Well I realised today that it has been over 6 months since my last blog !!
Reason I think has been the workload of working for Vincent Bond and looking after the IVA.co.uk site.
In terms of what has happened to me and indeed the world of insolvency during this time ?
Well we held our Xmas Frugal Friends meeting in November, with our largest turn out. I did a brief interview with Sky News in Feb and had my Ato Z of debt published in the Daily Mirror. All the above help people to find IVA.co.uk and to hopefully start the ball rolling in terms of dealing with their problems.
The support from people on the site is still amazing and non judgemental.
We have enjoyed David Monds input onto the forum and we are now lucky to have two of the countries top Insolvency Practitioners posting on the site.

In January I was lucky enough to get away for a two week holiday to Florida, a week in Orlando just chiling by the pool and a week down on the Gulf Coast [Fort Myers] fishing. We did not catch a thing !!! Saw fish swimming past all day but just could not catch them.

The IVA.couk site is due for a make over shortly so hopefully we will see even more traffic on the forum, we are just coming up to the 9000 mark for forum members, amazing when you think that it stood at just 100 when I first joined and posted as Neverending.
Must just say a special thank you to Kallis [Jan] who has posted day and night almost non stop. She has become a very knowledgable forum member and has made sure that all questions are answered very quickly.

I have pledged to myself to update my blog on a regular basis……..let’s hope I keep to my word

On Tuesday the 23rd September I travelled upto Nottingham to the offices of The Insolvency Exchange and interviewed Martin Prigent,head of external affairs,for IVA.co.uk TV
I had met Martin before,about a year ago,and had discussed in detail the recent changes bought on by the introduction of the TIX compliant IVA (see a previous blog).I was interested to hear how the relationship between TIX and the IPs had faired over the last year and also was looking forward to hearing about the new Debt Standard that TDX,(parent company),had introduced.
You can see my interview shortly on the TV section of the site

Well a superb location,hotel,friends and food !!!
This was an excellent meeting of frugal friends kindly sponsored by Steve Rees,MD of Vincent Bond and Co,www.vincentbond.com
We had another great turn out
The “usual suspects” attended,Angie[Aguise] and hubby Steve,Tracey[Skippy]and partner Dave,Myself and Bev,Paul Johns[Reviva],John and Gwen Tegg[Coveritall] and of course Melanie.We were joned for the first time by Steve Rees,Irene [Moretolife] and husband Chris,Suzanne[Stressed Suzanne] and husband Jeff,Trevor [Debts47k],and by David,who has only recently started to post.
As always the evening was very informal and we had a great finger buffet laid on by the hotel.
Topics discussed ranged from the current shift towards DMPs,the effects of the credit and mortgage crunch,life before and during an IVA,the pros and cons of bankruptcy over other debt solutions.For David,who has yet to find a solution,it was a great chance to discuss face to face with the experts the options available to him.
The evening rounded off with a free prize draw for a bottle of champagne and an ice bucket,thanks to Paul Johns of Reviva,this was won by Angie.Each person also received a gift of a Jack Daniels hip flask,again courtesy of Paul.
A truly superb evening,everyone is welcome to the next frugal friends to be held in November.
See he events page link on the left hand side of the homepage.

Well this meeting was by far our best attended with a whopping 27 forum members,partners and experts turning up.The IBIS hotel didn’t know what hit them !!!
Those who attended were………..
Myself and Bev,Melanie along with Angela and Sarah from her office,John and Gwen Tegg from Coveritall,Paul Johns from Reviva,Gavin and his wife Donna,Moneystinks and partner,Debbie[Soulgrowth],Angie[Aguise]and hubby Steve[very well behaved],Mr and Mrs Skint,Viki.w and partner,Pixie,Angela18 and partner,Plec and partner,Dee and partner and finallyJames C popped in with some lovely pictures of his twins.
It was difficult to keep up with everyones drinks needs with so many attending but Mel’s Angela did a great job in helping me.
Aplogies if anyone was left waiting for too long.
The evening started in the bar/lounge area and once everyone had arrived we moved to the breakfast area and enjoyed a small buffet.We formed a seated circle so that we could all have a good chat.Admin had kindly printed off some name badges[forum names only]and this made it easier to remember who was who.
We chatted about how easy it was to get into debt,the ease of how credit card limits are increased,at what point we realise that there is a problem,how long it takes to do something about it,how to go about contacting a provider,the various solutions available,the waiting for the creditors meeting,what to do if the proposal is rejected,annual reviews,how to deal with having no credit and only using cash[infact the hotel would only accept payment of a room with cash if someone had photo ID !!!],how to deal with the constant phone calls etc etc.
Many people were interested in how the forum first started and how busy it has become.
The evening was really informal,a bit like a school reunion meeting and I hope everyone felt at ease.For those members attending for the first time it must have been really nerve racking but I hope you found that it was worthwhile.
For me the evening was great success,when I think back to my very first meeting in Manchester last year where only one couple turned up we have certainly come a long way.I feel as if I am talking to friends that I have known for ages
I hope that frugal friends continues to grow and continues to bring together people who have so much in common
Look out for details of the next one,sceduled for September

