Available Balance Myths!

scotjock67

Very simple for me treat a debit card (a proper debit card) transaction like a cheque, why? I give you a cheque I dont know when you are going to cash it so dont spend thise funds till I see the cheque debit, there is also an advantage should you wish to turn the tables on your bank(seriously I dont recommend this but it does work)
I know my local tesco has a floor limit of £30 on the very rare occasion when I have been short come the end of the month I know I can buy up to £10 of goods and get cashback for £20 cheaper than using my overdraft

scotjock67

I must also say the comments about keeping your own track on your spending are spot on, the best piece of advice I received was from an old teacher of mine (accounts and finance) was to have all your outgoings the working day after you are paid. As she put it these are the things that come first and anything you have left over is yours to spend then divide the remaining amount you have till your next payday and this is your own personal daily limit, more importantly just because It is you daily limit anything you dont spend that day put into your savings account for that rainy day. Has serves me well all thses years.

System

Wilkins wrote: »

Whatever works for you. For me, an Upper Paleolithic style reliance on external representations of the world, whether it be through cave paintings or smartphones, is not necessary to understand the transactions of daily life and would be somewhat of an encumbrance.

One could say that about writing too - numbers on paper are nothing more than a representation of reality, as are numbers on a computer or mobile device. There's nothing sacred about either.


You're right about whatever works for you, but that shouldn't stop us from ever advocating anything. For me it is crucial to be able to instantly verify the bank's cleared balance and this has occasionally highlighted a discrepancy which would have been temporarily missed had I relied on a simple running total of expenditure.

camperdown9

Hi

For years I managed to get myself in trouble with the bank. I would over spend and the the banks answer would be to offer me a loan. Thing is, as I never managed to budget and that loan amount just got larger.

Now I use a excel document and have the following headings.

check - use this to tick off credits and debits as the show on the account.

Date

Item- (example Vodafone DD, Tesco etc)

Credit

Debit

Balance

At the start of the month I list all the direct debits and the amounts they are going to be. Then there are things that I buy every month, I list those in as well. I try and use my debit card as much as I can as I am hopeless with cash. Each time I use the card I update the excel doc with the amount and were I spent it. Once a day either via online banking or the app I check to see whats been happening with my account. As items are debited or credited I put an "x" in the check column on the excel doc. If I do this every day its easy and takes minutes!

ok I am not perfect and from time to time I forget something but if I check everyday then there is time for me to adjust my budget to avoid or reduce charges. The balance on the excel doc is the real balance (what I have left to spend) not the balance as per the bank.

One of my accounts has a £750 over draft fac and is currently £5 in credit. So the available balance shows as £755. Its not wrong but I really have £5 in that account and not £755 as it would suggest.

This works for me, it might not for other people!

Alex

meer53

scgf wrote: »

One could say that about writing too - numbers on paper are nothing more than a representation of reality, as are numbers on a computer or mobile device. There's nothing sacred about either.


You're right about whatever works for you, but that shouldn't stop us from ever advocating anything. For me it is crucial to be able to instantly verify the bank's cleared balance and this has occasionally highlighted a discrepancy which would have been temporarily missed had I relied on a simple running total of expenditure.

Everyone has their own system for keeping track of their spending as you say.

What i don't understand is peoples reliance on systems which they have no control over. As highlighted with recent issues with Natwest and RBS systems, you are at their mercy. I use both systems but find my own is far more reliable than any bank.

If people took responsibility for their own spending, no-one should ever have to pay bank charges. This is, of course, in an ideal world. Which is never going to happen is it ?

Wilkins

scgf wrote: »

One could say that about writing too - numbers on paper are nothing more than a representation of reality, as are numbers on a computer or mobile device. There's nothing sacred about either.

Agreed.

For me it is crucial to be able to instantly verify the bank's cleared balance and this has occasionally highlighted a discrepancy which would have been temporarily missed had I relied on a simple running total of expenditure.

OK, that's a difference in preference that we will have to accept. I (and, I think, many others) grew up in a world of cheques which sometimes might not be cashed for weeks. Consequently, I am relaxed about the actual bank balance, since I never expect it to be correct and I am always a little surprised to find that sometimes it is. For me, the available balance is the only thing that matters and that I keep in my head.


At my wife's insistence we do still keep a bank book which, as a former accountant, she likes to reconcile every month. But, personally, with online banking, I wouldn't bother starting one now since we only have about 5-7 transactions per week. Also, we tend to use mostly CC and cash which makes aggregation simple. For people with really busy accounts and a lot of DC purchases or who find it hard to maintain a decent surplus I can see that electronic aids might be useful.

mrchiggles

There are no standard definitions for "available balance" "account balance" or anything else (believe me I've sat in design workshops trying to decide the best one to display).

Different banks will apply different meanings depending on their systems, batch timings, etc.

As lots of the posters said, best to keep track yourself if you're tight.