They know how to do it in Ireland.

[tommy.irene]

Give up satellite TV and don't go on foreign holidays, Irish homeowners filing for bankruptcy are told
Ireland's Insolvency Service will allow only eight euros a day for foodDebtors must give up cars and private health insurance under new rules120,000 homeowners are in arrears on their mortgage repayments

By HELEN LAWSON

PUBLISHED: 12:50 GMT, 19 April 2013 | UPDATED: 17:11 GMT, 19 April 2013

Comments (39)Share

Irish debtors must give up foreign holidays, satellite television and feed themselves on eight euros (about £6.80) a day under new monthly spending rules introduced by the government to tackle the country's debt problems.

Ireland's Insolvency Service will allow a debtor to spend 57 euros a month on heating bills and 126 euros on socialising, while they must remove their children from private schools, give up any private health insurance and only use a car if there is no public transport alternative.

High unemployment - at 14 per cent - and wage cuts since the country's economy collapsed in 2008 mea...Financial Times.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2311607/Give-satellite-TV-dont-foreign-holidays-Irish-homeow...

[upthecreekyetagain]

It won't be long before real cuts start being made in the UK

[dillon-in-bayern]

In principle I don't see any real problems with this and I speak from experience.

I'm just over two years into insolvency which, here in Germany, is an official and very regulated process. But then general life in Germany can seem to be quite regulated.

Here insolvency is generally a six year process.

At the start of the process an insolvency lawyer is assigned to your case and the first thing he does (or should do) is to look at the values of everything you own. He has the right to sell many things in order to raise funds but at the same time you are allowed to 'buy' them back if able.

It sounds funny, but if you own anything valuable you either have to give it up or buy the right to keep it. There's nothing to say you can't have a car, but he has the right to take it unless you can prove it's needed for work. You may also buy the right to keep it. There are various guidelines to differentiate between 'normal' and 'valuable' for certain items.

Personally, I think the German system is not exactly more generous than what I've read about the UK system, but perhaps more 'understanding' of an individual's circumstances.

Once in insolvency, the lawyer oversees your salary payments and any other payments you get, having full access to your bank account details and also tax situation. If you come into any sudden benefits or payments (inheritance, tax refunds ... etc) he knows and gets a large percentage, I think about 50%.

I mentioned earlier that it's an official 6y process which means that the maximum time one pays is usually 6 years. After the 6 years there's a court hearing where your financial behaviour is reviewed and if one has been a good Wabbit, then even if the whole debt hasn't been cleared, one should once again be a fwee Wabbit. Of course, if the debt has been fully paid off before the 6 years then the case is closed.

As for how much you're allowed to keep from your wages; there was a time when you only kept somethign like € 980 and all the rest went into your insolvency, shared amongst your creditors, but now it's slightly different as there's a sliding scale depending upon how much you eanr each month, but I can assure you they still take a pretty large whack. In fact in my situation it's fair to say they get about 50% of my after-tax (netto) earnings.

Wegards,

Wabbit

[tommy.irene]

The main part is you feeding yourself or partner...for £6.80 a day..