the kids by cutting back on food shopping a bit.

It is a nice feeling to know that it can be done without credit of any form and that as our IVA's run for 72 months, we only have 5 more Christmases within our IVA to go !!

[luluj]

Well done ...it is a great achievement and one you should feel proud about...no brown envelopes this month on your door mat.

Happy new year to you all!

[Niobe]

It's a fantastic feeling to know that you have paid cash for Christmas - this has been my fifth one and I still love knowing that there will be no nasty surprises in the post this month.

[lukeofyorkshire]

Well done to you!! [:)]

It is hard work but ultimately things that you work hard for do feel much better. It is great to know that you are not having to pay for Xmas long after it is over like it seems 50% of the country are having used credit to fund it [:(]

[Anthony.78]

thankyou all, good idea about the excel, may get on to that one for this xmas just gone it was also the first xmas without guests- a choice we made the xmas before, the children never liked having guests around every xmas so to celebrate we allowed them to choose their own xmas meal- 2 children chose pizza lol it was a real laid back xmas, we have stayed in every single day not at at work watching movies.. what surprised me aswell is how relatively easy it was to manage xmas, we never ' buy for everyone' anyway, only close family, this year my wife also made her own fudge, truffle gift bags to give out for most of the family, that also saved..plus these last few days we have both been practising our bread making skills, we use approx 6 loaves a week, quite expensive in the long run, much more fun and cheaper to make your own, we also went on to pay as you go electric, so much more easier to manage than a huge bill every quarter. i think being in an iva does make you see things different- its also a learning curve, for us it has helped us manage our finances much better, more thought goes into what we spend money on, we shop around more for the best deals, it really is an eye opener

[lem]

I think it puts into perspective how much we overbuy at xmas especially when you use credit to fund it, of course that's what the retailers want us to do but it's only when you can't use credit and have to spend only what you have that you really think about what you need, what luxuries you can afford and how you can still have a great time, we have had family round this xmas, the kids got plenty and were very grateful and happy and we have had a fab time, with the knowledge that it was all paid for with money we earned and not a single penny owed to anyone, it's a great feeling starting the new year knowing that you don't still have to repay for the previous xmas, many of my husbands work friends are already worrying about their credit card bills coming this month and I also read a which report that said 46% of people had put xmas on credit, thankfully we are not one of those!

[orange]

ivas are difficult times i think we had a couple of years when we couldnt get hardly anything but our little one didnt know she got lots .i agree with the over spending comment,these days christmas was just saved money and i often watch people shopping bags and think wonder which card that went on ,also my advice is to get something each week for the kids from now and put it away there are loads of little things in the supemarkets ,im going to do this and we are 2years out of our iva x all the best x

[Niobe]

We've been very frugal this year, husband and I exchanged a bottle and we just bought the little one a Disney toy and a new outfit. Daughter and son in law had a few clothes and a small amount of money.

Even food was pared right back again and we'll still end up throwing some away.

[Beans on Toast]

Being in an IVA makes people realise the true cost of a realistic Christmas. As others have said, you see people with arms full of bags more often than not paid for by plastic, and more so after Christmas in the sales.

The first year is always the hardest when you are being weaned off the cards. The hardest thing for us has been the fact that we haven't bought each other a gift for the last 5 years.

It does however mean, that as others do, we don't wait until the last minute to buy gifts. We only buy for direct family try to buy something practical. We have been fortunate through the IVA that our nieces and nephews have all reached the age where we all agreed to stop buying presents for each others kids. Although we miss this, it was a huge impact through the year when you turned over the calendar and realised yet another birthday to fund.

Like you Anthony, we have come to enjoy sitting around watching films and having the odd family member come over for a simple meal that wouldn't cost us more than we would normally spend. At the end of the day, it's about catching up with your family and relaxing with friends, so good luck for the next few years and you'll find you get even better at it [:)].

[UpToMyNeckInIt]

Just done my first IVA Christmas as well.

Best feeling in the world: No Credit card bill this month.

as for budgeting, I thoroughly recommend donloading (free) Microsoft Money.

[Bradders]

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by UpToMyNeckInIt

Just done my first IVA Christmas as well.

Best feeling in the world: No Credit card bill this month.

as for budgeting, I thoroughly recommend donloading (free) Microsoft Money.

I've just downloaded the Money Plus Sunset which is the one which still apparently works.

No Joy...won't let me sign into Windows Live, Won't support or connect to Co Op bank...any clues what I should do now, except maybe uninstall?

[esgt1967]

Our Creditors Meeting is on 4th Jan so we aren't in our IVA's yet but have been budgeting fairly strictly for a couple of months now. I stuck to my budget for the kids presents (I have 3 kids) of £20 each and only had to buy a present for my nephew and bought a small present for my mum and step dad. Me and hubby haven't bought each other gifts at Christmas for several years - can't see the point of it anyway - and we just get each other a nice card and do buy each other a gift for our birthdays. I did overspend a bit on the food/drink side in December but have had to pay our first "IVA payments" in readiness for our Creditors Meetings so definitely need to budget very tightly in January already. Hoping for a positive outcome on Friday with not too many modifications but am actually looking forward to having to keep a tight rein on spending, although my car needs an MOT/service in January and hubby has just told me that he needs 2 new tyres and we don't have enough money for that so not a great start to the new year! In my experience, the kids get so many presents from other people anyway that it really doesn't matter if you don't get them that much and they are all forgotten about several days later anyway, so I don't think you should beat yourself up too much about them going without.

[Loads a Debt]

Hi all and happy new year!

It was my first xmas in an IVA also and my turn to cook for me, my children and my sisters family so had to dig deep. Managed to sell a few bits and pieces on ebay and had a small bonus from work, which helped me get through.

Think I'm going to have to save a little each month towards next year as I don't think I have anything else to sell on ebay

Have to say I fretted that I hadn't got the children much, but they seemed ok with it all and really enjoyed it and I haven't got any nasty cc bills to open Yay!

I think the bad weather helped, as we too stayed home and caught up on lots of xmas tv.