www.iva.co.uk

After the excesses of being in debt and overspending, I am now finding it very difficult to survive on such low income.
In particular the shopping budget. Things are that bad I haven't even got enough food for the week ahead and guess what, I need to borrow some money to survive till payday.
Can someone tell me what the maximum shopping budget should be for 2 people as I am really struggling with this one problem.
To be fair, I need to go on a diet and have already acted accordingly, but it's other items also that we are going short on.
Maybe it's just us, but what is the norm for this?

Hi. Sorry to hear u r struggling..from what I know the highest amount per two people can be 335£.

The allowance for food, toiletries and cleaning is £354 for a couple (2015 rates, but they haven't changed much since then). If you are really struggling you should chat to your IP and see if there is any chance he could review your expenses.

Try to concentrate on what you physically have rather then fret that you are not getting "the full allowance". It is hard and that is the part that makes you feel you need more. Even though my IVA is over, we still try to keep to a reasonable budget and still shop in Aldi for our main shop, no big brand names. We sometimes had to eat what ever was on special offer 3 times a week, rather than a balanced diet, which is also counter productive to how you feel you should be eating. It is a bit like stopping smoking, you have to have the will power to make it happen.