It's getting brighter

I do an awful lot of online surveys which, whilst time consuming, do yield results and if you let points build up over the year it can yield dividends in savings around Christmas time.  This year I have claimed over £200 in vouchers for various sites which has funded a few presents and a decent spend in Tesco when coupled with their own vouchers.

Anyway, a lot of posters ask if I can let them have the details  which I am happy to supply but I thought I would post the links I have in a blog so that they can check the sites out for themselves and I will update with any others I get.

Hopefully the links will work, if not though at least you have the websites to check out and sign up to.

http://www.globaltestmarket.com/

 http://www.valuedopinions.co.uk/about/

 http://my.yougov.com/

 https://www.opinion-people.com/index.php?csite=2&SES=1f61ea31e64e404e4ca12589ea2edb2f

 http://www.iap-interactive.com/Winatripforjoining/tabid/170/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

 http://www.consumerpulse.co.uk/

 https://www.opinionoutpost.com/

 http://portal.justtheanswer.co.uk/communities/default.aspx?p=p16654636

 http://uk.toluna.com/registertol.aspx?bn=2&rgid=1839b94d-873a-4881-8e9d-677f3b108a3a&rsid=&rcid=

 Hope this helps but if there are any problems, let me know via the forum.

I can’t believe, once again, that it is so long since I updated my blog!!!

 IVA continues ok at the moment but we will be hitting a few snags soon but that’s a whole new blog!!

 Last weekend saw another Frugal Friends Christmas meeting, my third since finding the forum. There would have been one last year but the weather was against us so it was cancelled.

 This year was booked at the Travelodge in Northampton with a meal at the Toby Carvery attached to it so we could have a sit down meal rather than a buffet.

 Once again, many thanks to Melanie Giles for funding the evening, especially as she couldn’t be there. She was missed.

There were fifteen of us who attended – myself and my hubby, Tracey and her fiance, Lesley and her husband, luluj and her husband, Roadrunners (Michelle and Kevin), djw and his lovely son Jordan, Skeef and last, but not least, Andy and his wife Bev.

 It was great to meet up with old friends again and also to make some new ones. It’s amazing how we all get on so well considering we’ve never met in the flesh before.

 The evening got off to a dramatic start when one of the barmaids fell and knocked herself out!!! I think she was ok but was taken to hospital for a check up.

 Wasn’t impressed that we weren’t allowed to open a tab behind the bar so poor Andy had to go out and find a cashpoint to get money to buy the drinks!!!! Stupid thing is that we were able to open a tab for the meal!!!

The meal…………….what can I say? Mediocre would be about the best we could say. Meat was tough, veg not good and you had to hunt to find the gravy!!!! As for dessert – luluj will tell you that her Eton Mess was just that, a total mess with very little meringue!!! Rhubarb crumble was cold and custard for it was served in the same sort of bowl as the pudding – where on earth did that come from? Many complaints were made and I believe there was some sort of reduction but not a lot. Unfortunately I was ill later in the evening so made my excuses and went to bed.

 We thought the evening meal was bad? Breakfast was even worse!!!! Not out on time, food was cold and the baked beans were burned!!!!! Needless to say everyone in the restaurant complained and none of us had to pay.

 All in all, not one of our better Christmas get togethers food and location wise, so I think next year a room and a buffet will be better so that we can all mingle rather than be sitting at different tables.

 I’d like to say the weather was kind but although we had no snow, the fog was quite bad.

 I felt awful that the food was so bad, as I was the one organising it but I think everyone had a good time anyway.

 Next year will be different!!

 The poor blog section does seem to have had some problems recently!  Thankfully I saved my last entry so I’ll post it again as I have nothing else new to report at the moment. 

It’s been a while since I posted. I think I find that the longer the IVA goes on now, the less I find to post about, especially as the IVA has been going well. I think a lot of posters find this.

The 16^th July saw the second FF summer do at my house. Could not believe how the weather changed in twenty four hours! On the Friday night it was gorgeous. Saturday morning the heavens opened and it was torrential rain!

Unfortunately some people were unable to come because of the weather and problems with baby sitters.

Those of us that came had a fantastic time though and it was good to see Mel and Andy and his wife again and to meet some brilliant new friends, nepensioner, chas.m and his wife and Pauld172. A big thanks once again to Melanie for funding it.

We’re now looking forward to the Christmas Do which is booked for 19^th November in Northampton. A fair few people have booked already which is brilliant!! A mixture of oldtimers and newbies. Really looking forward to it. Again, thanks to Mel for supplying the food and drinks. 

The IVA continues to run smoothly at the moment although I am getting more and more worried about what is going to happen when hubby goes onto state pension rather than the benefits he is getting now. Who knows what is going to happen? Something to sort out with the IP and I will update the forum and my blog when I know what is going on. 

We have come so far now, I hope we can sort something out.

