Halifax are giving me 2 weeks to pay off my £1,800 overdraft!

le_loup

What is with this "My friend is getting married in Cuba"?
Good luck to her but why should that make you bankrupt? If the selfish b.... want to live the celebrity lifestyle, let her pay for you to go. But then again the bride is probably going into debt to fund the nonsense in Cuba.
Oh the foolishness of youth!

PollyOnAMission

If your wage cheque will pretty much clear the overdraft (therefore getting you out of hot water with Halifax) I would do the following:

1. Take out a 0% on purchases credit card.
2. Do any spending you can on this card but cut back, budget and start thinking of ways to spend less/make more. This means cutting out treats like shoes, meals out etc unfortunately.
3. Don't save when you have debts, until you are comfortable position where all debts are at 0% and will be paid off by the time the 0% ends.

Once you are living within your means (i.e. account balance is only ever near zero just before payday rather than after, including monthly payments to your 0% cards calculated so they will clear by the time 0% is up) then stop spending on your credit cards. Stick to your current account for spending and make sure you keep out of your overdraft. If you've worked it out and are paying back the 0% cards in such a way that they'll be cleared before the offer ends, this is the time to start saving into an ISA if you have spare money left over at the end of the month. Or better still, budget some savings into your monthly expenditure and cut back elsewhere Once you are confident in your budgeting skills you could do your spending on a cashback credit card (paid off in full every month) rather than your current account, but you'd have to be very strict with yourself.

If you want to find ways to cut back, visit the Debt Free Wannabe board and post your SOA.

I was in a very similar position to you, only I hadn't been told by the bank to clear my overdraft. I just decided to do so of my own accord and start living within my means. I too have the ultimate goal of buying a new house, but decided to wait until I have stuff sorted before even thinking about applying for new mortgages.

Good luck!

Robisere

[QUOTE=callum9999;54828819]There are plenty of people on here who start throwing accusations and demanding that they are virtuous while the evil bank is revelling in the misery they are causing.

All the OP is asking, is for a solution for a blatantly unreasonable - albeit 100% legal - request to completely pay off a £1800 in 2 weeks. They aren't blaming the bank, they aren't trying to weasel out of the debt, they clearly understand they were living unsustainably and have been making an effort to reverse that - WHY ON EARTH do you feel the need to start whinging at the them saying it's all their fault and they deserve "no sympathy" etc. etc.?

I'm not exactly sure what to suggest - but I'd personally go down the credit card route (short term). To me, it looks like you are constantly in your overdraft but when your wages come in it gets paid off in full. Therefore, you should be able to work it so all your expenses go on the credit card, then you pay it off in full at the end of every month - that would actually be better for you as you'd be paying no interest or charges at all.

Obviously you should be continuing your cut-backs etc over the next few months so you are no longer in a situation where you can't pay if your debt is unexpectedly called back again .[/QUOTE]

How is the bank "Evil"?

An overdraft - I repeat - is NOT a loan! Anyone who has a bank account, has access to the Terms and Conditions. When the account has been opened and run without debt for a period, the bank (any bank) will offer the customer an overdraft. There are T & C's connected with this, they are always clearly evident and should be read. The account holder who does not read them, or does not abide by them, is contravening the T & C's and is liable to fall foul of the penalties involved. One of which, is the withdrawal of the overdraft facility and a request to repay the outstanding debt. So whose fault is it?

I am not "whingeing" when I reprimand the OP. I am stating facts: facts which so many people ignore, then go bleating to others about the unfairness of the system.

I also offered her real advice so did many others here including yourself. I very much doubt she has taken it. It is, after all, not her fault. At least, that's her opinion.

callum9999

Robisere wrote: »

[QUOTE=callum9999;54828819]There are plenty of people on here who start throwing accusations and demanding that they are virtuous while the evil bank is revelling in the misery they are causing.

All the OP is asking, is for a solution for a blatantly unreasonable - albeit 100% legal - request to completely pay off a £1800 in 2 weeks. They aren't blaming the bank, they aren't trying to weasel out of the debt, they clearly understand they were living unsustainably and have been making an effort to reverse that - WHY ON EARTH do you feel the need to start whinging at the them saying it's all their fault and they deserve "no sympathy" etc. etc.?

I'm not exactly sure what to suggest - but I'd personally go down the credit card route (short term). To me, it looks like you are constantly in your overdraft but when your wages come in it gets paid off in full. Therefore, you should be able to work it so all your expenses go on the credit card, then you pay it off in full at the end of every month - that would actually be better for you as you'd be paying no interest or charges at all.

Obviously you should be continuing your cut-backs etc over the next few months so you are no longer in a situation where you can't pay if your debt is unexpectedly called back again .

How is the bank "Evil"?

An overdraft - I repeat - is NOT a loan! Anyone who has a bank account, has access to the Terms and Conditions. When the account has been opened and run without debt for a period, the bank (any bank) will offer the customer an overdraft. There are T & C's connected with this, they are always clearly evident and should be read. The account holder who does not read them, or does not abide by them, is contravening the T & C's and is liable to fall foul of the penalties involved. One of which, is the withdrawal of the overdraft facility and a request to repay the outstanding debt. So whose fault is it?