Today myself and Melanie met Steve Nicholson,finanace director for the CCCS[Consumer Credit Counselling Services] and CEO for the CCCS Voluntary Arrangements.We also met the resident IP for the VA’s,Jackie Westerman at the CCCS’s headquarters in Leeds.
Steve had kindly invited us both some weeks ago and agreed to be interviewed and filmed for the IVA.co.uk TV page.
It would be fair to say that the CCCS had taken a bit of a bashing on the forum over the last year so I was looking forward to giving Steve the chance to answer some of those critics and to explain the inner workings of the CCCS in a positive and informative way.
He didn’t disappoint !!
You will be able to see the interview in full in a few days time but for me the VA operation seemed really polished.Jackie and her team have a clear structure and process for compiling,proposing and supervising VAs and anybody contemplating an IVA with the CCCS has nothing to worry about.
Steve spoke strongly about best advice and about being ethical,two things that I consider to be paramount for any debt solution.
The much debated guidelines are exactly that,guidelines.If you feel that the allowance is genuinely not enough then you must ensure that your IP puts down your expenditure figure with a note in the proposal explaining the need for the higher figure.The amounts for the guidelines are from expenditure levels of actual CCCCS client in DMPs and are due to be updated soon.
A very interesting,informative and enjoyable day,my thanks to Steve and Jackie for their time and for making us both feel very welcome.

Well we had a record equalling turn out,15 people.These Saturday night frugal friends seem very popular and this meeting was organised and sponsored by John and Gwen Tegg of Protectiva[Coveritall].
The location was so easy to find and the hotel smart and well managed.
It took us just over two hours to travel the 135 miles and arrived at around 5.30pm.After checking in I joined John and Gwen for a drink whilst Bev finished getting herself ready.I had seen Emma[Emma t],Ang[Aguise],Debbie[Soulgrowth] and friend Dave whilst checking in and they had nipped off for a pre meeting drink in another bar.
Teresa[Treen] and her partner Shaun were in the bar area already and made themselves known to me.Tracey[Skippy]and partner Dave arrived soon after as did Steve and Lin,they were regular forum readers but had never posted even though they were in an IVA.
Once Melanie arrived we all went into a meeting room that John had hired and got chatting about the current issues and forum postings.We then moved into the hotel restuarant and had a wonderful hot buffet
We then moved back into the meeting room and chatted until gone 11pm.
A really great evening and thanks to John and Gwen for picking up the cost and organising such a friendly and informative meeting.
I had bought John a bottle of whiskey to say thank you but had left it in my room.The next morning he had left before I had a chance to give it to him.A bottle of 10 year old Famous Grouse awaits you John !!

Well on paper this had the makings of my best ever attended frugal friends meeting with fifteen people confirmed,and I wasn’t disappointed as all managed to attend.
Now I had changed the day for the meeting from the usual mid week slot to a Saturday eveing[thanks to Aguise for suggesting] and this was probabaly the main reason for the great turn out,however what I hadn’t factored for was just how busy the area surrounding the hotel would be[it’s located right in the main city centre].We had used this hotel before and it seemed fine,although it had no parking it was just by the main train station however most people chose to drive and the lack of nearby parking and horrible weather made getting to the venue an adventure in itself.
John and Gwen[Coveritall] arrived early and nipped out for a Pizza,followed by Debbie[Soulgrowth] and then myself and Bev.Pixie[anna] and Emma T followed soon after and we settled down for a chat over a drink.
I had checked at reception about the hot and cold buffet and was told that the restuarant were expecting us and to go in when we were ready,I also gave them my business card and asked them to direct anybody looking for Andy or mentioning IVA.co.uk to the lounge area upstairs.
Gavin and Donna arrived next followed by Ang[Aguise] and Kris[Lilly],we all chatted about life in an IVA and how people were finding it,most were coping well and that was good to hear.
New forum member Gavin arrived next[totalgav] followed by Paul Johns[Reviva] and Martin.By this time we had taken over the lounge area and had used nearly every seat and sat in a big circle.Everyone seemed to be relaxed and chatty and before we knew it the time was approaching 9pm.
Melanie arrived,having been held up with heavy traffic and parking problems,after getting her a drink I went to check on our buffet only to be told that the restaurant closed at 9pm and that they could not find us,so had packed the food away !!!
Now as we were virtually the only ones in the hotel lounge/bar I found this amazing,but after a brief conversation they agreed to keep the restaurant open and serve our buffet.
Well words can’t describe what we were offered,bacon,scampi,chops,grated cheese,etc etc.Very poor to say the least.
I felt sorry for Melanie as she was sponsoring this part of the meeting and after the long jouney must of felt extremely angry,she went to speak with the duty manager whilst the rest of us made the best of the offerings.
After being told that we had to be out of the restuarant by 10pm we gathered again in the lounge and continued the meeting right through until gone midnight.All areas of insolvency were discussed and time flew by
Kris[Lily]had kindly arranged for a bouquet of flowers to thank Melanie,on behalf of us all,for her continued support and for sponsoring the buffet.
It really was an excellent and very enjoyable meeting,despite the problems,and I am already looking forward to the next one

