A massive change for us  - I am officially out of work after taking voluntary redundancy. Yikes its scary!! Even though I know it was the right decision for me personally its still hard to get my head around…no job to go to!!

The redundnacy pay will keep us going for a few months and if need be we will have to contact the OR to see about having the payments reduced/stopped. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.. I’m applying for lots of jobs and have been rejected for 2 for being over qualified! So I’m now dumbing down my CV….being a HR Manager, I know some of the tricks of the trade.

Its also been a very difficult time famlilywise…my daughter and Mum have  had serious health scares and this weekwaiting for daughter’s results, I honestly thought my heart was going to stop! Thankfully and I have sent up a few prayers…there was positive news all around.

Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for a dear fellow poster…..we had the most unbearable sad news on the forum this week. I really cannot express the sadness felt, yet admire the way this poster and her family have fought. The love they share is second to none and one I hold in awe.My thoughts are with them xx

I can hardly believe one year ago tomorrow hubby was declared BR. I remember how much of a nervous wreck I was leading up to the court date. I met up with Melanie Giles before hand and spoke to a friend of hers who had been down the BR route. Add that onto the advice and support from the forum and I certainly felt blessed that we were going into BR with our eyes completley open. Certainly in a far better position than when hubby entered the IVA. Going to court was so much easier than I had feared. Everyone was so helpful and no-one looked down their nose at us.

You’ll probably remember , the decision to go BR wasn’t ours through choice. I still cannot believe and get so annoyed to think creditors refused monthly payments of over £500 from us. Okay this was a reduction to the original repayment, but still it was a better return than they’re getting in BR. Whether they thought they would call our bluff and we’d struggle with the IVA I don’t know…….

I now know our IVA payments were far too high in the first instance and even though I will never have to go down that route again, I have learnt so many lessons by it. I feel priveledged to be a memeber of the forum and be allowed to advice others on how to ensure an IVA is set up to succeed. Even though BR has worked out for us, it would have been great if the IVA had been a success.

Hubby had an early discharge from BR and will shortly be removed from the register. We still have just over 2 years of the IPA payments to make and have to ensure credit files are updated, but I’m so pleased we have got this far.

Personally we’ve had a lot of ups and downs during the IVA and BR. A lot of the stress we went through is only now beginning to show, especially with me. I’ve always got on with things and put a mask on to the outside world….unfortunatley my mask has slipped hard and I’ve come close to having a breakdown. Apparently this has been caused by a number of factors, including the stress of debt worries.

I implore everyone not to bottle up feelings and please share your worries, be it with family, friends or the forum.

I hope I can use my experience to go find employment in the debt advice field. I would love to help others and I believe having personally been through the mill will be a huge bonus.

Thanks for reading and supporting us through our journey so far xx

So the New Year is here and we are absolutley determined this will be a better one than last year. Its almost a year since hubby went BR after his IVA failed and on the money side, things have been fairly smooth. It still amazes me how huge the differences are in BR compared to IVA’s.

There has been talk on the forum that BR allowances are going to be tightened up - now I don’t know if I agree with that. As someone who has seen both sides of the coin, I think the BR allowances are realistic, its the IVA allowances that need to be brought in line with BR. All to often we are reading of posters struggling in their IVA because the allowances are too tight and unrealistic, surely this tells its own story?

Even though going BR was a relief to us, I would still not recommend it over an IVA..why? Quite simply, I believe you should pay back what you owe/or at least as much as possible. In my mind, Hubby knowingly borrowed the money, so he should pay it back -to the best of his means. In addition, I don’t think people fully realise what going BR means..okay so the stigma may have reduced over the years, but if asked you still have to declare the BR on formal forms. It can affect your current job and any future career, so believe me its not an easy option.

On saying that, I am still annoyed with creditors who push people into BR through pure greed. Its unbelievable that we were prepared to pay over £500 a month into the IVA, yet it was rejected, hence the BR.

I really hope more people read the forum before making any decision….its a huge step whether its IVA/BR and not one to be taken lightly.

On the positive side, a few posters will be coming to the end of their journeys this year. What a fantastic achievement! I hope they’ll stick around(I’m sure they will) as their stories will give hope to those starting out.

So another year,/decade is upon us. I know I’m now in the “older” generation…being 41! How do I know? Well I call this year two thousand and ten….if you were young, you’d call it twenty ten! So which group do you belong in lol

Happy New Year All! xx

December is in full swing and the year is almost over. On reflection this has been one of the toughest years and we have faced the hardest challenges so far. The IVA failed and hubby went BR early in the year. This was very stressful, however it proved to be the right decision for us.

My job has been through so many changes I’ve felt like throwing it in so many times. Hubby had a very bad year which resulted in him being off work for 9 weeks…given he has only had 1 week off in over 19 years previously,it showed how serious this was. It was very difficult and such a relief when he did return to work.

