www.iva.co.uk

Right, im considering an IVA but am quite the newbie and wondering when they look at income vs expenditure. Do they leave you enough to still live and I dont just mean meet the bills/food etc I mean actualy have a social life? For instance at the mo im left with about £400 per month for food and social if i go on an IVA will i be left with next to nothing to spend on myself?

Hi
You have to make certain sacrifices when entering into an IVA. Generally the top allowance for a single person for food and social spending is around the 210 pound mark
Regards

£210 for food and social, crikey thats low. I work on the road alot so i tend to grab meals as i go, cant be having food stored in a boiling car. Therefore £210 a month on food alone is too low.

You need to base the figures upon your own individual requirements, and you may need to have a higher allowance due to the demands of your job - but creditors are fairly sharp on this point and many people do manage on the budget Andy has referred to above.

I strugglr on 350-400 so 210 would be an impossibility, id end up borrowing of family/friends just to get through the month

How insolvent are you Welch9?

We get by on £80 a week(faily of 3),I work on the road and take a cooler bag to work with sarnies in it.
Remember that the plus side to an IVA is no creditor hassle,and you only pay back whats affordable. Its not at all easy but plenty of us manage to get by on restrictive budgets!!

Paul

Bankruptcy may be a better option, my income has dropped from 80k per annum to 27k so i know all about tightening my belt already.

You won't be allowed that sort of housekeeping budget under bankruptcy proceedings, but will generally be left with a surplus you could use to supplement your allowance. One of the downsides of bankruptcy is that you will be told what you can and can't do, so I would try and put some budgeting measures into place and try and see how much you could save.

Slighty away form the issue I know, but I do the odd bit of cover courier work so I know what you mean about food in a hot car. Honestly though petrol station food and the like is way expensive. As already mentioned you could take a cooler bag, you can get the packs you put in the freezer to keep it all cool from Pound Stretcher. Another way is to freeze cartons of drinks and put them in your coolbag in the morning before you leave, by the time you need to eat lunch, the drinks would of defrosted and will of kept your lunch cool.

Not much help on the IVA/BR front, but I can be frugal! [:)]

Hi we have a coolerbox that plugs into the ciggy lighter. It keeps food nice and cold and also has an added extra that it can be used to keep food warm as well. Worth looking out for.

Thanks for all your answers regarding cool boxes, like I said this is not an option for me, I travel most of the time and spend many eves in hotels etc. My job requires me to be quite the traveller/executive, so I need to eat lunch with clients etc.

As i pointed out my income is 53k shorter than it was 6 months ago, yet i still need to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.

Is it £210 including food/social/clothes/utilities/comforts?????

I used to have £4000 a month disposabe so am sure you can imagine how im struggling now

I can only imagine how you're struggling as I've never earnt £4k a month let alone have it as disposable income and cannot foresee me having it.

I can however imagine how hard it is to drop such a big amount in income.

You would get a food allowance, clothing allowance but they would all be minimal x

welch9 wrote:

Thanks for all your answers regarding cool boxes, like I said this is not an option for me, I travel most of the time and spend many eves in hotels etc. My job requires me to be quite the traveller/executive, so I need to eat lunch with clients etc.

As i pointed out my income is 53k shorter than it was 6 months ago, yet i still need to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.

Is it £210 including food/social/clothes/utilities/comforts?????

I used to have £4000 a month disposabe so am sure you can imagine how im struggling now

Would the hotel stops, lunch with clients etc not be expences that would be reinbursed?

Expenses yes but on a pay and claim system.

Lunch with a client yesterday was £65. not good from my paltry £210 allowance.

welch9 wrote:

Expenses yes but on a pay and claim system.

Lunch with a client yesterday was £65. not good from my paltry £210 allowance.

Not an expert in any way shape or form but I would suggest chatting with one of the experts about your situation- if you have to pay out upfront then get it back later on I would guess this could be taken into consideration in you budget??!?!....I haven't a clue?!?