I have just made a major change to how I view my money

Kay.Samuels

I have just made a major cha nge to how I view my money and although it's something most people do anyway it is something I have never managed before.

I have always viewed what money I have in the bank as my 'available' balance rather than my actual balance, counting my overdraft as real money.

I used to always be at my overdraft limit but now it is paid off and I have more in my actual balance than I ever have had before, plus money in a savings account - something else I have never had before. :T

I feel very proud of myself!

Has anyone else made any changes that they would like to share? I find I am viewing money so ifferently to how I used to, and all the little changes are making a big difference.

foxgloves

My partner used to be like that too, in how he viewed his finances. If we were talking about stuff we wanted to own or do in the future, he'd always say 'I've got this amount on that card, this amount bank balance, this available from this source, etc, etc'.....and in fact he didn't have any of that because this total was actually how much he could theoretically borrow, not how much money he had. A turning point was getting his current account in credit so he could see exactly how much money he had left after all monthly commitments had gone out. This could then be thrown at reducing cards/loans. I used to wonder if he'd ever have an LBM but he certainly did and the day he started seeing 'available funds' as the bank's money & not his own was a huge turning point!

ianm41

I think the majority of people need to realise one major thing, credit cards are no such thing! They should be called Debt cards. Credit implies a good thing.....if your in credit then your fine. Put something on your 'credit' card...then your not...your in debt...but people don't see it this way......if you have a 5000 pound limit on your card, and you 'ONLY' have 3000 pounds on it then you still have 2000 pounds to play with. I have worked with people like that they don't seem to be able to see whats actually going on.

foxgloves

You are so totally right. I also think that when I see a big sign up in shops or on TV ads saying 'Interest free credit'. Of course not paying any interest is always better than paying it BUT to be strictly accurate, the signs should say 'Interest free debt'. If the monthly payment is, say, 75 quid a month for 2 years, and you don't have that amount of money reliably spare every month, then you shouldn't be lured into buying it as the interest free bit makes no difference...you still can't afford it. I would like to see businesses having to use the term 'Interest free debt' instead. The 'd' word might make one or two people think twice.

Kay.Samuels

That's a good point about how they phrase it, very sneaky marketing going on there!

Thankfully I learned my lessons with credit cards early on and fortuntely before I had racked up too much of a debt on one. I never thought I woud change how I viewed my finances but my viewpoint regarding money has changed so uch in the past year. :-)

lilac_lady

I'd rather rip money up and put it down a drain than pay bank charges.