Personally, we have had so much heartache, definitely more than anyone deserves. It has really tested us as a couple and at this moment I don’t know where we’ll end up.

All in all, I will be so glad to see the end of this year and will welcome the new year with open arms…

Finally we have received notification that haubby is no longer bankrupt. It was due to end in Feb 2010 but he was granted early discharge on the 20th November. We just feel its another step towards freedom of debt. Its been a long and arduous journey and we still have monthly payments to make into the BR until 2012, but we are getting there.

This year has been difficult and I’m so hoping it will end on a high for us and everyone else who posts on the forum.

I also had a lovely surprise from my ex boss. He offered me a single bed for our spare room as his little girl has a new bed. It may not seem much but this bed is like new, with bedding and will be great for when our grand-daughters stay over. At the moment they share a double bed and its blooming hard work trying to get them to sleep. Anyway not only did we have the bed for free, but he drove down to Wales from Solihull for us. He told me, he done it without thinking as he likes me as a person. Hey maybe Karma does work! I certainly am somoeone who tries to see good in everyone and gives everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Through being like this,and through my job.I meet lots of different people from all walks of life. I am in a position to employ people who are known as “hard to employ”. I was fortunate enough to meet an amazing young lady with learning disabilities and offered her a position. Boy did this lady give me pleasure, bring light into our office and prove to the world that she was a star! She turned out to be one of the better employees and after sucessfully working for us went on to attend college. How proud I was to see her do that!

Unfortunately, the shine was taken away from this star and she passed away recently, 23yrs young!  It certainly puts things into perspective and yet even though it made me sad, I am so happy and priveledged to have been a very small part of her life.

So, when the going gets tough, please remember life is so so short. Live and enjoy it!

I’ve just returned from the FF Xmas night and wanted to say what a brilliant time I had. I drove upto Walsall  yesterday and even managed to find the venue ..which in itself is an accomplishment for me! After i checked in, I went downstairs to find the other”experts” we were being filmed for IVA.co.uk and having a quick meeting. Even though I have been communicating with the others for almost 2 years on  the forum along with facebook and emails etc. I had never actually met anyone in person. t

I phoned Jan and she kindly met me outside the room……it was like meeting a dear friend, hardly surprising because thats how I feel about Jan and others who have supported me so much. In the room, were Lisa and hubby, LadyH and of course Jan’s lovely hubby Dave.

Andy Davie was interviewing Size5 and it was so nice to actually meet these experts who give up so much of their time to help others. I done my interview, which wasn’t so much of an interview as I gabbed so much, poor Andy didn’t get a chance to ask me any questions!

Lesley turned up during my interview and it was lovely to meet her. As we’re friends on FB, I feel as if I really know everyone, but nothing makes up for actually being able to talk in the flesh so to speak.

After a quick change into my posh frock and killer heels……mmmm they really do kill believe me! It was back downstairs to enjoy the party. More people arrived and it was great to put faces to names. Some posters brought their partners and everyone was relaxed. Melanie was there along with Melanie N and Tina…and I know some posters appreciated being able to talk to Melanie off forum for advice.

There was plenty of lovely food, a free bar and a disco to enjoy. Jan and hubby had decorated the room and we all had great fun popping poppers and spraying silly string…..some more than others. Not mentioning any names …..LadyH lol! We even had our own special frugal secret santa…I got a money tin, which has a picture of the queen on it, well I’m sure its the queen despite Lesley telling me its her Mum lol . I spent a lot of the evening talking to Lesley and her hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After breakfast and another good natter we said our goodbyes. I’m sure we’ll meet up again and I’m looking forward to the next one already! Marksam had also travelled from Wales and I stalked himout of england….mm wonder if he noticed hee hee

I would like to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and would say to all posters, please try and attend a FF. You would not believe how relaxed and friendly it all is….

Thanks everyone! xx

Wow, I can’t believe we’re in November already…although part of me, wants the year to pass and fade away, I still can’t believe we’re nearing the end of another year.

Despite 4 emails and 2 phonecalls, we have had no response on early discharge of BR. Personally, I would have insisted on an answer from the OR, but hubby still suffers from mild”HEAD IN THE SAND ” syndrome and is quite happy  for the BR to run its course. I can uderstand how he thinks, yet I am astonished at the lack of customer service we have receive. Its at this point I have to ” reel myself in” and accept not everyone works to my high standard. ……bloody frustrating though!

Forum wise, I haven’t been able to post as much as usual. Not only is my laptop out of service, but I have beeen very ill plus been waiting to see if my contract of employment has been renewed.

