Mini-wail...

[annwfyn]

I hate debit cards!

Or rather, I hate the way that they market themselves as being an easy way of taking money out of your bank account, but then act just like cheques and lurk, waiting for your bank account to empty, before leaping in and sucking you dry.

Or, in other words, I just had £40 leave my account over a week after I put two restaurant meals for me and pierot on my switch card. This is after I checked my bank balance yesterday, checked that I had no more direct debits coming out, and took £20 out in cash to last me until the end of the week when my allowance goes in, leaving a small cushion in my current account. The net result is me going £10 into an overdraft that I don't have. I managed to call up the bank, whimper, and get an emergency £50 overdraft added to my account, but I'm still not happy and I'm unconvinced that this won't do bad things to my credit rating.

At least Nationwide seems to have stopped taking £30 bank charges for unplanned overdrafts. I may lose £12 or so, but I can live with that.

It's just so damn frustrating when you try and budget and these things still happen.

Comments

[sea-cucumber.livejournal.com]

Yep :'(
I know that feeling!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I was being so careful too. :(

Am feeling very pouty right now.

[sea-cucumber.livejournal.com]

I budgeted to the nearest £10 this month, then work failed to pay me my just over £30 expenses when they should have done, so when my phone bill goes out on Monday I will get probably about £40 bank charges :(

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

If you gave your expenses in to your accounts department on time, and they were meant to process it by that date, then you should be able to claim the bank charges back from work...it's their fault not yours!

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

Accruing debt that requires you to pay interest IMPROVES your credit rating. As long as you don't miss repayments.

[madwitch.livejournal.com]

Online banking is the only way I have found (other than religiously watching your account every single day to check stuff has come out) of dealing with this.

I find that if you ask a cash machine or phone banking for your available balance, they don't factor in any debit card transactions that haven't yet come out of your account. NatWest online banking, however, does. It may not have been presented, but it still deducts it and tells you what you actually have left.
My finances have been so much better since I discovered this.

[adze.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Lloyds do something similar, showing your balance, and your available funds, which takes into account your recent debit card transactions and the like...

[madwitch.livejournal.com]

I'm rubbish at keeping receipts and tallying everything up each month, the blessed online bank thing keeps me from unexpected excess fees.

But if online can do this, why can't the cash machines and the phone banking?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Really vexingly this does not seem to have happened this time. I don't quite know why, because it does normally. Two days ago I had £50 available according to online banking. This morning I had £13 of overdraft. This confuses me.

[madwitch.livejournal.com]

That's quite odd. I wonder when they actually processed it?

[adze.livejournal.com]

I sympathise completely, being about £20 short of where I thought I was because of something similar.

I remember the first time I noticed the words "Debit Card" in the top corner of someone's bank card. I was working in a supermarket, and my tired brain misread it a "Debt Card".

I'm still not sure I wasn't right the first time...

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Would it be worth keepiong a very, very simple set of records of where you are money-wise?

It'll take a few days to make sure everything's come out of the 'pipeline' - but once you're sure of your balance, write it down on a piece of paper. Get a receipt each time you pay for anything by card, or withdraw any cash - and throw it away once you next have a pen to hand & have scribbled the deduction under your original balance. Don't worry about things paid for in cash, because you've already accounted for those by keeping track of your cash withdrawals.

Keep the piece of paper in your wallet (and fold it up with the receipts you haven't processed yet, to make it easy to find both). It doesn't matter if your paper balance look worse than what the cash point says - all that means is that you know about things in the pipeline that your bank doesn't.

You'll also find that the very act of doing this (if you can displine yourself into the habit) helps you spend less, just like keeping a food diary stops you snacking, simply because it makes you more aware of how often you're reaching for the plastic!

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

*nods*

I have a simple spreadsheet with columns for balance, money in, and money out per day, and I update it each day when I check the balance in the evening. My bank (HSBC) has both available balance & actual balance, which allows me to see what has not been take out yet. I can send you a blank of my spreadsheet if you like.

It also has the advantage that I've checked my balance every day this month, even though we're a week from payday, and normally by now I've got my fingers in my ears going 'La la la, I can't hear you' where money is concerned.

I do agree with you that switch not being instant is a pest though!

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

That does require a lot of organization, though. It may not look liked it does, but it does.

I find it easier to just work on a cash economy for everything other than mortgage payments etc...

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

An emergency overdraft should have zero negative impact on your credit rating. Also it gives you a couple of days to buy some masks, gather a gang and rob your bank blind, then deposit the £50 back in there.

money

[mangochutney04.livejournal.com]

I'm with seaofflame and purpleheather. I have kept a record of everything I've spent over the past nine or so years now. I took it up at Uni after spending too much on clothes and nice coffee in the second year and have used it ever since. I was able to keep my overdraft to a minimum in my third year because of it. I haven't been into unauthorised overdraft since then.

What I do is, when I'm out and about (travelling) or during the week I jot down what I've spent each day in my diary page or on a piece of paper. At the weekend I use a spreadsheet at home - for everything - monthly household budget, cash spending, savings - but just put a weekly total in if i'm short of time. I used to use Microsoft Money which is fab but a lot of effort.

Chutney used to operate a cash-based system before he met me but went badly wrong shortly after we married, with things not clearing when he thought they had. He swapped to my system which we now use jointly, has paid off all his debt, has not had any red bills or unauthorised overdrafts since and I have now trained him to save regularly to the point where our Bank asked him on the phone the other day if we wanted a 'savings review' saying that we are classed as 'high savers'!

I don't know if it would work for everyone but my memory failes me sometimes esp. for small purchases and I find scribbling a quick note in my diary for that day really helps. It takes a few seconds but saves you ££££££s!

[pmp.livejournal.com]

I hate all you sensible savers!

*ahem*

Would love to give you money advice, unfortuantely my advice consists of aparently getting as much credit rating as possible and using it to live a short but fun life before the credit companies come and take you away :)