Please help, less than £0 untill feb

Buddingblonde

rozmister wrote: »

Not with Santander. The first time you go even £1 over your limit they charge you.

If you read the post that the OP started this with - she says that her "finances have gone array this month I dont understand how we've got in this mess but my bank have taken £120 out of the bank in charges and are charging me another £90 and rising charges for the "priveledge"

So she must have been overdrawn at a previous time to clock up £120 of charges.

I am glad that things are looking a bit brighter for you Lauren and with a little bit of planning you should be able to get back on your feet next month.

mumoftwo

Lauren, you have a new pm,

laloopi

Lauren, I just wanted to wish you good luck.

I used to work in a bank and saw many situations where people who were generally reasonably good with their money got into bad states very quickly following a small dip over their overdraft limit. I felt so sorry for them because from a single error/loss of concentration/forgotten bill they would suddenly owe the bank hundreds of pounds. It is an absolutely disgraceful situation. I now make sure that all my current accounts have an overdraft which I never touch just as a buffer zone so I don't get in that state. Hopefully one day things will change so that there is, for example, a cap on the charges.

Anyway, I'm glad things are now sorted out for you. When you are back on your feet please try to create a plan to get a buffer in your current account (either a reasonable sized credit balance or an overdraft). It's a lot of faff but we make sure we track all of our incomings and outgoings on a spreadsheet as well to ensure we will be ok.

MrsE_2

laurenjs88 wrote: »

I've tried speaking to the bank but the staff are completly imcompetent and have now frozen my account untill the 1st of feb and wont unfreeze it, so I cant even get to the child benefit £33 when it comes next week. I'm trying to stay positive but i feel im about to burst into tears.

Any ideas how to make me eek the food out this month xx

AFAIK banks can't seize benefits.
Child benefit is a benefit, so might be worth ringing the bank about that.
OR call the CBs, is it to late to get it paid to another account?

Blackpool_Saver

laloopi wrote: »

When you are back on your feet please try to create a plan to get a buffer in your current account (either a reasonable sized credit balance or an overdraft). It's a lot of faff but we make sure we track all of our incomings and outgoings on a spreadsheet as well to ensure we will be ok.

or at least an income and expenditure record if excel is too stressful

sp1987

laurenjs88 wrote: »

morning,

Apparently her many years of experience means she is now vaccinated against human error...

I actually laughed at the screen when I read this. Never heard that phrase before. :rotfl: Shame they cannot vaccinate against miserable and unhelpful or we would have a much more pleasant world, lol.

ALIBOBSY

Only just read this thread today. blXXdy banks.
Did you manage to get the cb stopped OP? Worth a thought for all of us to not get child benefit or tax credits into a current account.

Ours goes into a savings account linked to the current so if we need to we can do an instant transfer, but any overdraft doesn't swallow up the benefit.

I have been there like so many others-once was stuck the night before payday with 1 nappy. Ended up making one out of an old towel (just like the ones we wore as babies really lol) and OH dashing out at 5 am for a pack. Best thing we ever did was pay off the overdraft, was several grand at one point :eek:.

The problem is when you are on a tight budget if something happens so you, quite rightly can't watch the bank obsessively because of dealing with more important issues like family/health etc, then a small error can multiply.

Frustratingly after the whole reclaiming bank charges saga (still feels like a conspiricy was sorted behind closed doors to ensure the big boys didn't loose) the banks appear to be amending the charge structures to get around the law and hit the worse off even more than they did before :mad:.

All the best for the rest of 2011 hun.

ali x

lizzywig

Damn banks, I want to go down there for you and give them a piece of my mind, sadly I live about 300 miles away. I had a letter through the post from my bank the other day saying they were charging me for being overdrawn, news to me, went onto my online banking, nothing. I went into the bank and she said, "I can't see anything but you did have only 4p in your account on one occasion", to which I said "and since when did 4p mean that I was overdrawn?" they got my point and realised they had made an error. It happens, it's how they deal with it that matters. Try the bank again, make an appointment and see someone else, try to appeal to their good nature and explain that you have no money to live. My husband was repeatedly going overdrawn each month, he would be paid a certain amount and have only a minimum for disposable income. He would leave enough money aside to pay possible overdraft chages but then they upped the amount, so he was overdrawn the next month because he couldn't afford to leave the right amount in the account. Eventually the bank agreed to freeze the charges so that he could clear them. He did it in 2 months and closed his account and we elsewhere. No problems since then. Can you see what is it that has caused you to become overdrawn?

So what I would do is:
1) try the bank again
2) go to a church, I am sure they would be able to help
3) ask your husband to ask his work if they can provide an emergency loan.

A friend of mine at work is having problems with her agressive landlord but doesn't have a deposit to move out. She went to HR and they're willing to pay the deposit and take the money out of her salary each month until she's paid it back. Always worth a try.

Good luck xxx

whowants2brich

Also one thing I've got on all my accounts, and I've told my OH to do the same... is to have an agreed overdraft set up of £500. Don't ever intend to use it, though, but it ensures that if, on the odd occasion, a payment goes through that you weren't expecting, who cares? £2 in interest for a few days of using the overdraft is much better than £60 in fees.

I'd recommend to anyone to have this overdraft, even a smaller buffer if the bank won't agree to £500, then it means you've got the ability to lose track of your funds a little bit and not worry about charges...

Butterfly_Brain

Poor Darling (((((Hugs))))
A lot of us have been there so we understand.

Well done to the O'sers who are helping out :A

I have heard nothing good about Santander and I would not go near them.

Try to open a little savings account at another Bank/Building society to have your benefits paid into.

Allocate £5 to £10 aweek to put towards a store cupboard when you are straight.

We have an agreed overdraft of £800 and only use it as a buffer - it is there for emergencies only. To cover the mortgage and direct debits if DH's wages are late in.
In fact I had to laugh when I got a phone call asking why we had used our overdraft only once last year, to which I replied it was for emergencies only and the woman agreed it was a very wise thing to do.

I hope you get things sorted soon x