Well here's my update

[fifilebonbon]

Hello you all - well here I am still smiling (just about) cos the sun is shining but still fighting off grey hairs and a stomach ulcer as the process continues..lol...anyway we have our new Coop current account set up and have just been changing over all our personal direct debits. We are just awaiting confirmation of our Coop Business account - fingers crossed that is set up by the end of the week - and I have stopped paying my creditors - aaagghhggg!!! So am still bracing myself for the first onslaught of potential calls. Have also had a bit of a fright as had the house valued today and it has dropped £15,000 since last year and leaves us with very little equity - but I'm advised by Angela at Melanie Giles that it wont affect the IVA proposal - ie. they wont not approve because of small or nominal amount of equity. Although if things carry on it is likely we could be in negative equity before long - which i just CANNOT believe! But anyway just wanted to keep you posted if you're interested. Melanie and Angela are in receipt of the majority of my paperwork bar a couple of things that I am waiting on so we plod on! How's you doing Billy1010 and some of the other newbies. One minute I feel fine the next I am in turmoil again! Doesnt help when my father in law tells us that his "financial bloke" says that IVA is deemed in a bad light....well what on earth else are we supposed to do then????? We tried to go to our bank to give us one loan like a second mortgage to create one manageable payment but they wouldnt do it so now we are faced with this situation! Anyway just sounding off - better go and get my little boy up so that we can collect my daughter from school....life still goes on for the little people! Hugs to y'all....[:)]

[creditcrunched]

well your in good hands possibly the best ip on the earth?? [:p]soon you can sit back no phone calls or stress and hastle and count down the days when you will be debt free[8D]

[MelanieGiles]

Whilst it is important to get much needed support from your family, at the end of the day you do have to take your own decisions based on your own professional advice.

Does your father in law have any better suggestions that are worthy of consideration?

[moretolife]

good to get your update...and you will be fine in melanies teams hands...take care and keep posting...

[fifilebonbon]

Melanie that is my point exactly!! He was who we first approached when we realised that we could not continue managing our debt because, whilst he is not rolling in it, he is fairly well off and we had wondered about equity release. The only advice he has actually given is "phone this number and speak to these people" - these people being the CCCS. However in fairness he has given us the cash to set our new business bank up which will provide our cash flow buffer so I dont like to complain. But he questions us constantly and when we suggest that he attends the face to face that we will have with you, he back tracks. I know that in some respects an IVA is a cop out for debt that for a large proportion of we are responsible for but what else are we supposed to do??? If we went bankrupt my husband would lose his business and therefore his job, our children would lose the roof over their heads and we could be another statistic receiving money from the state and our creditors would get little or nothing from us. So in my mind an IVA is the best endeavour we can offer our creditors. Honestly its not enough that this situation is nerve racking enough without other people's good intentions two penneth. Its not like we are already racked with guilt and doubt now is it?? So thank the lord once again for the sanctuary of this forum!! xx

[michael.t47]

you are in the best hands i cannot recommend melanie an her team enough. the phonecalls will come thick an fast (where that saying come from)just be brave an if you feeling down just dont answer. you will find yourself repeating your self so much. some callers are nice an understanding, some are quite down right rude, just hang up and i used to ring back and make a formal complaint about the individuals attitude.
got approved last week, get no more phonecalls, in fact i have to keep checking we not got cut off. post down to a trickle now too.
good luck

[MelanieGiles]

He is doing it because he loves you Fifi, and cares that you are making the right decision. Try and get him to attend the meeting with you, as he may be needed to provide ongoing support to you into the future.

[fifilebonbon]

Ahh I know Melanie - he is trying to be supportive I know - at times he just has a funny way of showing it. We will try to encourage him to attend the meeting but I think in his heart of hearts he trusts us to make the right decision - and afterall we are, albeit indirectly,doing what he suggested we do anyway. I just feel so neurotic about the whole mess that when he starts spouting off to my husband that " his bloke " reckons IVA is unethical so to speak, it only serves to unnerve me even more and question whether we are doing the right thing!!! GoodnessI cant wait to get together with you and have some sensible conversations..lol....thank you so much in the meantime to you and all the posters - the advice and support is completely invaluable! xx

[Fox84]

Hi Fifi,

Don't worry about what people say as your sanity is more important than others opinion's, you really are doing the right thing by facing up to your situation before it undoubtedly gets worse! I tried also to consolidate my loans with my bank Natwest but they refused to help me on a couple of occasions however I'm pleased they didn't as I would have only been digging a bigger hole!

Sometimes you have to put your hands up & seek help, it is the only way.

Chin up it will be fine

[billy1010]

Hi,

Great to see your update, we are in a similar position have sent all our paperwork in, got email from Samantha today and waiting to hear what next step will be.

I know exactly what you mean about life carrying on, work, kids, family etc, etc...

My mom is a wizz with money, don't know how I got in this mess cos she never borrows a penny, was dreading telling her but to be fair she's been ok. She is one of our creditor's (lent us 40k to bail us out) but has agreed to stand aside to allow our other creditor's a higher dividend. I will pay her back once the IVA concludes.

Now just want to get things sorted, my head is fried, had a really bleak day yesterday. Was trying to sort out some budget issues at work and could just not see the error. 4am this morning and 'ping'I was wide awake and doing budget's in my head.

Really can't wait to know either way if our IVA will succeed, only had one call and one letter so far and that left me in bits. Don't know how I will cope once the calls come 'thick & fast'.!!!

Considering changing my number, I know I am a coward but don't think I can face constant calls.