I had the opportunity to interview Mark Simon this week.Mark is the Chief Executive Officer for Tuxedo money solutions based in London.The Tuxedo card is a pre paid card that can be used in the same way that a credit card can,without the danger of overspending and incurring costs,and is accepted in all the same outlets as well as online.
Have a look at the interview because Mark speaks very highly of IVA.co.uk and also gives a good overview of the Tuxedo card.

I took the train upto Manchester Monday afternoon and was hoping for our best ever frugal friends turn out.My very first frugal friends had been in Manchester,same venue,some ten months before and I had one couple turn up.I was really keeping my fingers crossed that forum members Mr and Mrs Skint would come and I wasn’t disappointed as they arrived a few minutes early.We soon got chatting over a drink and I was amazed at how Lisa and her husband had coped with all that’s been thrown at them,Lisa has MS and her youngest is possibly autistic.Bearing in mind that they have also been through,and successfully concluded,an IVA you can only admire them.
Melanie and Andrew Graveson arrived next and had driven from Wales,Andrew was on soft drinks only so I quickly asked the hotel to cancel the extra brewery delivery that they had lined up for the evening!!
John and Gwen Tegg then came down,having checked in earlier,and as I was getting the drinks in Ian Millington arrived,followed shortly by Mike[Size5].Finally one of John’s business associates joined us,he specialised in web optimisation.So all in all there were ten of us,the best turn out to date.
Conversation covered all areas and it was interesting to have Lisa and husband John there to answer questions from Melanie about how they first came accross the IVA.co.uk website and nice to hear that they got their idea for a full and final settlement directly from advice given by Melanie on the forum.Lisa was also glad to meet Andrew who had arranged the remortgage for their full and final.
Both Ian and Mike came across very well during the evening and are both genuinely concerned with the ever changing debt industry.
It really was a great evening and although Melanie,Andrew,Lisa and John had to leave,as they were driving back,myself,Ian,Size5 and John Tegg continued to chat and drink right through until close to midnight.I lost count of the times I heard ‘let’s just have one more ‘

My next meeting will be in either London or Birmingham in March,look out for details

I drove down to Wales,on the afternoon of the 18th,to meet up with forum experts Andrew Graveson and Melanie Giles.I was due to interview Andrew for IVA.co.uk TV the next day and as I was staying over[400mile round trip]we thought that we would get to gether for a drink and natter the evening before.
Melanie kindly picked me up from my hotel at around 7pm and we met Andrew in a wine bar a couple of miles away in the Cardiff Bay centre.After a few glasses of wine we walked to a local pasta restuarant and quickly downed a three course dinner.Before I knew it had gone midnight and we called it a night.Many thanks to both Melanie and Andrew for a great evening[more thanks to Andrew for picking up the restuarant bill].
The next morning I walked to Andrew’s offices located just opposite Cardiff Bay station and we nipped out and grabbed a coffee.Adrian from Film 121 arrived shortly afterwards and we set up the meeting room ready for the interview.
Andrew owns a debt management company,Brightoak,and also is a mortgage broker.I found his insight into the debt industry most interesting and could sense that he believes very strongly in customer service and the right advice being given as an absolute priority.He seemed to have the same ethos and beliefs as Melanie when it comes to debt issues.
A very enjoyable couple of days and I look forward to meeting Andrew again as he is a regular attendee of both our debt debates and frugal friends meetings