Can you 'hide' an account on online banking?

lhead123

Hi

I have an account with Natwest. It was first opened as a student account in 2005 and I ran up the overdraft to the maximum £2000 whilst studying.

So now, the account has been maxed out since I left uni in 2008 (it may have been paid off for a while when I was working full time but now is at -£2000 again).....I'm rubbish at paying it off as I pay a little bit and then something comes up and I spend the money that's 'available' :mad:

I don't want to close the account yet as some months we have less income than others and I wouldn't be able to guarantee being able to pay a set amount each month.

Is there any way of hiding it on the online banking screen? We have a joint account with Natwest too so I check it regularly...If I could hide it i would send money to that account each month to pay it off but wouldn't be tempted to spend any that's been paid off.

If it's not possible does anyone have any other ideas?

x

andyfromotley

Doubt you can hide it. I do understand the out of sight out of sound mentality but this is a psychological problem that you need to overcome!!

Is it possible to auto reduce your overdraft limit online? So for example next month you get paid, reduce the OD to £1900 and then at the same time reduce your limit to £1900 thus you can't spend the 'available' cash?

SailorSam

Who are you hiding it from ?

lhead123

SailorSam wrote: »

Who are you hiding it from ?

From me so I can't see the balance

I think I'll enquire about reducing it each month as that sounds like a good idea - the only thing I worry about is I don't have the best credit rating and eventually we want to buy our own house. If I pay off the overdraft but keep the limit the same, will the available credit work in my favour in regards to my credit rating?

Thanks for the ideas x

Heffi1

I see you use YNAB, so you should not really be looking at bank balances and available funds there, check your categories to make the decision on whether you can afford to buy something, if it is not budgeted to the category you cannot spend from there.


Go back to rule one and revisit it if you need to, then think about the other rules, you can do this, but you need to take responsibility for every penny that comes through your accounts, ignoring something means you are living on a wing and a prayer in the hope it will all come right in the end.


Is that how you want to manage your finances?

Red-Squirrel_2

If you use YNAB, I would recommend having your Nattiest account as 'off budget' and treat it like another debt, make payments each month but cut up the debit card and just watch the balance come down.

I did this, and after spending nearly 2 years close to the 2K limit, I'd paid hundreds off within just a few months.

andyfromotley

i suspect the amount of available credit will make no difference at all to your chances of a mortgage.

TBH though thats crazy thinking. You can't manage yr overdraft. Solve that problem first before you worry about a mortgage.

I also agree that you really need to stick to yr YNAB budget. If you do then this 'extra' money shouldn't come into it.

lhead123

Thank you everyone. Yes I do use YNAB - I admit I use it a bit too retrospectively at the moment - spend first and WAM later. I need to stop this and use it the right way!

I hadn't thought about putting the account off-budget - I think that would help a lot as the money wouldn't be there in the Pre-YNAB debt category to be grabbed from whenever I overspend (which is what happens a lot :mad: ) Putting it as off-budget would be as good as hiding it from me and not letting the money be available to spend

Think I'll go sort out YNAB now and sort my brain out into using it properly!

Thank you for the great advice x