The way ahead

Hi everyone

Onwards & upwards as always.

I could not have done it without this board. The support, inspiration & help I recieved was second to none.

Pat on the back to everyone who has arrived here & doing something positive about their situation.

Lastly thanks to Andy & his admin team

Kathy

Hi Everyone

Well it is 2.5 weeks since my IVA approval and still really happy. Happier than I have been in a long time, quite scary really. I have sent my rather large cheque off to Melanie and although I was dreading it, I was a very positive moment.
I still keep getting lots of default notices which I pop in the post to Liz who is now gathering all the creditors’ final details together.

Unless you are in debt that has eventually come to a head and you are imploding (which I did on the kitchen floor a good few months back, just sunk to the floor & sobbed) people outside can only sympathise with you, they can not truly understand the implications and what you are going through. That is if you are able to actually confide in anyone. I confided in my best friend which was a huge relief. No-one else knew & sometimes I felt like exploding & shouting if you only knew how fragile, sad, unhappy, desperate I was. I really did need help. It was by sheer luck that I stumbled across the IVA forum & thank god I did or I do not know how I would have actually got through this episode in my life. The advice & support I received was such a help & I want everyone to know how much it helped me. Also it was the IVA forum that led me to Melanie who led me through the IVA process successfully.

When you are going through the process of trying to get an IVA no-one can understand the sheer worry we all go through. Even though we have stood up & finally admitting to ourselves that we are in a financial mess it is a very hard thing to do. The good thing of course is that it is when we make that first phone call that things actually start to get better for most of us we have someone to talk to & help us.

Even though I have sorted out my financial mess it has left some nasty scars, mainly because I let it get so bad. For anyone in debt it really is a living nightmare. BUT you can get through it with help, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Make that Call NOW!

OK enough Black Stuff onto more positive things.

I have advertised for my websites and it comes out next week. I feel as free as a bird and although I may worry about little things I generally am enjoying my life again. Got some paint & we are going to decorate the house as it really does need it and that will be a nice feeling to have it all look better. I feel that the IVA is behind me now & I can move on with my life. My brother seem to be getting better and all my kids are fantastic & doing well and my hubby is happy as well he is back singing again when he gets up. He has been so great my rock.

Best of luck to everyone with their IVA’s & thanks to Andy for this excellent Forum.

 

 

Well this time last week I was still waiting for my decision. Thursday morning was heel. Thursday afternoon was heaven.

 

From anyone who has read my blog will know that I ran up my debts through spreadbetting the financial markets. A very dangerous game I played for a few years.

In December I would have said Debt had ruined my life but in some weird way it has enhanced it by pulling hubby & I very close together & making me a lot nicer person. I have lost that anger & bitterness that had crept into my personality.

I also have to say this forum has been a god send all you posters with supportive messages have got me through one of the worst times of my life.

 

Like most here I did not contact my IP (Melanie) for a month or so as I was still trying to face up to what I had done & the guilt was awful. I spoke or rather cried to Tina on the 5^th February. That phone call changed my life. I felt I had help at last I was not sinking any more. There was a way forward. I work for myself & my earnings are erratic so I could not even entertain a DMP or an IVA over a 5 year period so I had to opt for a F & F upfront. My hubby only made one request to change the tel number which I did & I can say it was the best thing I did. All the calls stopped all the letters went of to Melanie & I got on with the next few weeks. I had a meeting with Mel in Cardiff which was great & we turned around the proposal there & I came away with a creditor meeting date. I also met Sarah who was chairing my meeting which I thought was good.

 

 

We cashed in every policy & the silver plus a loan from my sister & friend and came up with 25p in the pound. I felt very positive. 10^th April came & I was approved what a relief to say the least.

All my creditors voted yes aprt from Amex. MBNA did not even bother to vote

 

 

 

My IVA with Melanie took about 9 weeks from contact to conclusion.

My debts were run up by spreadbetting (Gambling in effect)all 150K

I changed my tel number ( I know some people fell worried about it but it had not bad effect at all on my outcome but it did make the days easier to cope with without horrid calls.

I did not pay any creditor a token payment

I only managed to offer 25p

The 9 weeks flew by quickly & dare I say very smoothly

 

 

So for anyone still thinking of picking up the phone and making that call to start the IVA process . Just do it! It will be the best move you make. My case was not an easy case but I still had a great result.

 

 

 

Yes I feel very lucky at the outcome of my creditors meeting but I think I got away with it as debt has taken its toll on my emotionally, mentally, physically &financially.

 

 

Not sure how I feel numb at being so relieved. It has not sunk in yet and I think it will take a while yet. Flowerpot was approved as well yesterday which was great but I really feel for Rollercoaster who had hers refused & OH accepted.

Off to take my youngest to Uni tomorrow for an open day plus I will visit my boys as well. The kids have been great as weel even though they do not fully appreciate what a dilema I was in.