So much in my head at the mo, sometimes I feel really positive and other days think it's all going to fail.

Keep posting, it's great to chat online to someone at a simalar stage, hope you get good news about the business account.

XX J

[fifilebonbon]

Hey there so good to hear from you Billy - especially as we are virtually at the same stage. I am going to wait and see how the "calls" pan out - I dont think I can face the whole telephone number change thing. Just doing the direct debits is bad enough - its like moving house again and doing all the change of addresses! I will just ignore calls if I dont recognise the number to be honest and just hope that they are kept to a minimum. Did you phone all your creditors to let them know? I have written them all letters explaining what we are doing and requesting the outstanding loan accounts. Do you think a phone call should be required too? My hubbie will call NatWest but not until we have the other bank account up and running which hopefully will be the case by the end of the week - they have all our application stuff and have said that it takes 5 to 10 days for a business account to be set up. We had no problems gettting a personal account and they were offering overdraft facilities and everything but we just got the basic current account with cheque book and debit card. So fingers crossed the business account is alive soon - just waiting for that to get the green light is stressing me out. In the meantime, I, like you, am now just drawing the cash I will have to live on under IVA terms and practising living within that budget means. I do laugh at myself at how thrifty I am becoming and what a Lidl fan I am now....everyone is getting the "do you like the taste of that - do you..lovely isnt it - its from Lidl's and only cost 60p....or whatever". Think I'll be driving everyone mad. And my kids will be getting lots of santa presents courtesy of the car boot this year!! I can hardly believe that I'm doing that - but hey they'll be happy and wont know any different!! I am determined that my little savings tin will have money in it at the end of every week from my housekeeping and i'll be blowed if Mr IVA thinks he'll be getting his hands on that! Lol....xxxxxx

[billy1010]

Hi hon,

Your posts always make me smile.

Checked my natwest account online today, they bounced the loan DD and charged £38 to the account!!!.
I have only written to creditors and only sent the letters yesterday.I am going to write every week and send recorded.
Still can't make my mind up about the phone, will see how it goes and make a decision based on level of hassle.My middle son is high functioning autistic so will get stressed by lots of calls and he can sense my anxiety which then makes me anxious!!!.

Luckily christmas is ok as we are teaming up with my ex husband and mom to buy the kids presents. this will mean the kids get what they have asked for and we will all save a bit.

Chat again soon, great to hear from you.

LOL xxx

[fifilebonbon]

Hey Billy!! Love getting your posts too!! My new IVA buddy! lol! I haven't actually posted my letters off to our creditors yet as am just awaiting the business account to be up and running - dont know why i'm holding back really but just feel more secure when I have that green light up. As for NatWest - like you - our biggest creditor - am not telling them anything until we have the new account running and hubby will call them to explain so god only knows if they will do the same to us as you i.e take money that isnt there and charge for it...crraazzyyy!! But then this whole thing is all a bit crazy!

My latest coup though re Christmas is my husband's uncle found a John Deere Tractor Ride-on at the local recycling yard and has power washed it up and spray painted the black and it is as good as new. We've ordered a new steering wheel for it which cost a tenner so my little 2 year old boy who is "twaaactor" mad will be over the moon as will I, as that should have cost me over a 100 quid and we've paid £10.25 (0.25 was what the tractor cost!!) Cant stop smiling about it as had wanted to get him one but when I saw the price I just couldn't justify it!! So chuffed to bits!

We are lucky to have supportive family so my children definitely wont do without on the more expensive things as grandparents are always generous.....but I am really changing my spending thought process and am actually excited about having some strict guidelines that I will HAVE to live by whereas before it was always a case of - oh well bung it on the plastic..in for a penny in for a pound. But no more!!!! Like you am absolutely DETERMINED that if we get an IVA approved this will be a massive new chapter in our lives.

Anyway hon gotta collect my little girl from Beavers - but keep posting back as the propping up is just fantastic....you cant understand it unless you're going through it eh!!

LOL! Fi xx

[billy1010]

Hi Fi,

Well another day nearer to getting our IVA's. (we hope) !!!

Had a call from M & S tonight, when they asked for me I just said "sorry she's not in, can I take a message" !!
I think the guy was a bit pd off but he couldn't go as far as to call me a liar.!!
Guess they will ring again tomorrow, and the next day, next day, next day. But they ain,t getting a penny, my money's sitting in the bank waiting for that call from MG and it will be winging its way to her for our IVA.
Have you had any contact from Melanie yet.
I have spoken to Tina, and then received my welcome pack, sent all the documents back to Samantha and now waiting to hear. What about you???
Any news on the business account yet?? I took applications into Coop for accounts for my kids but haven,t heard anything for 2 weeks, need to chase them up tomorrow.

Feeling a bit more positive today, had a good day today at work and been to watch my daughter who has the lead in the school performance. She sang in front of 200 people, I am so proud of her.

Just wish the call from MG would come, desperate now to get the IVA up and running.

Great news about the tractor, my youngest is also 2, have just brought her some bits and bobs, all on special offer so picked up some good deals.I am currently after a plastic playhouse on ebay. keep your fingers crossed I pick up a bargain.
My son is having a Xbox but luckily we are all pitching in to buy this. (First time me and ex have pulled together for anything!!)My eldest daughter is 13 and she understands a bit about our problems, she keeps saying she don't need nothing, I am so blessed she is a star. will probably give her some cash to buy clothes.

Thinking of you hon, my no 1 IVA buddy,

Take care

J xx

[MelanieGiles]

Billy

My team are working on your case, and I will be in touch very soon.