Is there an acceptable or standard amount for expenditure calculations for Housekeeping .. which presumably includes all food, toiletries and anything else we might need in the house??
There are 2 parents, an 18 year old and a 16 year old.
We have been allowed £480 a month which is about £16 a day which sounds a lot if you say it quickly ... but not when you run out of veggie oil, milk, toilet rolls and bin liners on the same day
I think everyone seems to have different amounts, We are 2 adults only and we are allowed only £251 pm(dont ask me why the 1 is there). We havent found this a problem although 5 week months are more of a challenge
If life is what you make it, I must have been in a strange mood when I made mine
i've just been on about this on another thread i'm claiming 600 a month for house keeping thats for 2 adults 1 18 year old at college and a 13 yr old it works out at 4.94 per person per day (including 5 week months)
its not a vast ammount when you work it out like this weve been struggling along on a 450 pm housekeeping budget .
most months we have spent every penny we earn .
its a pity there isn't a better way to calculate i&e its far too open to dishonesty and i don't blame anyone for making guidlines but im willing to bet the vast majority in an iva are short changing themselves on the housekeeping budget.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
So my IP just said that as my daughter is now 18, she is no longer regarded as a dependant and therefore they want to review (reduce) my budget.
So even though she is now going to Uni, but home for 20 weeks a year, we are not allowed to contribute.
In fact our IP is suggesting that she should be contributing (even though she is going to Uni), although she is not allowed to claim any grants from the government as apparently we are 'rich'. So maybe she can get a job when she is at Uni ... which will cover her food and drink, plus the extra that she needs to pay for her room because the loan doesnt cover all of it.
But then what about the 20 weeks when she is at home???? Nobody will employ here for just a few weeks at a time. She wont be able to claim 'dole', and we cant include anything for her in our IVA budget .... sounds like nobody cares about real life ...... I was told we could review the situation when the kids got to Uni, but apparently that just means we will reduce your budget and then leave you to it ....
Is anyone suggesting that kids shouldnt go to Uni if their parents got into financial difficulties in the past ?? So do the kids futures change because of it ?? I would say that was fair ... except 'the creditors' imply that over 18's are not our responsibility any more .... even though the education establishment insist that our income is the main reason why she gets no help.
So I wonder if as she is over 18 there is 'an expectation that she will contribute to board and lodgings' in other words as well as removing any allowance for her, they will expect her to contribute rent and therefore I will be expected to receive even more income (from my daughter) and therefore I will get even less in the budget ....... these people need to get in the real world.
Or maybe we need to throw her out of the house so that it 'pleases' the creditors ... but even if we did that the education establishment wont contribute anything for 24 months .... thanks!
My daughter was at Uni when we started the IVA, there was never any mention of us not being able to include her in our housekeeping budget, especially as she lived at home.
She has now finished, only has a part time job which just about pays for her car, insurance and phone and she splits her time between us and her fiance's house.
We've never been told that she should be contributing to the household.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Will do.
Actually I have a letter that says our annual review was based on 2 adults and 1 child. So thats either already taken into consideration or it was a typing error.
Hopefully the first of those, and I can just get on with paying my monthly instalments.
You're just ahead of me. I'm 14 down. I can't wait for next month when i'll be a quarter of the way through. It sounds like quite an achievement when you say it like that..a quarter of the way.
Like Melanie said, the upper limit is £538 so they should be able to increase your housekeeping to that at least.