The 36^th payment has left our account today so that’s officially three years in. Whilst I think time is starting to drag a little now, when I look back it seems to have flown by!   Wish I could feel more positive about it though.  I know we are not struggling as much as some posters but it seems to be going on forever!

We have been lucky so far – no major appliances have needed replacing and the car hasn’t needed a lot of major work doing to it, just tyres really which my parents paid for as a Christmas present a couple of years ago!  They’ve also just paid for us to have artificial grass laid in the back garden – it looks great, much better than the green algae and tufts of grass left after a couple of hard winters and three dogs! This is guaranteed for 10 years.

My stepdaughter is now well on the way to an IVA with Mel and her company – I do hope she gets accepted and and realises that she has to pull her belt in!

 I’d like to think that we are well over halfway now. Unfortunately I think that because of the equity release we have now officially reached the halfway mark. Can’t mark it on my avatar unless I change the date of acceptance but I think I would get too depressed if I changed it now – far rather wait until I come to the end of the five years and then change it so that it shows twelve payments left!

The forum continues to go from strength to strength. We have new mentors who have been with us for a long time now and deserve the recognition. We have a lot of new posters as well and I’m proud to be able to help them on their way. There have been so many posters that I have seen come and go that have been able to sort out their IVA with our help.

 I am friends with so many people now on and off forum (love seeing people on facebook so I know who I am talking to!)  Have met a lot of them as well.  Don’t know of too many forums where that happens.

 FF this summer looks to be the best one yet! Lots of people have expressed an interest in coming and I know some have made a firm booking at local hotels. I am really looking forward to it.

I’m proud to be part of this forum.

What a week I have had! From looking at my countdown to retirement on my calendar which was due to change to three figures rather than four in the next couple of weeks, I may well have to add a couple of thousand days on!

 I’m a public sector worker and have paid into a final salary pension scheme for years and was looking forward to being able to retire in just under three years time when I hit the big 60.

 Now the light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little dimmer (I think the bulb is on its way out!) and the tunnel has not only been extended but it’s been partially bricked up as well!

 If the recommendations from the Hutton report get accepted there is a good chance that I won’t be able to retire until I am 63 and I really do not think I will be capable of doing the job I do at that age. I’m already forgetful now so lord knows what will happen by 2016!

 Not only that but I will be taking what can only amount to a pay cut after the Winsor report on public sector pay.

 It has really got to me this week – I’m normally quite positive but can see that our IVA may hit the skids in the next few months and I’m not sure if we will be able to afford to carry on.

 If only we had taken further advice when we first got into debt and done an IVA then – we would have been almost finished by now instead of having at least two, and more likely three years to go.

 My biggest fear is losing my home – we’ve lived here for 22 years now and I really don’t want to leave but if the IVA fails then bankruptcy is the only thing left for us.

Next week I’m off to a workshop on ‘Managing Stress’ – let’s hope it helps me be more positive.

 Sorry about the doom and gloom but I had to let it out somewhere and don’t want to worry my hubby until I have to!

It’s been almost three years since we started the IVA. At times it seems to have slowly but then I sit here looking back and start wondering where on earth the time has gone!

Had a phone call at the beginning of the week to make arrangements for our annual review, something I always dread even though I know it is routine.

We checked and double checked our I&E – things have gone up so much, petrol in particular, however having looked at our figures I did wonder if they would be accepted. As I said to hubby though – we give them these figures, it isn’t as though we don’t spend them – they can only say no.

The appointed time came………and went! No call! About fifteen minutes later though the phone rang and she couldn’t have been more apologetic. We went through the figures and the only thing I wasn’t allowed to increase was meals at work. That I can cope with. The fuel and food rises were fine. She even asked if we were happy maintaining the IVA payments at the level they are! The devil in me wanted to say ‘no, I’d prefer to pay nothing at all’ but didn’t know if she would have a sense of humour or not!

Yesterday we had the confirmation letter saying that our payments will remain the same and just requesting payslips and a P60 (which of course we don’t have yet and I’ve never actually sent off before!)

To those who haven’t yet experienced an annual review or waiting for this years, it’s not as bad as you think and you know that a further 12 months has gone and you are closer to the end of your IVA.

Our problems will start at the end of the year when hubby officially becomes an old git and his income will be halved. Not looking forward to having to sort that out but our company don’t want to look at it at the moment so we’ll carry on as we are.

I’d like to think we only had two more years to go but in reality it will involve an extra one as we won’t get a remortgage so I think I can say that we are halfway through now.

Still love to see those months counting down in my avatar though!

Just to let everyone know that Topsy is now back to her normal self thank goodness!

It was a worry yesterday, more because she was so ill – I’d have sorted the money out from somewhere if I’d had to.

Thankfully it seems that I won’t have to.

Sorry for blogging about that but I did feel the need to write it down somewhere as I was so worried about her.

Well I said on the forum this morning that I found I didn’t have much to say in my blogs unless something untoward or good happened.

