www.iva.co.uk

Wow, what a journey. From relying on cards and loans to now having nearly nothing to get by on is a wake up call. Entering 3rd year soon and without doubt this is hard. I am starting to see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. The good things are, I am not stressing over trying to find a minimum payment each month and borrowing off one card to pay the other. The bad things are having a budget and having to cope with the unexpected. With 3 teenage children, there are always surprises, wants, school trips, camps, clothes, expectations in comparison to what their friends are getting and all the associated needs of being teenagers. In addition, birthdays and Christmas, mothers day, Easter, some sort of holidays and the list goes on. Always worked hard although trying to keep positive as we are nearly halfway there and looking forward to cleaning up the credit file and getting some money behind us. However, I never want to do this again, its depressing to be honest. We would all like to turn the clock back but can only move forward I guess. Good luck everyone in your IVA's.

Hi LeFran,

Well done on entering into year 3!

We are in year 3 ourselves and a lot of what you've written we do echo!

We have found that explaining to our kids about budgeting and being more frugal has helped us follow our finances very closely, and to be honest we've learnt a lot along the way about how we used to live compared to how we currently live.

My husband got diagnosed with depression last year and we've had many ups and downs like plenty of others Im sure, but we're glad we did take this path and have planned a much brighter future !

Hang in there

You've come a long way and that light is getting brighter that you're heading towards.

I know it's not easy but the final payment feeling will be worth it. Hope the remainder runs smooth for you.

we are half way through year 4 almost there good luck on your journey

On the downhill run now

Just gone into year 5 - can only echo what everyone else has said.

Year 3! You are well and truly on the back slide now LeFran [:D]. A wake up call it is, but the financial education I brought away from my IVA is priceless. I have signed up with my local housing association as a debt mentor so I can pass on this knowledge to other families who may not be at the tipping point, but I can express real time experiences and money saving ideas to help them, hopefully. I am past being ashamed of getting insolvent and this next step will always reinforce the 5 years was worth it. Well done on getting this far and I hope the hardship reaps rewards when you finally finish.

Well done, keep going t he next 2 years will fly by and the feeling when you get that CC is fantastic

We have also just completed our second year reviews and our payments have gone up yet again - husband's went up £40 after first year and then £45 this year and mine went up £20 after first year and £55 this time round. Still not sure how this is worked out as my income definitely hasn't gone up by £110 and this increase appears to be based on my "contractual level" ie when the IVA proposal was made but surely the increase last year takes that increase into account? I'm sure IVA company know what they are doing (Melanie Giles) but it still seems strange. Obviously not happy about £100 increase in payments for both of us but hopefully we can keep things tight and cover this. It's still better than the situation we were in before so grateful for that. It is hard but now able to deal with situation and budget effectively so it doesn't affect us too much. Best of luck to everyone in an IVA at whatever stage.

Can only echo what everyone has said, i got 3 payments left as had to pay a 6th year due to equity and im counting the time down.
Payments for my last year were fixed at my year 5 level, but things still jump up, just had my MOT and it cost me £210 but managed to pay it with my contingensy money but thats wiped out. But i feel time is flying by at the moment and May cant come quick enough as i want my IVA finished before i have my opperation on my arm .

WD LeFran.. keep it up!!

I am the same as you nursecrippen, last payment in May, can't wait but time has gone so slowly this last year as I keep looking for the finishing line after 6 long years !!

Well done everyone.

No one said this road was gonna be an easy ride, but great to hear some positive experiences. It's also refreshing to see how many peoples attitude to money has drastically changed.

I wish I could offer some advice to so many of my friends who are living on credit cards all the time, but they dont listen.

I'm coming to the end of my 6 year IVA and it has been a massive slog! although now looking back doesn't seem 2 minutes ago since I was waiting the outcome of the creditors meeting.

Keep your chin up and solider on!!![8D]