www.iva.co.uk

I cannot believe I have just sent off my paperwork for my 3rd year review! Come November 2013 I should hopefully (fingers crossed) be finished with my IVA and me and my partner have a year to save up to go travelling for my 30th birthday!

For those of you starting out 5 years seems so so so long away but before you know it you will be nearing the end ready to start your lives again DEBT FREE!!!

So far in my IVA journey I have faced 3 redundancies, moving 300 miles across the country and a change in careers... Times have been hard and are currently what with my partner being out of work now for 7 months. Luckily he has parents with savings who are paying his mortgage and bills!! Without the support of friends, family and all of you on here I think for some it can be a really challenging time and people who are not aware of what sacrifices we make in IVA to sort ourselves out can frustrate us. I know some who have thought it was an easy solution and you just pay back a little and it gets written off!! When explaining the process with them they then see what a stressful time it can be!

Sorry for the long winded post! I just cannot believe I have come this far through my IVA journey and better off now than I ever was!!!

Great post Liz. Gives everyone hope.

Good luck with the remainder of your iva and I hope your partner gets another job soon.

brilliant news liz i just hope im posting the same in 2 years fd xxx

Fab post and congrats! You're on the downhill straight now!! Can't wait to be doing my third year review knowing I'm over halfway! x

Thanks guys!! I am officially allowed to start looking into where I want to go when we head off travelling!! Anyone been anywhere nice thats worth a look?

Realistically we could prob only afford 3 months travelling I am trying to push for 6 tee hee!

Fingers crossed the next 2 years are as pain free as the last 3 have been! And no more redundancies!!

Hey Liz, nice to read such a lovely post.

As for places to visit I would definitely recommend Thailand and Australia.

I spent a year in Oz doing the working holiday thing and it was one of the best things I've ever done.I think it's about time i went travelling again

Yeah we are thinking of thailand and other countries around there. We have freinds in Vietnam who own a bar so looking forward to seeing them... If I can persuade the other half to sell the flat then we could go for as long as we want (within reason) but if we were to keep it on then we would need to find money to pay for the mortgage, bills etc..

As he will be nearly 40 by the time we are planning to go I cannot see him wanting to slum it like I would be prepared to do but he may have an early mid life crisis and embrase it! lol

I would love to be in Australia for Xmas though!

Dreams dreams dream hey! But I really want to do this before we plan to have children!

Vietnam's nice, Laos and Cambodia are both worth a visit too

Yeah i'd still (just about) "slum" it, even though i'm 34. You meet some of the best people when you travel like that.

You've got me checking flight prices now

well lizwalker im at exactly the same stage as you.
yes it can be tough at times but that chink of light is now getting bigger all the time.
my 3rd year is due about this time next month so heres to another milestone[:)]

Well done Liz for getting this far, you've broken the back of it now. Hope it is plain sailing from here on in!

Hi
Well dome yes at year 3 it seems a lot lot better and the next year ahead will go fast Best way is to set yourself targets and now you can look to the final year and counting down to the finish line Yes you are right some may think its an easy option but its not and hard to explain to some folks that you are paying back money to the banks they just think you are in the same situation as they are but to me its the added pressure of if you miss a payment or lose your job or always trying to keep things in check and doing without things must be hard for a lot of people I was just sure this was what I wanted to do and not care about the consequences I made the problem its only me who can get myself out Hasnt really changed me just wish I could go back a few years and give myself a good slapping and for what I used the money it wasnt worth the stress and worry I had before starting the IVA Anyhoo I will be out of this and can start again its not been that tough just got to put it to the back of your mind each day and make the best of it will end

That would be fab having friends you could visit in Vietnam! We have friends in New York and I have friends in Tacoma, Washington State that I would love to go back and see again.

I have to say that whilst I regret getting in this mess, I don't regret the holidays we have had - they can't take away my memories or photographs.

congrats Liz. I sent off my third annual review paperwork at the end of July and Oct 2013 sees me finished - all being well. You're also right it's not a piece of cake. My repayments will amount to nearly 100k by the finish - I wish I'd realised how little I could live on before getting into such pointless debt. I'm likely to retire once this is all over - or more likely be redundant - and the chance to SAVE that kind of money in a 5 year period post IVA won't be there. So .. a word of advice to all ... learn from the IVA and balance fun with savings once it's all over.

Congrats Liz. I'll be at that point this time next year.
Good luck on the downward run and enjoy all your planning.
[:)]

Northumberland is nice and the castles and history are fascinating.