To answer the original question, yes your IVA company can authorise increases in allowances, these should go up hand in hand with your wage increases so that your original IVA payments remain the same. If an increase in expenses means a reduction in IVA payments they may have to revert back to your creditors, pending on the terms and conditions of your IVA, and they may be reluctant to do this.
Skippy - we have also stuck to our housekeeping budget now that our IVA has finished and to be honest we don't not have things - I think it is all about coming down a brand name if necessary, and shop around for better deals.
We don't have a local butcher, and our market is only on when I am at work so am restricted to the supermarkets - until we moved I always used Sainsbury's but now Tesco's is so close it saves on fuel and to be honest is cheaper - their meat offices this week of 4 things for £12 - I have come home and portioned bagged them - we now have enough meat for the next fortnight for the two of us, and a whole chicken to have on Sunday .....
I know lots of people have different allowances from their IP's, and it is hard to stick to a budget when you have growing children who eat like horses !
Hopefully glassman49, can take some of the suggestions made on the forum on how to manage their household spends - am sure there is room for some change but very doubtful that any IP would sanction £400 for 2 people.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
We're lucky as we have a butchers very close by so we buy chicken breasts from him - 4 free range chicken breasts (bigger than from the supermarket) for £5.
Our market is on Wednesday and Saturday and we're going to start getting fruit and veg there as well as I'm never very impressed with supermarket quality.
We shop at Sainsburys as although it can be a bit dearer than Tesco it's a lot closer so I'm not spending out on extra petrol.
I've also found it's worth looking in M & S - their fishcakes are lovely and are usually 2 packs for £3 and I love their dusted haddock, which is often 2 packs for £5. They have also been doing 3 items for £10 recently.
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by plasticdaft
Its all relative though,if I was earning £50000 a year I would be used to spending more a month on food shopping than someone earning £25000.
Tesco beans on tesco value bread toasted with a small amount of grated cheese(a decent one,to hell with the budget),with a dash of worcester sauce is the dogs danglies when money is tight at the end of the month!!!
Paul
I am sorry I don't agree with this, A food allowance should be the same for all, not pro rata on what you earn, We are all trying to pay as much back to our creditors through our disposable income, if someone has a higher allowance because they earn more, the DI is affected. Just because they spent more on food etc in the past is often partly why they are in an IVA now.
My food spend has actually increased since we have been in the IVA as we now have to eat healthier because of hubby's heart condition but our allowance is sufficient enough to allow this where as before we lived as cheap as possible to pay all the CC's etc.
If life is what you make it, I must have been in a strange mood when I made mine
I think Paul was making the valid point that before entering an IVA you can spend more if you earn more, so it can take a bit of adjusting to the lower budget. I know that Lem and I both have our own meat or poultry and bulk cook for the freezer. It is so much cheaper than ready made meals and healthier too. I normally chuck a bag of value frozen peas and sweetcorn into any pot when bulk cooking. It spreads out the meals then and you don't have to waste gas/electric by cooking veg when you are cooking one of the meals.
I have found Tescos value fresh carrots and potatoes are good quality and I can use half for cooking and half for the animals.
It could be that the original poster is used to spending this amount and possibly hasn't had to economise as much as those with children (or loads of pets!). It is hard but we have to stick within the guidelines and I can only achieve that by careful planning.
Last edited by kazzafunk on Mon Jan 02, 2012 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We do a full shop at Asda, top up at Tesco and use the local butcher and bakery.
I do use own brand and some value stuff but I'm a bit fussy. There are some things I won't compromise on such as eggs - they have to be free range or barn reared at a push. I'll go without rather than have battery reared.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
thank you for all your replies.i asked the question because my monthly payments are going to increase from £333 to £749 and i am now seriously considering bankruptcy
Hi glassman, do make sure you consider bankruptcy fully before you enter it as often the IPA can be more or equal to the IVA payments and these are for a further 3 years. I'm sure you'll make the right decision it's just something I learnt from the forum. x
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
Do you have your own house that you may lose in bankruptcy?
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Has your income increased significantly then glassman or was it part of the IVA proposal to have increased payments after 2 years?
Do you receive all your other allowances? ie prescription, opticians, contingency?
The problem with going bankrupt after 2 years is you may have to pay over all your disposable income for possibly 3 years so I would obtain some independant advice before you take any steps.
once again thank you for your replies.my payments are increasing due to a variation of our iva.we had our house repossed and the shortfall on the mortgage and the second charge loan are going into the iva.i am not trying to get out of paying back our creditors but once the payments increase it will leave nothing,
We're not trying to say that you are trying to get out of paying your creditors.
As previously stated though, you will have to make payments to BR for three years and it may well be as much as your IVA payments. Anything over £20 a month DI and the lot is taken.
Don't forget as well that it will cost £700 per person to declare bankruptcy and your credit rating will be shot for a further six years from the date of the bankruptcy.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Meant to ask as well - is there no way you can cut down on your shopping bills? The allowances in BR won't allow you to spend £400 a month unless there are special reasons for it.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Housekeeping allowances should be based on true and reasonable actual expenditure, justified if it exceeds standard guidelines if necessary. The CCCS range of housekeeping costs for two adults is between £185 and £341.
I don't understand why your IP is increasing your payments just to deal with additional creditors - which should have been originally included into your IVA in the first place. How do they expect you to afford the increase - have you received relative pay rises?
melanie the two additional creditors were not part of the iva i think because i was still making repayments to them-northern rock and picture finance even though i was badly in arrears with both of them.i did speak to both of them when the iva was set up so they were both aware of the iva and to be fair to northern rock they did everything they could to keep us in our property and it was really the repayments on the second charge loan that forced us out.when the repossesion was happening i spoke to national debt line who told me i should not have been signed up for an iva if the iva company were aware of the arrears and possible knowing that the iva company may benifit to the detriment of our mortgage provider and second charge company.
