Yeh Nice One Martin .......... Not

angierey

i live in an area where there are lots of people looking for term time or school hours work. Most of my work experience is in shops but not being available on weekends, their busiest times, often holds me back. Degree was recent and i have tried not mentioning it but you have to put your work history and I have 2 years to explain for while I studied. I have tried just putting down student for that time, but got nowhere.

I have done lots of temporary jobs since college, one of which was in the jobcentre office, so I have seen the types of job, the number and quality of applicants that go for work during school hours, and I am definately not alone.

Plus, if i got work during school hours, there is no childcare for the many school holidays, in-service days etc, it would really have to be term time. A recent term time post came up and i heard through an employee that there were 170 applicants, and 19 of them had a university degree, I am definately not alone

angierey

Oh and McDs is full, have a friend there, they tend to hire more of the younger people cos its cheaper than an oldie like me

Lifeisbutadream

When I first left home I got myself into a ridiculous amount of debt. I earned £500 a month after tax (12 years ago), but at the time thought that going out every Friday and Saturday and smoking 60 fags a week was my god-given right.

I would go overdrawn every month and the bank would charge me, making me go further overdrawn and so the circle would continue. I remeber going into the bank in tears begging them to help me. They told me to stop spending money on things that were not absolutely necessary - I was FURIOUS! I must have spent hundreds if not thousands on bank charges in those first few years...

BUT..

I realised that it WASNT my given right to go out every night if I didnt have the money! why should the bank 'let me off' charges that I had agreed to when I opened the account??? I sorted myself out, paid off my debts, slowly but surely and then didnt go overdrawn unless it was agreed..

Sorry but I agree with the OP here - we will all pay for it in the end - its great now when everyone is getting big pay-outs for money they 'deserve', but what about when the bank wants to make its money back? charges for everything else will go up! Once again it will be the honest, hard-working fair people who pay for it. Sorry to say this (I am sure I will get a huge backlash her - wait for it...) but those same people who offer 20 percent on a loan they cant pay, or go bankrupt and say that it doesnt matter about owing the bank money 'they can afford it!' will be on this bandwagon, whilst the rest of us pay for them.

Wait for it... im gonna get shouted at...:rolleyes:

krisskross

angierey

another solution might be to find someone with whom you can job share and childcare share perhaps? How old are your children? If you can only work for just 16 hours a week you will almost certainly be better off because of the way tax credits work. Sorry I am assuming you are a lone parent. Apologies if i am wrong.

Alisonbel

I don't mind pay charges if I go overdrawn, I would just like to pay a fair one!!! You only have to go overdrawn once and then have to play catch up, funny how my overdraft adds up to the same amount as the bank have charged me. If the charge was a realistic figure I would be able to pay it back in one month. I hope that the OP never has the misfortune to make a mistake and go overdrawn.

Lifeisbutadream

Alisonbel wrote:

I don't mind pay charges if I go overdrawn, I would just like to pay a fair one!!! You only have to go overdrawn once and then have to play catch up, funny how my overdraft adds up to the same amount as the bank have charged me. If the charge was a realistic figure I would be able to pay it back in one month. I hope that the OP never has the misfortune to make a mistake and go overdrawn.

I obviously cant speak for the OP but I dont think that is what was meant - if everyone claims all their money back, the banks will just put the charges on something else, meaning that we will all pay for it in the end.

Agree the charges are excessive and if you look at my post above I was in the same situation a few years ago, but I truly believe that if someone had given me all the money back at that time I would have just taken it, thought 'yey' and carried on as I was. As it happened I managed to sort myself out (with hard work and determination) and came out the other side someone who managed their money a lot better by learning from mistakes.

The banks DO say what their charges are - they dont hide anything.

angierey

krisskross wrote:

angierey

another solution might be to find someone with whom you can job share and childcare share perhaps? How old are your children? If you can only work for just 16 hours a week you will almost certainly be better off because of the way tax credits work. Sorry I am assuming you are a lone parent. Apologies if i am wrong.

I only have one, girl age 10. I am a single parent and I have been on/ off benefits for a few years doing various temp work positions when childcare was available. The main point with childcare though is that my daughter suffers from a life threatening allergy to nuts, and anyone looking after her has to be fully competent in dealing with this. Recently the childcare place i used closed down and left me a bit stuck.

I am fully aware of the tax credits etc available due to working on and off for a while, plus I worked in the jobcentre as one of my temp posts. But there have been times when I have been worse off while working due to rent, counciltax , travel and childcare costs, and due to having the debt that I run up while studying to pay off, I could not afford to continue working.

It is so frustrating that I worked so hard to get my qualifications and now I am struggling even to find a basic minimum wage job to suit my circumstances.

I am clinging on to the fact that one day my daughter will be old enough and mature enough to get a key to the door and then I can start earning a good enough salary to pay my own way and put back into the system what I have gratefully recieved.

angierey

Anyway, I have been starying from the thread.

Who thinks Martin should open his own bank, we could all bank with him, at the bank of martin Lewis, charges guaranteed to be fair and reasonable, no charge for accounts, and a leeway of £3.00 for miscalculation of funds to avoid charges for being pennies overdrawn.

The thought of Martin getting on to us for overspending would put us off doing it, and he could include moneysaving tips in our monthly statements.

any other suggestions for the bank of Martin Lewis?

Lifeisbutadream

angierey wrote:

I only have one, girl age 10. I am a single parent and I have been on/ off benefits for a few years doing various temp work positions when childcare was available. The main point with childcare though is that my daughter suffers from a life threatening allergy to nuts, and anyone looking after her has to be fully competent in dealing with this. Recently the childcare place i used closed down and left me a bit stuck.

I am fully aware of the tax credits etc available due to working on and off for a while, plus I worked in the jobcentre as one of my temp posts. But there have been times when I have been worse off while working due to rent, counciltax , travel and childcare costs, and due to having the debt that I run up while studying to pay off, I could not afford to continue working.

It is so frustrating that I worked so hard to get my qualifications and now I am struggling even to find a basic minimum wage job to suit my circumstances.

I am clinging on to the fact that one day my daughter will be old enough and mature enough to get a key to the door and then I can start earning a good enough salary to pay my own way and put back into the system what I have gratefully recieved.

Sorry going back to this - have you thought about cleaning? I know its not very exciting, but you could do it in your own time and take your daughter with you in holidays - or dont work the holidays - my brothers wife did this (she also has a degree) a few years ago when their daughter was little. They now run a succesful carpet and upholstery and domestic and commercial cleaning business...

:beer:

brasso

Alisonbel wrote:

I don't mind pay charges if I go overdrawn, I would just like to pay a fair one!!! You only have to go overdrawn once and then have to play catch up, funny how my overdraft adds up to the same amount as the bank have charged me. If the charge was a realistic figure I would be able to pay it back in one month. I hope that the OP never has the misfortune to make a mistake and go overdrawn.

Alison, I "make a mistake and go overdrawn" every now and then. I get a letter from FirstDirect saying they are going to charge me £30. I then call them and ask them not to charge me, They check my account and rescind the charge. I've not paid a single charge with FD over 12 years this way.

If they ever refuse, I'll take my account elsewhere, but I don't expect that to happen.

Have you actually tried?