Oh my what a suprise!!

[Anna.da]

Just logged on to my online banking expecting a very poor balance to find the tax credits have paid nearly £1000 into my bank due to underpayment for last year!! I had expected some money from them but not this much! Well i suppose i best phone IP and see were i stand!! Would be lovely if i could keep it but i'm expecting to have to give at least give 50% into the IVA!

I really hope i can keep some, the dog needs to go to the vets and i usually come away close to £100 lighter and we don't have anything set aside at the moment. Plus we have a leaky roof!

Well i'll let you know how i get on, fingers crossed!

[dipsy]

Good luck Anna! Hope you get to keep it all!!!

[Anna.da]

Just spoke to IP, we get to keep the first 10% and the rest split 50/50 which i am happy with. he did say it could have been classed as a windfall which would have meant paying the whole lot over but as he saw it, it was more like a bonus or extra income payment which i'm happy with.

I'm not doing anything untill i have it all in writing from tax credits and checked all the details. However, i have just arranged to meet hubby for lunch and made a list of what we are going to spend it on!! Mainly paying of winter gas bill and vets bill!! Although we do have a cheap holiday booked for next January so going to pay that off too!!

It really couldn't have come at a better time i had £9 in the bank to last us a week and had to pay the phone bill. Then the dog goes and gets a sore paw, typical!!

[Shining]

What a lovely surprise and a timely one too by the sounds of it.

x

[plasticdaft]

hope the money is well spent and the dogs paw gets better soon.

Paul

[kazzafunk]

So pleased to hear that Anna - if you are anything like us when we were in the IVA, we used to make lists of what to spend any additional income on and then chickened out and stuck it in the savings jar!

Always worth it when you get vets bills. Just an idea - what I did when we had extra was buy a Tescos gift card to keep safe for lean months - and luckily never had to use it as always just got by. Spent it now though!!

[Broke of London]

Hi! Congrats on having a little bit extra. I like the idea of buying a supermarket gift card kazza! Every little helps ching ching xx

[Niobe]

That's excellent news!! Enjoy your extra money.

[Anna.da]

Thanks everyone! I like the idea of the gift card too, i think i will start one so we have some food money set aside, and then if we don't need it i can use it at Christmas. The day actually carried on the way it started as i got a nice bottle of perfume for £5 in boots which should have been £28! and needed a raincover for my sons pram £3 in mothercare rather than £29!!

kazzafunk, i am a bit like you i walked round the shops looking at nice things thinking i'm not paying that when i can get it off ebay for a fraction of the price!! I'm so use to now shopping at car boots and charity shops or my parents passing stuff on to me that the shops seem so expensive.

[kazzafunk]

We finished out IVA in March and our income is tight but we now have quite a bit in savings from my ill health pension lump sum but I am so tight now it's unbelievable!
Always at car boots, on ebay, looking in charity shops etc. I just hope I carry on like this and don't slip back to the dark side!

[vimto1029]

What a nice start to the weekend Anna and so glad you've got to keep a fair bit of it. Least now as you say you can pay off winter bills etc without leaving yourselves short!
Good to see you're becoming frugal like me too..i'm actually enjoying saving money on things now! [:)]

[dipsy]

Good news Anna!!!