Bank Charges: Fine V Payout poll discussion

My wife and I keep a running ledger that is separate from our bank statements and each night we log our transactions using any receipts for purchases of the day. ATM transactions are logged into the ledger, cheques written are logged, and so on......it's not rocket science, and it takes us all of two minutes to maintain every night.

The good thing about keeping a ledger is that you know precisely what you have in the bank and what funds you need to cover any transactions, and that gives us peace of mind.

The other good thing about 'writing things down' is that you can go back and actually look at what you spend and say 'WHAT?, we spent that on that........'

Consequently, we have never and I mean never gone into arrears where we had to use the banks overdraft and been fined.

I understand that there are circumstances where folks have been fined by banks unfairly and deserve special treatment, but there are a lot of other people who just don't keep an eye on their expenses.

Why should my wife and I, who always play by the rules and keep our accounts in good order, have to suffer with the threat of paying for our current account because of other folks who don't bother to keep an eye on their finances?

Let me just say this: Rather than everyone squabbling in this country over £35 overdraft charges how about working to get the banks to offer 35 year fixed rate mortgages with NO early payment penalties like they have in the rest of the free world?

We are literally playing Russian Roulette with variable rate mortgages in this country as the interest rates go up and down like a roller-coaster and that really baffles me why folks put up with it?

In reference to the poll: I noticed that a whopping 98% of people would opt for no payment to be made if their account didn't have any money in it.

OK...........what about that company that has to chase you down for your payment that has been refused by your bank due to insufficient funds? Do you think it would be fair for them to charge you a non-payment fee? I'll leave that question for anyone who has ever run their own business and had to chase down customers who wrote cheques that bounced.

Scenario 1. I have just one credit/debit card and on arrival at the till with my latest fashion victim purchase (priced £40) it transpires my limit would be breached if said transaction proceeded. Would I a) like to almost double the price of the transaction with a £35 fine or b) suffer the embarrassment of having payment declined and having to leave the item on the counter.

My response - b) but I reckon there would be a fair few who would rather pay up than have that ground opening feeling!

Scenario 2 - I still have just one card. I'm driving home from seeing my sister up north. Its a wet miserable Sunday night and we had afternoon tea before I set off. Halfway home at about midnight the petrol light comes on in the car and I pull into a motorway service station and put £40 worth of petrol in the car to get me home. On arrival at the till my card is put in the machine and it transpires the £40 would take me over the limit. Would I a) like to suffer the £35 and get on my way (thereby arriving home in time to sleep and get up for work the next day - albeit a bit bleary eyed) or b) have a tank of petrol I cannot pay for and be informed that I will not be allowed to drive on until I have sorted out payment. I phone my 24/7 bank who arrange a temporary overdraft but unfortunately they can't update the relevant system until banking hours the following day. I therefore have to spend the night sleeping in the car, can't set off until after 9am the following day and therefore miss a day at work.

Hands up who's choosing b! Not so black and white now!

[quote=teddyco;8265791]My wife and I keep a running ledger that is separate from our bank statements and each night we log our transactions using any receipts for purchases of the day. ATM transactions are logged into the ledger, cheques written are logged, and so on......it's not rocket science, and it takes us all of two minutes to maintain every night.

Its even easier if you use something like Microsoft Money