Today I've been gathering up my bank statements and payslips ready to send off for my first review. I felt quite proud of myself having spent the last 12mths living within a budget, and being able to cope. I've been lucky, no major hiccups with the car or anything big in the house, and my son has now got a part time job for when he's not at college, so I've saved on the pocket money front, and he's buying his own clothes.
This next year may be a bit more difficult..No pay rise, house has been re-banded for council tax, I've lost my tax credits and as a public sector worker my pension contributions will increase.
I'm not feeling as daunted by all this as I thought I might - learning to live within my budget has taught me that it can be done, with some tweaking here and there I'll be ok.
Here's to year 2!
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice!
Well done in getting through he first year. Like you I am being hammered by no pay rise ( or the paltry 1% cap ) and increased pension contributions, along with the loss of tax credits..... add to that the fact that everything has increased in price !!!!
Why has your house been re-banded ?
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
I got a note from the coucil saying they were re-assessing the area, and it went from an A to a B - to be honest I'm not sure it should have ever been an A, but in the 7yrs I've been here its never changed.
I've also taken the plunge and got a water meter installed this month, so we'll see if I save anything there - I'm sure with just 2 of us we should be able to get it under the £45 I'm paying in water rates.
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice!
Hmmm --- they can't just re-assess areas on a whim --- sounds like someone has put in an appeal and they noticed that the houses similar to the appeal propoerty were wrongly banded in the first place (that's the danger those that advocate reviews don't mentiuon too loudly) . I guess one way of looking at it is that you have had 7 cheaper years.
Thank goodness they don't back date !!!!
We are on a water meter, 2 adults, a child and a cat -- and pay £20 a month -- so you should be able to make that back there. Remember, stick an old coke bottle full of water in the cistern to reduce the flush amount by a couple of litres a time -- it all adds up !
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
I have a 'hippo' that my mum gave me for the cistern. It's only been in a week, the meter's under the sink and I think I'm going to have to stop myself getting a bit obsessive over it...I keep checking it every time I do something with water!
£20 sounds good - I'd be more than happy with that.
The council tax has meant an increase of £10 a month, but I'll lose my 25% reduction when my son finishes his 'A' Levels in 2015 - I live in hope we may get a payrise in 2yrs time!
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice!
We looked at going on a water meter but I don't think it would save us any money - our water rates are fairly cheap and as I like having 2 showers a day I think we'll stay as we are for the time being.
We were also warned not to reduce the flush of the toilet as it can affect the drains - we live in a 1930s maisonette and the drains aren't in great condition and get blocked occasionally.
public sector workers certainly are getting the raw deal at present what with no pay rises and rise in pension contributions.....
My understanding is that all household properties across the Uk are due to be reassessed for council tax purposes this year so expect many more people to be seeing the same !
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
Hi luluj -- where did you get this snippet of information from ? I doubt they'd be able to do this even if they wanted to -- and it would be political suicide for the con-dems ( unless every body goes down!).
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
It has been planned for a number of years for property bands to be reassessed by the valuation office - not sure when exactly but I have been made aware it is imminent.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
Sorry cant get upset about public sector workers. I am self employed and havent had a pay rise in I dont know how long and hubby works for a horse racing stables and ditto no pay rise. Also being in an IVA we have had to Cut our contributions to our pensions to just tick over so no nice retirement for us.
I don't think my post was asking anyone to get upset about public sector workers..It was more a post about my individual set of circumstances coming up to unknown territory for me - my 1st review.
In the current climate everyone is struggling in their own way, everyone has had to adjust their lifestyle accordingly, and the point of my post was that next year, for me, maybe more tweaking will be required.
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice!
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by luluj
It has been planned for a number of years for property bands to be reassessed by the valuation office - not sure when exactly but I have been made aware it is imminent.
I know this was going to happen in 2005, as it did in Wales -- but the then government got cold feet and shelved it. I doubt it could happen now in the current economic mess !!!
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
I've recently gone onto a water meter and will gauge this over the year as I have 2 years to change my mind.
Well done for getting prepared for first review and glad the first year went well for you and you should feel rightly proud for maintaining your budget.
Times can be hard within an IVA and some months tougher than others. All the best for the review and hope the remaining years run smoothly for you.
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by mole
Interesting about a water meter. We have one, 2 adults only in the house. We are hardly ever there but our bill is £45 per month !!
We shower everyday but never use a bath and washing machine is supposed to be water efficient.
What are we doing wrong!!!
You could be using the same amount but paying twice as much per cubic metre.
As said before we have the 2 litre coke bottle in our cistern We are economical with the flushing (!) Couple of showers a day and the washing machine does a cycle most days. Don't water a garden and the car has never been washed !
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
