sooo annoyed....

madmoney_2

hi guys, i was chuffed to bits when i opened my mail yesterday morning, my 500 quid loan with hsbc was finally finished and paid!! Got my new bank cards thru the post, but when i tried them this morning, the old pin wouldnt work, so went to the bank n they sed they will send me another 1 out, so i asked them how much i had in my account n they sed 100 quid, i had been charged 50 quid for being overdrawn!!! they they sed would i like an overdraft, normally i would have sed no, but im skint now this week coz the lovely system they call tax credits has dropped my working tax by 50 quid a week! feel so frustrated, just when i thought i could see a light at the end of the tunnel its gone again:mad:

madmoney_2

anyone got any suggestions? im terrified of getting an overdraft again becoz its just easy cash sitting there waiting to be taken out, trouble is i owe council tax 200 quid, and dh doesnt get paid till the end of the month, by which time we will owe 300 quid rent aswell as another 100 pound council tax!! please help, any advice will be gratefully received !!!

Lucy1982_2

I've gone back into my Lloyds OD after transfering it into an interest free one. I was in a similar situation to you last week. I went into my bank and the only thing they could do was extend my OD. BUT I had a chat to the woman (Who as actually very help and didn't try to sell me a loan, firsts to happen!) and she set my OD to decrease by £50 each month. Which means I have time to sort myself out and I know that every month, my available balance is going to be £50 less.

I don't know if that helps at all.

Snaggles

Hiya - I presume you've already tried asking for the charge to be refunded (always worth a go)?

Have you got anything you can sell on ebay for a bit of extra cash? Or maybe a car boot sale?

How about popping your SOA up so we can see if we can offer some suggestions?

Lucy1982_2

Oh and congrats on being gambling free. I'm very impressed!

madmoney_2

hi guys thanks for your advice, I did ask for the charge to be stopped, but rather ashamed to do so as it was from when I was gambling online with money I didnt have in my account, so im inclined to pay it anyway! My soa is as follows, might not be 100% accurate coz I might have forgotten something but here goes
monthly incomings:
dh earnings 783.00
my earnings approx 400.00
tax credits 205.00
child benefit 70.00

outgoings:
gas & electric 90.00
tv licence 10.00
internet & phone 50.00
council tax 110.00
rent 270.00
food 320.00
cigs ( i know i know) 80.00

I owe 1500 quid on dh account for the overdraft, 120 to argos

I know the debt doesnt seem much but it is when ur living on minimum wage!!
I have told my boss im willing to work more hours die to the 50 quid drop in tax creds, but i want my wage upping a bit, honestly, what chef do u know who works for minimum wage??? Cant find another job tho coz we are lucky in that they work around my partners hours so either me or dh can watch our son so we dont have to pay for childcare!
Thanks for reading!!

madmoney_2

oh by the way, the overdraft fees are approx 30 quid a month, i keep pestering oh to go in and reduce it by 50.00 a month but he wont lol

HairyHandofDartmoor

You don't mention water rates in your SOA, and do either of you have a mobile as this should be listed if you do?

dancingfairy

£320 seems like a lot to spend on food - how many are you feeding on that?
Also you need to sort out paying back your council tax you owe - i believe that is a priority bill and should take precedence over everything else as you end up in trouble for not paying it. Can you pay your council tax over 12 months instead of 10 (not sure if you are doing this already?). I personally would be tempted to use the overdraft to pay the council tax you owe and then work on reducing it downwards.

Also you seem to have about £1300 pounds coming in and about £950 going out (by my rough estimates) - where is the other £350 odd pounds going. Perhaps keeping a spending diary will tell you what the money is being spent on and show you either essentials which you forgot in your SOA or areas where you can cut back.
Also what is the APR on your overdraft and your Argos cards?

madmoney_2

tut tut i knew someone would catch me out on that, i havent actually paid any water rates as i have only been in this house since the beginning of june this year, but before that we lived in a house for 3 years without paying for the water, its naughty i know but im scared to start paying it for fear of them asdking me about my previous debt, i know i shud start paying it tho, i got away with it at the old house becoz it was quite a rough estate so they were probablly used to ppl not paying their water!! And no, both my other half and me have mobiles but never, and i mean never, top them up lol, just use the house phone if we need to
xxx

madmoney_2

Hi there dancing fairy, yes thats what i am thinking too, im going to start doing my shopping online as that will stop me from non essential buying which is what im doin at the moment, i find it hard to keep tabs on my money but as of today i will keep a spending diary to see where it is all going, some of it is on oh, for beer n that at the weekend, and things like birthdays n stuff, im from a very large family and august is the worst month for it lol. As for the apr on the argos card, its a long story. I got the card last year to pay fro xmas and was very proud of myself when i only used 200 quid from a 500 quid limit, i paid by giro slip every month when they sent me the statements. They sisnt send any statements for 6 months n then sent me a nasty letter saying i owed them 1500 ponds and were taking me to court!! i sent them one back saying take me to court becoz u will ahve to prove u sent me the statements, so they agreed to settle on me paying back 500 quid and cancelling the card which i was happy with, ive been paying them 60 a month, one more this week n one in sept, then rthats finished, as for the overdraft it is oh, i have no idea what the apr is!
xx