Waitning for chairmans report now

Have a great weekend everyone

 

 

I have been approved with no modifications on my side.
I have to say yesterday morning has to be one of the worst in my life, waiting for new that would really change my life. I really want to shot from the rooftops how relieved I feel. I do not think it has really sunk in yet.  My case was not a straight forward one regarding the marshalling of the mortgage plus how I ran up the debts through trading on the stock-markets. I was offering 25p in the pound. The proposal Melanie drew up read very well though. I do think meeting face to face & actually doing it there together was the best thing I did. I do not yet know all the voting details will post when I have them. After years of this debt problem today means a lot more than most realise as the way I ran up my debt was pretty traumatising especially as I kept it all to myself for a few years.

This is now a clean fresh start for me. My hubby is so pleased as well he has been a rock for me strong supportive & reassuring all the way along.

My thanks go out to Melanie & her team and also everyone here who has given me so much support over the last few months.

I am so happy it must have been those 2 lucky rainbows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really want to shot from the rooftops have relieved I feel. I do not think it has really sunk in yet.  My case was not a straight forward one regarding the marshalling of the mortgage plus how I ran up the debts through trading on the stock-markets. I was offering 25p in the pound. The proposal Melanie drew up read very well though. I do think meeting face to face & actually doing it there together was the best thing I did. I do not yet know all the voting details will post when I have them.

 

 

Well only 2 days to go until my creditors meeting. Feeling nervous as to be expected but I realise that there is nothing I can do as my fate lies in the hands of the creditors. Spoke to Sarah at Melanie’s office as it will be Sarah who is chairing my meeting. She was very re-assuring and I felt better having spoken to her.

I do hope they accept my offer as it really is the best one. I am offering a F & F upfront as my earnings are far too erratic to go over 5 years. I have cashed in endowments etc & my hubby, best friend & sister all helping me out.

I have been training to build websites & published my first one last week. Nice to have done something successful. Hate failure I think that is how I got into this mess in the first place chasing losses.

Time seems to be flying which is a good thing when you are in IVA situation; I have kept myself so busy I am in overdrive & running on Adrenalin.

My next update will be the results from Thursday I have everything crossed and really hope it is a positive outcome.

I travelled up to Cardiff today to have my meeting with Melanie set off at 7.15am & just got home at 17.30pm so a longish day but It was great to meet face to face a huge advantage to both of us.

Well onwards & upwards

Feeling quite positive on the whole today. Monday yuk!What a horrid Monday, daughter failed her driving test & was very upset. It costs so much £58 for test & £40 for car for 2 hours as we live a fair way away. It is such a shame as she is ready just nerves on the day like most of us. Got a nasty letter from Amex solicitors. Angela just said ignore it & pop it in the post.
AS you know I try my best to not listen to any news on the markets or the economy but I can hardly miss it at the moment. I could not help feeling a very slight regret that I had not held my positions trading as I had been saying for about a year I thought the markets would tumble which they did but I had to stop before it happened Just so annoying really .Knowing me I would have probably been contrarian and wanted to buy a falling knives. Hubby says I would have just run up more debt which is the truth really.Feeling a bit nervous about meeting Melanie next week and having to explain face to face how I got into this dreadful mess. I know she is not judgemental & here to help me but I do feel like such a failure. Glad I am going up on the train & not driving.Bad news about my car but getting sorted on transport now. I am going to do my first sale on EBay & sell it for spare parts. Plus cash Tax in & start a little savings car tin with proceeds.Good news is my brother has been given all clear for a major op to go ahead but he has to wait for 3 months .Well it is a lovely sunny morning, cold here . A little robin is perched on my window peeping at me. Put a big smile on my face, simple things like this I now really appreciate in life.As always the forum has been a god send so many wonderful people. 

 

I have my appointment to meet Melanie, was booked on the 24^th forgot it was bank holiday and Melanie works hard enough so changed my train ticket to 25^th instead. Had a barny with Cross Country Trains as they charged me more to change the ticket that it actually was. I thought train would be better as my head is not in the right place for a long drive & it will give me time to think about the meeting. Looking forward to it as it seems to be the next step forward.Well not teary today just very tired. I have not slept properly for about 4 years, even now i still end up in spare room or sofa but I in the last week I have gone the other way & all I want to do is sleep I went to sleep at 8.30pm the other night & slept for 10 hours. I can not even remember doing that as a child. Problem is I still feel tired all the time. I have been reading on the forum about others with sleep problems it really is awful. I always said that if I got my sleep I can tackle anything but even with the better sleep I am getting I feel very very tired. I expect it is years of sleepless nights worrying about the dreaded markets. I held it all together so well for so long I got used to it.A trading friend rang me the other day, she is doing just what I was chasing her tail getting nowhere fast only deeper into debt. I encouraged her to stop before she got into debt as bad as me. I really hope she does. When I put down the phone I actually pitied her as she was still in denial thinking that it will all come good in the end, (which it never does)

Awful weather & hubby rained off which is bad news as he is self employed no work no pay. He works in most weather but yesterday was dangerous (up scaffolding near a cliff)

My brother gets his results today at the hospital so all fingers crossed. XX

Received my vouchers yesterday and gave the kids £10 each and saved the other £70 for special occasions through the year.How nice to know that I have them there ready.

Thanks again to Andy & his admin team

Well I feel a lot better today  thank god