Bank Account charges - Horrified - way ahead

kennyruss72

ok noted grumbler:)

Mr_Goodkat

I don't think you have any case at all against the Halifax, their overdraft charges are very clear and has been suggested if you start to make noise about complaining and financial hardship then they may well decide to reduce or call in these overdrafts as all overdrafts are repayable on demand.


Overdrafts are only meant as short term solutions if anything other than interest free as they are very expensive forms of borrowing.


Your realisation of the issues you had should have been when you realised you were living in your overdrafts not when you clocked up how much they were costing three years down the line.


The only way out of this is to look at every way you can cut costs and look at every way you can increase income.


Good luck but it is not the Halifax here that is the problem...

Herbalus

kennyruss72 wrote: »

Yes I do need to educate myself and take a fresh look at my finances, but to say I live in a fantasy world based on mobile phone contracts without knowing the full extent of my situation is not a balanced view.

I don't pretend to know what you should or shouldn't do, but I think what Kernal Sanders meant is that there are many people (myself included), who simply wouldn't have mobile phone contracts with the amount of debt you've had for years.

If I had been £5k overdrawn for 5 years then my mind would go: "yes, it's possible to get a new phone and it'd be nice, but you don't have the money for it".

There are different interpretations of cutting back spending to get out of debt. Some people will say they'll get a new £20/month contract as opposed to a new iPhone. That's cutting back. My own interpretation is to go on eBay, buy a button phone if I really need a phone, and spend less than £5 a month on running it. No Facebook or internet on the phone? Well, I say sorry to myself, but I don't have the money to pay for it.

But that's just me.

(and I'm in my 20s with an iPhone (4s - if it still works why get a new one?) not an old-timer who resents new tech).

kennyruss72

Yep iPhone 4s, Wi-Fi does not work anymore, battery life poor - but good enough for me.


The Phone contracts are in place and there is nowt I can do until they run out. A couple run out early next year - so can address that issue then.


Yes my lightbulb moment has arrived and I am looking to address a lot of these "luxuries"

eskbanker

OP has followed recommendations and posted this on the debt-free wannabe board, where the scale of the credit card debt (nearly £30K) is also mentioned, so it's clearly a large and deep hole to get out of, which will require some pretty drastic steps....

Edit: cross-posted with the above, well done on the lightbulb moment!

chambta

If you're credit rating's already shot then you've little to lose by opening Basic Accounts elsewhere are effectively re-banking.

It may not address the root of the problem but it seems you may have had that moment of realisation already.

djpailo

- Reduce mobile phone contracts
- Food Bills - look at going to supermarkets in evenings and buying reduced food (food with a sell by date on the same day etc)
- Move the current accounts to non-fee paying current accounts if possible
- Consider switching energy companies if it saves money
- Consider switching broadband/ phone bills for the same reason
- Cancel any TV subscriptions with things like Sky/ Netflix etc.
- Reduce the amount of heating you use - wear jumpers if you're cold!
- Don't eat out. You an save quite a bit just making food at home for lunch at work.
- Don't drink coffee at coffee outlets. It can get costly.
- Stop giving the kids pocket money. Make them get jobs.
- Don't make purchases on new clothes uncessarily. Only buy new clothes if you have to. Don't spend obscene amount of clothes. E.g. Jeans - £10-15, not £50+ etc etc.
- Perhaps take a local bus or cycle to work rather than take the car if possible.


There are a lot more things too.

slink85

djpailo wrote: »

- Reduce mobile phone contracts
- Food Bills - look at going to supermarkets in evenings and buying reduced food (food with a sell by date on the same day etc)
- Move the current accounts to non-fee paying current accounts if possible
- Consider switching energy companies if it saves money
- Consider switching broadband/ phone bills for the same reason
- Cancel any TV subscriptions with things like Sky/ Netflix etc.
- Reduce the amount of heating you use - wear jumpers if you're cold!
- Don't eat out. You an save quite a bit just making food at home for lunch at work.
- Don't drink coffee at coffee outlets. It can get costly.
- Stop giving the kids pocket money. Make them get jobs.
- Don't make purchases on new clothes uncessarily. Only buy new clothes if you have to. Don't spend obscene amount of clothes. E.g. Jeans - £10-15, not £50+ etc etc.
- Perhaps take a local bus or cycle to work rather than take the car if possible.

There are a lot more things too.

have you been on a bus lately? it costs an arm and a leg, ours is about 4 quid to go 3 miles to town and back.

MoneySavingNovice

slink85 wrote: »

have you been on a bus lately? it costs an arm and a leg, ours is about 4 quid to go 3 miles to town and back.

[FONT=&quot]So true, but it still might be less expensive to take the bus than taking the car.

My cost per mile to run an old car is c.50 pence per mile. Hence for 6 miles my cost is £3.00. Car parking is say c.£2.00 for two hours, total £5.00. So if only one person is going the bus might be less expensive.

Alternatively if its only three miles, consider walking or buying a bike.[/FONT]

kennyruss72

Guys already cycle most days..


Done 3 days out of 5 this week - 54 miles total