Co Op Bank

chuckley

twinkles, i learnt early on coop was tripe. thankfully i only used it for certain payments and never salary. nationwide is an amazing basic acc with instant balance updates online and on app. coop does let you go overdrawn by pence but they told me they dont charge for it as you had funds when it went through.

if you need to to the second balances online, rbs is a good alternative. although they dont process anything after 5pm friday. sucks when u need to quickly move money to another acc.

John1993_2

Twinkles08 wrote: »

Hi John1993,

We are on an extremley tight budget,after rent,bills and grocery we are left with £7.00 a week for the 4 of us

Then it's even more important that you track every penny.

You are suggesting that when you are poor it's not possible to monitor the amounts. This is stupid.

Twinkles08

John1993 wrote: »

Then it's even more important that you track every penny.

You are suggesting that when you are poor it's not possible to monitor the amounts. This is stupid.

That's a little harsh,I wasn't suggesting that at all.I was checking my balance daily using online banking and my mob app.I was keeping a running total in my head but I forgot a card transaction.I thought everything had cleared with all pending transactions but I was wrong.
I admit I was wrong but remain frustrated at how out of sync the balance and the actual balance is.

We've come a long way with money management over the past six months and 98% of the time we stay within budget.
So if I can ask a question? Does that mean that you write down every transaction?Like a log book?
My parents and siblings are terrible with money and so this is not something that I have experience with.They think I'm ridiculously uptight about money.:rotfl:Long term gratification is something I've spent a long time learning,as it is not something they strive for.Last year instead of buying a new boiler that was much needed,they brought a new television and literally shivered their way through winter.:eek:Utterly ridiculous and it just makes me more determined not to follow the same path and to work harder at achieving financial security.

luvchocolate

I have a co op cash minder account and a very tight budget, I do actually keep a book and record every credit/debit on the day it happens so if its spent its gone ...not pending that way it cannot be spent twice. hope that makes sense, I do check online and tick the transaction in my book when its cleared, maybe a faff for some but it works for me.

pmduk

chuckley wrote: »

if you need to to the second balances online, rbs is a good alternative. although they dont process anything after 5pm friday. sucks when u need to quickly move money to another acc.

Of course you can move money at weekends, it goes immediately, however the transaction will be dated Monday

chuckley

pmduk wrote: »

Of course you can move money at weekends, it goes immediately, however the transaction will be dated Monday

u no what, i just realised this yesterday. after i got a cleared payment. i did it on auto thinking it was a weekday then panicked when i realised. turns out ur right. thankfully it sent and was received instantly.

happy days.

John1993_2

Twinkles08 wrote: »

That's a little harsh,I wasn't suggesting that at all.I was checking my balance daily using online banking and my mob app.I was keeping a running total in my head but I forgot a card transaction.I thought everything had cleared with all pending transactions but I was wrong.
I admit I was wrong but remain frustrated at how out of sync the balance and the actual balance is.

Sorry to come across as harsh, but I'm trying to help you not to get caught out the same way again.

And yes, if needs be, note every last bit of spending in a book.

Normally, of course, it doesn't always to come to this. If you allow yourself £10 / week for "sundries", for example, then set aside an actual £10 note for that, and note this £10 in your spending log. It really then doesn't matter which fraction of it goes on envelopes, staples, and ice-cream, or a bus ticket; the important point is that you know that that £10 is gone from your account.

Once you get things back on track, you need to get to the point where you have a buffer in your account each month end. At that point, budgeting to the nearest penny or pound doesn't matter as much, but if you are living this close to the wire, every penny counts.