www.iva.co.uk

So still pre IVA (proposal been reviewed) But just wanted to say and share some of the changes that even moving into a IVA as made to me and my family.
Since we first put together the I&E we decided that from day one we wouldnt go outside this, We made some changes in our lifestyle and this as made a major difference in the happiness of our family and in truth as taken any worry away of taking this step.
We hardly buy such things as cakes,biscuits and other items along that line. Instead we used that cash and got flour,chocolate mix etc and made our own, We also made a small investment of 24 pound to buy racking for our cool room to allow us to buy the bigger packs of items (comes cheaper in bulk).But best of all with those that have kids of a creative age (ours is 5(6 tomorrow)they love getting involved with baking and as given us some wonderful family time.
Although the 1st 2 weeks didnt see a decrease in our average shopping bill im happy to say this week was 6 less than our average bill.
Only a small saving but the family time is priceless.
Anyone have any other ideas to add?

Sounds good, family time is important, I do lots of cake and cookie baking with my grandchildren ,
I do batch baking with meals for the freezer,
and my other thing I do is love my leftovers, I always class those as free food as it was a meal we haven't had to buy. Any extra veg throw in a pan with some stock cubes and dried herbs and make soup, ideal for this weather and warm lunches for the week from leftovers.
I have a breadmaker which is brilliant makes bread really cheaply and you can control the amount of salt / suger etc.

Family time is vital as its so easy to neglect family at times.

Forgot to add if anyone knows of any good recipe sites out there they could direct me to ill be very grateful

Regards

Once the better weather comes, pack up a picnic and head for the woods or to the park and play games.

We used to walk round the local park, stop and have a coffee from a flask and then chat to those walking the dogs or watch the local Sunday league football teams !

Batch cooking is a good way of saving money too ...and you know you have meals ready made in the freezer !

Notscared checkout all the free events in your area, I take my Grandson to the local museums, parks and in the summer the seaside with a jar, net and a packed lunch. Granted he's only 3 now, but the lack of funds in my pocket has never effected my quality of life in regards to finding things to do with him & the family.

If anything it has made me appreciate how my parents and grand-parents found ways to entertain me and my brothers/sisters, when in reality at times I was sent to the shop to buy bread & milk on "tick"......and I'm only 49.

The IVA learned me a hard lesson which my Gran tried to teach me from a young age.....dont try and live beyond your means.....wish I'd payed more attention to her now.

As for shopping etc we found a walk around the town buying from local shops much cheaper than entering the massive superstores, where we found far from buying things we "needed" we actually bought things we "wanted" and theres a differance.

Good luck.......the IVA will make you change your lifestyle but thats not always a bad thing and whilst you may not be able to give the kids the newest PS NIntendo thingy bobby, they'll benefit much better by a day out with a bat, ball or even a board game or two. After having my Grandson at the park I return him to his Mum in a far less cleaner condition, he has a healthy appetite and after his splash in the bath he's spark-out.......but then again we have a wonderful time...and you dont need lots infact any money to buy that feeling.

Appreciate what you have...not what you dont:)