I am not "whingeing" when I reprimand the OP. I am stating facts: facts which so many people ignore, then go bleating to others about the unfairness of the system.

I also offered her real advice so did many others here including yourself. I very much doubt she has taken it. It is, after all, not her fault. At least, that's her opinion.[/QUOTE]

Learn to read... The OBVIOUS point of that was to say that the banks aren't evil...

Yes, you are whinging. The OP CLEARLY takes FULL responsibility for the debt, and CLEARLY is wanting to pay it off - and have paid off many other forms of debt already. You moaning about how it's their fault, when they fully accept it's their fault, it utterly pointless and is just you trying to be high and mighty.

How on earth have you come to the conclusion that they are denying responsibility? As I said, you are clearly just trying to act high and mighty. They have also thanked people for their advice - what on earth makes you think they are just going to ignore it all...

opinions4u

kaylz39 wrote: »

So like most people my age (I think) I seem to live in my overdraft.

Statistically speaking, the overwhelming majority of bank accounts are operated in credit.

This applies across all age groups. The only exception is student bank accounts. Even c50% of those never go overdrawn.

My Mam opened this bank account when I was born, so 25 years ago

No. Mum opened a child savings account. At some point since you opened a different account.

. All my money goes is and out of it and I've never caused them bother. So I'm almost tempted to change bank accounts, after all with no overdraft they're supplying me with no other services the likes of Santander, Barclays could offer me!!!

Always an option.

Andystriker

kaylz39 wrote: »

I'm not broke, because I manage to live & without further borrowing.

This has to be the quote of the day!

JuicyJesus

Sorry, but if you are £1800 in an overdraft, your finances are not in anywhere near a good shape. You've effectively got nearly £2k of debt you seem to not have even thought of paying back until Halifax lost patience and asked for it back.

You need to make arrangements to start paying it back, either with Halifax via a reducing OD arrangement or with a personal loan. A massive overdraft is a sign of financial crisis, no matter how much you try and say everyone else is like that.

MattLFC

kaylz39 wrote: »

Well I've actually thought about the wording of this and I really don't understand how they've decided on this.

They have decided on this because you are not sensible with money. By your own admittance, you live in your overdraft, which is not a sensible thing to do (especially not at £1800 anyway).

I'm on an above average wage & pay my bills on time. In the past I had a number of store cards which I always paid on time. I recently consolidated them onto 1 interest free card around 4 months ago- the balance on this is now £1,500 and I have no other debt (I did have a mobile phone which the contract ended in June so I only use my work mobile now).

Maybe, they just see you living in your overdraft, and don't like the amount of credit you have on the credit card as well. They are well within their right to decide who they do and don't lend to, and if they think you are a risk, goodbye. They are also well within their right to re-evaluate existing customers needs and risk.

I have about 4 direct debits which leaves me with around £800 each month- half of which goes into an online savings account. Fair enough, I have a major shoe addiction but everything is paid on time.

So, by my understanding, you put £400 per month into an "online savings account"? So why don't you just use this money to "bail" you out? What is the point of savings (especially those not in an ISA), if you are not prepared to use them when you are desperate. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, I will for the time being, assume (correct me if I'm wrong), that you are paying interest on the overdraft? If this is the case, why are you using an overdraft, and then saving money at the same time? False economy springs to mind... Regardless of which, living in an overdraft to that extent, will never look overly good to a bank, unless they are making a pretty penny out of you, and even then, they will be concerned why you are happy to pay to borrow money at cost and never be able to actually pull yourself out of it. In a bygone era, it was common for a bank to target lending at someone like yourself. Then the markets turned red. Suddenly lending criteria became very strict, not only to protect the banks from further losses and maintain profits, but also because their own cost of borrowing has substantially increased and availability has diminished.

Unfortunately, this is the 2010's decade, the naughties are well and truely over, so banks will do whatever they feel they must, to reduce their exposure to risk - and it appears you may have become a victim of this change of attitude.

MoneySavingNovice

kaylz39 wrote: »

.......I'm going for a mortgage in a month or so.......

These days banks and building societies expect that you will have a sizable deposit. There are some 95% mortgages available but are very hard to get according to the BBC:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18036859

It does not appear that a present you will be in a position to get a mortgage and I would not suggest that you try unless you can really afford it, have a big deposit and be able to demonstrate good money management.

Never the less good luck with resolving you debt problem.

zerog

kaylz39 wrote: »

Yes the OD was supposed to be a short term solution, instead of getting student loans at University I got this OD and relied upon it instead of getting myself into a longer term £20,000 debt.

Bad mistake. You could now be paying 1.5% interest on the loan and it wouldn't be on your credit report. Instead you are paying £365 per year on £1800, which is over 20%.

If you have managed to keep your overdraft at £1800 and no student loan, then if you had taken out a student loan, you could well have £15K or more in savings right now. My wife's student loan balance is £40,000, but she has £20K in ISAs at 4% and £30K in online savers and the only way the govt can get it back is through the tax system.