Famous last words! One of my dogs, Topsy became ill yesterday evening. Started being sick and was not her usual self and those who have met her know that she is a real livewire. She was very lethargic and we had the night from hell up and down stairs when she was ill.

This morning she went for a walk although initially she didn’t seem interested, but then she wanted her lead on and was fine. We gave her a little bit of breakfast and although she was still very quiet we thought she had kept it down.

It was not to be though – she lasted a couple of hours and was then sick again. Our vets is fortunately open on a Saturday so we took her down there. She’s had a jab to stop the sickness and her temperature is normal. She has some oral paste to settle her stomach so fingers crossed that it works. If she is sick again within the next 24 hours then she has to go back and be kept in to see if she has a blockage. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen. Quite apart from the fact that we are worried about her, there is the financial side of things. It’s cost us £45 today. OK we have insurance but there is an excess of £75 and we have to pay out for any treatment before claiming it back.

The main thing though is that she ok – I’ll keep the forum posted on that.

Here we are again, another update needed!

Coming up to 34 months now and whilst I think that the time has gone slowly sometimes, I can’t believe that three years has almost gone!

It’s also been three years since I started posting on the forum. I needed help to start off with as I hadn’t much of a clue about debt problems and how to solve them. We had been in an DMP for over twelve months as we were told an IVA wasn’t right for us. Thankfully we contacted Payplan and the rest is history as far as that is concerned. Found the forum shortly before signing on the dotted line and it has been such a help. I’m so glad now that I am in a position to be able to help existing posters and new ones.

The forum has made me such great friends, some of whom I have met in person thanks to the generosity of Melanie Giles who funds Frugal Friends meetings and Andy Davie of Vincent Bond who has hosted experts meetings.

My stepdaughter, who I have mentioned on the forum before, has finally realised that the advice we gave her a few years ago about trying for an IVA was good and she should have taken it!

She was in a DMP but it was going to be going on forever – she phoned us up last week in tears as MBNA had threatened to take a charge on her home. They didn’t recognise her DMP.

I suggested that she contacted Mel (apologies to the other experts!) which she has done. There was a bit of ‘missing phone calls’ but eventually things were sorted and she managed to speak to the company.

She phoned me a couple of nights ago in tears and I thought that she couldn’t be helped, but she was just emotional because Melanie s company reckon they can sort her out with an IVA. She was so relived and so were we!

She is a single parent with not much help from her daughters father so I am hoping she will now realise that she has to pull her belt in for a few years and then she will be debt free.

Fingers crossed that she is accepted as we have been worried about her. I’m just glad that we have been able to help her and she hasn’t had to muddle through as we have. At least she knows that help is only a phone call away and if she has any problems she can always phone us. I’ve told her to sign up to the forum but whether she will I don’t know.

As to us – had a bit of a fright last week when the heating didn’t come on! Just seemed to be a bit of a problem with pressure dropping and it’s now been re pressurised and hopefully will be OK. Don’t fancy having to ask for a payment break having managed to get this far.

Annual review due soon so have to get I&E sorted for that but with petrol etc. having gone up I don’t think there will be much of a change. I’ve had my last pay rise for a few years so it’ll be a case of cutting back on things I think.

Nationwide are all sorted now and I love the new card as it is accepted everywhere, even Asda petrol pumps!

The next thing for us to worry about is in December when hubby becomes an OAP and his benefits will drop – have no idea what we are going to do about that but we’ll sort that out later in the year once we know exactly how much money he will be getting.

Times could get tougher!

Another Christmas and New Year has come and gone, the third one since the IVA started. This year we spent even less than other years – my internet survey vouchers come in so handy and I give them out as presents. Ebay has been a lifesaver as well both for buying and selling. My parents stayed with us and helped out with food costs. We cut down again this year and I still think we will be throwing some things away and we didn’t even buy any party snacks!

Hubby and I did not buy each other anything this year – nothing we wanted or needed. In years gone by we would have bought something expensive and it would probably never have been used so a lesson has been learned there I think. December is not a good month though with four close family members (myself included) having birthdays.

We have been managing our finances quite well considering and it’s not been often when we have wondered where the next penny is coming from. As soon as most of the Direct Debits have gone out, I sit down and work out what else has to come out and how much we have left – it’s never much but at least we are in the black.

Not so sure about this year though. I’ve just had a pay rise, and it will be the last for the foreseeable future. VAT is going up and fuel duty as well so heaven knows how much fuel is going to cost now. Our car is a bit of a gas guzzler so other than journeys to work for me, I think that’s about it. We won’t be visiting anyone.

Still, we will be coming up to our third review soon, I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone.

Hopefully our payments will remain the same.

Happy New Year to all posters whether in an IVA, bankrupt, DMP, forum experts, or just looking in.

I imagine we might get a bit busier once the credit card bills hit the mat this month.