unable to survive for 5 years without a holiday

[mel.d]

I currently have unsecured debts that total £30k, earn £2k pcm, outgoings £approx £1450 pcm. What would the estimated minimum amount be that I would have to pay if I go for IVA? Also if the IVA lasts for 5 years unless payed off earlier and you are not allowed to try and save anything during that time what about holidays? I work full time, work very hard, and am sometime exhausted, I would not be able to survive for 5 years without a holiday - how does this work?

[Lula]

The amount you pay into the IVA would be all your surlpus income! (Whatever is left after all your essessntial costs)
You can "save" so to speak in an IVA (I put a little by each month for emergencies!) but i am not sure about saving for a hoilday. Someone (family etc) would have to "gift" it to you.. ie they paid for you. A hoilday doesnt need to be abroad! .. i am planning on spending a week at my mums in her garden this year, not glam i agree but needs must!
Think seriously about an IVA, there may be other options to look at.. a Debt mangement plan??
One of the experts I am sure will be able to give you more of an answer.

[Skippy]

Hi Mel, please can you clarify if your £1450 outgoings include payments to your unsecured creditors. You are allowed to have a small amount of savings in an IVA, to cover things like dentist, car expenses etc, but you are not allowed a holiday allowance. As your creditors are writing off a big chunk of your debts they expect you to make sacrifices and unfortunately a holiday is one of those sacrifices. If you really cannot cope for 5 years without a holiday, have you thought about one of the cheap holidays that the newspapers do?

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

You would pay over the difference between your income, and your reasonable everyday expenditure (not including holidays). This is known as your disposable income.

I appreciate that you work hard, but you borrowed the money in the first place and your creditors will expect to be repaid. You may be able to save up for a modest break, by setting aside a sum of money from your housekeeping and miscellaneous budget each months, but if you feel that the discipline of an IVA will be too great for you, then bankruptcy proceedings are probably a better option.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[gimmewine]

Mel

Some honest advice from one who is not able to afford holidays and gets exhausted too. "holiday" is a state of mind. Think about what you do on holiday, you get away from home, see some new sights, have a laugh and rest.

So, it may be the case the only holiday away I have had in the last 7 years was two weeks in Cornwall last year (paid for by ex husband) but we have a "holiday" nevertheless. If it is nice, we set up beds/table/coolbox and paddling pool in back garden so we can "go for a swim", have a drink from the "bar" in short all the sort of things you can do on hols on a smaller scale. An attendance at the fun swim in the local leisure centre is our aquapark

If it is not so nice we set up our tent in the back garden, and duly shut out the bad weather, light up our storm lantern and play boardgames on our picnic table in the middle of the tent. We also duly visit the tourist information and get information on events etc. Provided we can pay for them we go.

The positive side to all this is we don't have the stress of packing beforehand, we never suffer flight delays or missing passports and yet we do pretty much what holidaymakers do. Try it, its fun and you'd be amazed at all the things going on in your local area in summer.

[tracy.h]

Hi Mel
I know what you mean regards a holiday,but even if you can get a cheap package deal somewhere abroad then you still have to eat drink and have money for the other holiday activities,and that doesnt come cheap.
When you are in an iva all your disposable income is more or less spoken for and if you do manage to save anything then you will need this for unforeseen emergencies of every day life.
As you have already stated you work very hard and long hours and feel exhausted im sure that if you opted for an iva and see that after the five years you will be debt free,holidays will be enjoyed so much more as you can actually afford the luxuries without worrying how to fund them im afraid an iva is 5 years of hard work and commitment on all sides and if creditors are prepared to commit to cutting your debts by even half then they expect the same commitment from us.
I know for the next couple of years at least my holiday will consist of the garden and any cheap days out i can afford gone are the days of borrowing credit for something that yes we all want but realisticaly we cant afford or we wouldnt be in the situation we find ourselfes in now.
Lots of posters actually save coupons from the different papers and enjoy a great holiday. if you browse the forum there is a post all about holidays within an iva it is good reading and can give good ideas on this subject.
Hope you find away to come to the right desision regarding your needs

Takecare

Tracy

[Adam Davies]

Hi
On 30k of debts you will need to pay a minimum of 15k,to include IP fees,this will return a 25p dividend.You would need to pay £250 per month to achieve this minimum dividend.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

View my profile here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp