Money-Stupid Graduate Wants Her Money Back!

Shelldean

HSBC cahrge u £25 EVERY time you go over you're agreed limit.

We found this out to our cost. We went over our agreed limit and like you had no warning. When we realised we sorted the problem out, and put in enough money to cover the amount outstanding. But I knew that we'd been in Asda the night before and and used the card. So asked the bloke in the bank how fast the transction would go through. He said as it hadn't happened that day ( it was 2pm) it wouldn't happen that day, would prob be the next day, and he also commented that it usually took two days for them to go thru. I stood and argued with him cos most if not all our Asda transaction go thru the next day. I knew these 2 transaction would put us back over our limit. Had used all our money to get us back under so I even said to him about borrowing off daughter to avoid more charges. He was adament we'd be fine till the next day when there was money going in ( OH wages LATE hence the reason we were in the mess orginally)
SO later on that night once the banks have closed i checked a/c amnd lom and behold the two transactions had gone thru and pushed us over our limit by about a fiver.... BOY was I mad.
Went into bank next day to create merry hell.. and basically got the run around... no charges showing on a/c etc p'haps as we're a good customer they won't charge us!!! YEAH right!! LOL
We ended up being charged twice cos we'd gone over twice, Went back to branch created merry hell....saw different bloke and got the second lot of charges refunded.

brummiebabe

Have you been overdrawn before? If not...have you tried the "I'm a good customer normally..this is a one off, can you please consider removing the charges"...trick?

Both me & my sister have done this successfully...but it obviously doesn't work if you've been o/d before.

ixwood

They're a bank, not your mum. Can't see how you can be annoyed at them for you not bothering to check your finances and going beyond your debt limit.

lenny_toucan

ixwood wrote: »

They're a bank, not your mum. Can't see how you can be annoyed at them for you not bothering to check your finances and going beyond your debt limit.

Well thank you for that helpful post.


As I said, I know it is my own fault for not looking at my balance regularly enough, but how many people would actually be left on this forum if only the people who could tell you their balance off the top of their heads at any given time were allowed to ask for help? Not a lot. We all slip up, and I was hoping to avoid being judged on this forum.

No, I don't blame them for charging me for going OD. They are a business and it is their money I'm taking. What I do find hard to stomach is how they can justify charging me £200 extra on top of my £200 that I managed to spend. A more modest fee, such as £50, would in my mind be sufficient to a) cover bank's admin etc costs b) provide somesort of 'profit' for the banks and c) be bitter enough to deter me from doing it again.

Thank you to you all for the constructive comments, but I fear I may have hit a wall here on replies.

ixwood

Sorry. I do agree £200 is extortionate.

It was the getting "cross" with the bank having the cheek to not tell you you were spending money you didn't have bit that I thought was a tad unreasonable, but there was no need to take the mick.

You're right, you shouldn't be judged in this forum. I didn't come here deliberately, I just view new posts so end up everywhere.

Good luck and please hang around. MSE is brill.

jamtart6

£200 is a lot. I would try the old "im a good customer, ive never been OD before" (if you havent) I reckon that will get rid of charges or whittle them down.

From your post (although I know you are angry with yourself, try not to be, just accept it and find a solution), you do seem as though you have realised a problem "i spend until I have no more to spend", you need to actually address it in someway, and want to change the way you deal with money. That is your real lightbulb moment, when you realise that you have to help yourself wiith the guidance of this lovely bunch on here. £1550 debt probably seems like so much now, but some on here have cleared debts of £50k + so it really can be done. The key is not to clear the £1550, but to actually (a) avoid it becoming bigger and (b) once it is cleared making sure it doesn't happen again.

Good luck OP

justruth

Ok so you weren't always smart with your money, I understand that. What's important now is what you do now. Yes I would suggest reclaiming the bank charges, however I think that perhaps this is a very useful early warning for you.

I get the impression that you do not fully know where all your money is going, as according to your SOA you have £69 at the end of every month. You have not allowed anything for the things that always come along and then usually end up on the credit card eg presents, and other car costs as mentioned above. You are also spending £90 a month on 'entertainment'. Could you perhaps find cheaper ways of being entertained for the next few months till the credit card is paid off?

You have a couple of options really if you want to go debt free, one is to increase the income with a second job (if your entertainment is the pub then perhaps by working there you would end up doubly better off), the other is to decrease your outgoings but you really need to be on top of what you're spending to manage that. Have you tied a spending diary?

From the way you have described your spending habbits I imagine you to have lots of little extras like the occasional high end coffee shop beverage and treats at work? (I may be completely wrong and mean no offence either way) If this is the case can you go without them for a bit? It's the small things that build up and catch you out as you are clearly very careful with the bigger stuff.

lenny_toucan

Ok thanks to everyone, including ixwood, I think we're allunderstood now.

Justruth, you have hit the nail on the head. I'm stuck in a crummy flat with a crummy job, and I do end up spending more than I really should on little treats to perk myself up. I'm all a bit 'in limbo' at the moment because I'm currently applying for jobs relevant to my degree and future career hopes - I could be going anywhere in the country at anypoint, but once I get there, I will have MUCH better pay, plus access to savings to buy a house and get settled. For now I just feel stuck, and find it hard to get in to a strict budget when my life just feels so uncertain. Sorry, I'm going all a bit OT here....

I did the SOA thing in a bit of ahurry I guess. I over estimated my 'entertainment', because it varies considerably, so thought I'd err on the safe side and round up. The money left isn;t actually left. Until the end of this month I have two phone bills going out. It's a long story, but has actually been saving me money. Now I'm at the end of one contract so can save even more by ending it. Secondly, I forgot my gym membership of £30/month. Contract will be ending in a few months so I guess I'll be cancelling that for morespare cash. It might all make a bit more sense now.


Finally, I have some good news. Spoke to Dad about it. He says if I can whittle my OD down to £1000, I can pay off the remander with my savings.

Howver, as I mentioned above, these savings have been reserved for future house, so after I have got myself in the black again, I want to try and save this £1000 up again. Anyone got any tips on how to stop 'happy shopping'?

justruth

The limbo thing really hit home with me, thats when I got myself in the big mess I am now, but for different reasons. My best tip for the 'happy shopping' is definately the spending diary. I found it makes you feel so silly writing in 55p for a Mars Bar or £2.40 for a *bucks that you go without. I found that sue to the way I get paid (cash from work and student loans etc) I have a dary which forecasts which bills I have coming out of which account on which day and I round them all up so that I always have enough, and I regularly check the actual amount against the theoretical amount. I know what cash I have in my hand is what pays for groceries and overpayments on debt and I budget that way. You could adapt it to take out cash only for your shopping and leave the cards at home, and keep checking you balance.

Also there is the No Spend Days that were good. Some people find the payment a day challenge helps them focus on a debt, and as such swap their usual treats and instead pay the cash of their debt.

As you overdraft is interest free is there any point in paying it off early once you sort out the charges? You would do much better to ensure that your account is kept within it's limits and aim to reduce it by a set amount each month until it starts charging interest. In the short term get the Credit card balance cleared. With all the little savings you are looking at making from your regular outgoings this should be very achievable without having to access the savings. It's just a matter of being careful with what you do have coming in for the short term.

You kind of have to get into the habbit of asking yourself each time, in 1 weeks time will I be happy that I spent this money on this? This helps demotivate me when it comes to the little treats, as when I asked myself (not out loud, or people might think me odd) what do I want more, a short term treat or a little off my long term debt the answer was always the treat! However I know that I will look back and wonder why I did that.

justruth

Forgot to add, if you go with No Spend days etc, it really helps to know in advance when you are going to need to have cash on you. The rest of the time just don't take it out. That really cuts out a lot of the recreational spending.