I’m on the road to recovery and I have been offered a job within my organistation.  However, there are contactual issues and as a HR Manager specialising in employment law, you can imagine I’m not going to let them get away with anything!

The Christmas FF is very close and I’m looking forward to it….be great to meet and thank those who have given me so much support . I hope there’s a good turn out and posters will be comfortable to attend.

Still haven’t heard from OR about hubby being discharged early….now I know it said on the letter NOT to contact them, as this could delay their decision, but I am going to email them tomorrow. I can’t understand why everything takes so long, the 28 day deadline for creditors to object has long passed, so surely it should just be a quick letter to hubby.

If he’s not discharged early, it won’t be the end of the world as its only 5 months to go before the year is up….how quick is the time going?

We enjoyed our day at the races and won oceans of money……to us anyway lol, probably only a very small puddle in reality! The course was brilliant, one of the better ones, especially when the sun is shining. Definitely, will be visiting again , as it was less thsan 30 minutes drive and such a fab day out. Just have to wait for birthdays etc..to be able to fund it.

Unfortunately, we had sad news  the same weekend. I suffered another miscarriage and as you can imagine, it completely shook our world. I’m lucky and thankful for my forum friends, who gave me support and kind words to get through the dark, dark days that follow. Thank you all xx

The cloud is lifting and I am trying to focus on the future. My youngest daughter has announced her wedding will be next October. She is so organised and very,very good with money, most things have been booked and deposits paid already. She will have everything in place and booked by the end of the year! I’m so glad that we will actually be able to help out - a year ago there would have been no chance! Now, with careful planning and bargain hunting, we can pay for her dress , which will fill us with pride on the big day. She is very sensible and will not have any thoughts on silly priced dresses…..well I hope not anyway

We have missed going abroad this year, as circumstances wouldn’t allow for a break. Still, its been a nice 2 weeks off, been taking Dobby out for walks and basically enjoying having nothing to do. We’re going to plan a holiday for 2 years time - IPA payments will be nearing the end and I would have repaid family the money we had to borrow whilst in IVA. We’re thinking of going to Canada - so if anyone has any experiences or suggestions please let me know.

On the form, there seems to be a lot of new posters. I hope they will start blogs as I truly believe they are a useful tool for posters and readers.

Xx

We’re still waiting for the OR to confirm if hubby gets early discharge from BR….the 28 day notice to creditors has just passed, so should hear something pretty soon. I haven’t mentioned it to hubby as he’s not been well for a while and I can’t risk adding anymore pressure…..so little old me ( well not so little and not that old lol) has kept it to myself Thank God I have the forum to share everything with!

You’ll know from my posts that Dobby hurt his leg, its still in bandage and its been hard work trying to keep him off the poorly leg. He’s also broken out in a skin infection, which the vet says is worse due to stress, so my poor little man is feeling really sorry for himself. Luckily we had free insurance with the kennel club, so we’ll be able to claim a lot of the expense back. It still hurts the purse strings to pay out £300 to date. I’m just glad we’ve learnt to budget so well and had the money in our contingency fund.

Lily’s cat Cole has also been very ill lately and it was nailbiting to say the least, to see if Cole made it after his major operation. I am so very pleased he did and I know Lily and the children are glad to have him home where he belongs.

Our pets are so precious to us…..again the forum gives so much support and advice.

Unfortunately, there have been a few ultra negative posts lately and hopefully Skippy and admin managed to delete these before any new posters could see. Last thing we’d want is someone looking for support reading the drivel that was posted. I also had a not so lovely comment posted on my blog…..ahh such is life, I’m glad I’m not so sad and shallow to have to revert to being rude to strangers.

On a nicer note, hubby and I are going to the races today. Its something we really enjoy doing as a couple but obviously since the IVA/BR our days out have been limited. Its not that we bet a lot, but the whole day can be expensive. Luckily there’s a new course not far from us and friends and family have helped us out with costs through birthday and anniversary donations. We also emptied out the penny pot yesterday and had a whopping £103.64 so we’re going for a cooked breakfast now before treating ourselves to lunch at the races……oh and the sun is out in all her glory!!! Lets hope ladyluck shines on us too

Hopefully, I’ll have some news on the BR soon to update with…..hope it will help others embarking on BR.

Thanks for reading xx

Just a little bit of news, hubby has been in BR for 6 months now. Received letter from OR’s office, early discharge may be possible. We have had to complete an I&E form and they will then contact the creditors. If there are no objections, then early discharge will be granted.

Fingers crossed hubby gets ED and there are no changes in the IPA either….its always a fraught time when you submit I&E forms, isn’t it?

Well, I’ll keep you updated.

On a completley different note - our forum baby Lily isn’t do too well at the moment, so please everyone send prayers and thoughts to get her stronger quickly xx