6 months and and 10% of the way through already

[lem]

Well, I can't believe we have just made our 6th payment already and it's about a year since we made our first phonecall to Mel's team, so far the time now seems to be flying by, the first couple of months seemed to drag as the enormity of what we had taken on hit home but then now things have settled down we are just living our lives, month by month and when I see that we are 10% of our way through already, I'm pretty happy.

So what would my tips for success be? I guess I'm not the best person to ask being so early on in our IVA but they would be....

Take your time - don't rush getting an IVA in place, it's easy when you are in the thick of it, stress from creditors, total panic that you almost feel you will agree to anything to get IVA protection in place but work with your IP to calculate your I&E accurately to make the most of your allowances, we really took our time over ours and I am so glad we did, it allowed us to build up a bit of a buffer which meant we had a contingency to pay for car repairs 2 months in without taking a payment break and means that even though some of our outgoings have increased in relation to what we originally specified in our IVA, we are doing ok because we didn't skin ourselves on our I&E in the beginning.

Budget, budget, budget - I can't stress this enough, try as much as you can to stick to your allowances, it's hard if like me you have had a few years of spend spend spend (on credit) to suddenly have to live within your means but I set myself a challenge each month to save some from my allowances (that I can) and be inventive with cooking so that we can spend as little as possible on food for the month, making things stretch, so we have a bit of money set aside for luxuries or extras to make life in an IVA that bit more bearable.

Don't worry too much about the future - none of us want our IVA's to fail and many worry about what if they get this huge bill, lose their job etc etc, no one can predict what is going to happen over the life of your IVA so there is no point worrying about what might never happen, just concentrate on the here and now, enjoy the time you have with your loved ones, 5 years is a long time on this road, my kids will be virtually grown up by the time we get to the end and while I want my IVA over, I don't want to wish their lives away.

Anyone else got any words of wisdom for getting through?

[Shining]

Hi lem, time has flown by I agree, it has for me too and I'm now about to make payment 46...where does the time go. One month at a time is my motto now, I try not to look too far in the future and if I can get through another month with whatever life throws at me I'm happy. I look forward to completing and the first 3 months payments are ear-marked, one for hubby, one for daughter and one for myself and after that I plan on putting the payment away again as if I were paying it and saving to buy whatever I plan for the future. x

[lem]

Awww Lesley, I can't believe you just have just over a year to go, it really isn't long, I'll probably shed a tear when you finish!!!! esp as I will still have 3 years to go

[janez]

hi lem, what a lovely post, it gives encouragement to others who are just starting out as we are.and your quite right lesley... take it a month at a time.i am just going into month 3 and although i still have some iffy days i have a moan on here and the people who reply have been so nice to me.

[animaleyes76]

That's a great post Lem, and very wise words Budgetting is DEFINITELY the important bit

[Skippy]

That's a really good post lem and good luck to you and Lesley for the future x

[Shining]

Thanks Skippy....I keep thinking only x amt of months to go now instead of x amount of months paid.

[luluj]

Well done LEM - great read ! Six months in and you have learnt the budgeting rules well done ! The challenge is each month to have a few pence more left over than the month before - it almost becomes a game !!
I used to devide the monthly amount in weekly and then withdraw that amount of money on a Saturday - divide it between food / petrol etc and then what was left would put in a jar until the end of the week - if it was still there would then put it in a sealed envelope for xmas or birthday presents !

[kazzafunk]

I too enjoyed the post Lem. This month has been hard and as I keep all the monthly receipts I have trawlwd through them and found that due to having a bad month healthwise I have spent far more on magazines, chocolate and my fave cold starbucks coffee from Tescos! I did fine for the 1st 3 months so from today it's back to being tough. I wrote everything down as I went round Tescos, and didn't buy a paper - all the news is rubbish and on the internet anyway, no treats (going away on Tuesday for 3 days at Alton Towers for sis birthday) and no cold coffee. Skipped out of there very happy with my willpower.
I think it's easy to slip back to old habits. I have sorted my spare room out this morning and found 12 books I got at car boots and haven't yet read, so no magazines for me, and found some clothes to go on ebay.
It is down to us and us only to make this work and there's no-where to go if we run out of money so up to Xmas I am gonna be as frugal as possible. Got all the meat in the freezer so should be fine until Spring by the looks of it!
One thing I have always done is buy OH a pack of sarmies each day in Tescos (£10 per week). Bought 4 large rolls today for 55p and an extra beef joint is in the oven with our roast so he can carve himself some beef for the week. He always moans about not knowing who has made the sarnies so now it's down to him!!

[Speedy666]

we are 8 months in and I agree that the I&E needs to be shall we say "creative" in order to give that leeway. I upped my petrol useage in order to have some wriggle room. This has proved invaluable as prices have continued to rise, but the unused money is allowing us to sort xmas out without too much cost cutting ( no one in family knows we are in IVA).
As for budgeting we have split the responsibilty between us. I have all the household bills and car bills. My wife does all the food, presents, health bills etc.
I have found using microsoft money to split what I have in my bank account works very well. If you have this program create accounts for petrol, car tax, car repairs. house repairs, car insurance, or whatever other allowances you have into seperate pots.This way you can keep track of what you have available, but at the same time keeping a total of what your actual balance is. sometimes I have an allowance that goes slightly into the red but I know I am not overdrawn. the next month I make adjustments from other allowances to get the red allowance back to black. This is a way of giving yourself an incentive,as watching the pots grow is very pleasing after years of being in the red on everything!

[luluj]

welcome speedy to the forum.....well done on setting your budgeting spreadsheets - we all work our own ways but it is good to share our advice across the forum !

Just be careful with being inventive on your I&E as there may come a time when you really need some extra support and your I&E is already max'd out !

Your I&E should reflect true costs so that your creditors receive the best return possible.

An IVA is not meant to be easy, but it is meant to be liveable - so your I&E should be realistic in it's setting.

[kallis3]

Welcome from me as well and I wholeheartedly agree with Luluj, you just need to put down what you spend