Not being overdrawn

Almost-free

I couldn’t live like that OP. I’ve only been in debt when my ex used my credit cards ( stupid me) and it took me 9 yrs to clear it. Now I have no credit cards, I do have an agreed o/d on my account but the only time it’s been used in years was when the bank made a mistake and put some of my direct debits thru twice in error 😬

tori.k

Oddly we've never had a OD the rates where always to rich for me :rotfl: still managed to rack up 16K in cards and a personal loan and spent a lot of time robbing Peter to pay Paul (sorry if this offends) but OD always felt a bit sneaky a bit like payday loans preying on the desperate.

ryanm8655

Never used to be in my overdraft but then got an interest free one at uni and saw it as free money that I spent on a laptop...

Spent most of the time since in my overdraft, though usually came out of it when I got paid. A shock came when HSBC randomly reduced it from £5k to £2k...hadn’t thought twice about it until then but that took away a big buffer.

At the time I was annoyed but in hindsight I’m glad they did it. Initially it increased my debt due to making use of money transfer offers to get out of the overdraft and restore a buffer but it started a chain of events that has led me to take responsibility for my finances and start a journey towards getting out of debt...

strawb_shortcake

warby68 wrote: »

Never had an OD, neither has OH.

I arranged a £100 (was offered £500 ) one once in the 80's when there was a gap between my uni term ending and my summer job starting but never used it.

I've always worked in financial institutions, mainly with commercial and corporate clients and debt levels up to £10m. The thought process which sees an overdraft as a 'service' and an 'entitlement' whereas a loan is 'debt' and 'to be approved' is prevalent all the way up the food chain. When challenged on what is the repayment proposal for the overdraft, there often isn't one, just some magical future moment when the business ceases to be.

I'm still convinced though that there is a massive silent pool of people who never take unsecured borrowing and that a forum like this does skew the perception a little. I'm not saying there isn't a massive consumer debt issue just that the other side is big too, just more invisible.

When I first enquired about a mortgage with my bank around 4 years ago, the mortgage advisor tried to explain unsecured debt to me 3 times as he thought I didn't understand the question when I tried to explain I had no debt. When he finally got it he was quite perplexed and said he rarely meets anyone with no debt.

combeferret

I have been in an out of credit card debt, but I'd never had an overdraft before. That always felt like playing with fire. At least with my credit cards, I can keep it separate from my current account and have a direct debit paying it off. With an overdraft, my money is never actually my money if it's being taken automatically the day I get paid.

However, a few months ago I clicked on a "manage your overdraft" button for the first time on my Monzo app, because it was the only thing I hadn't yet tried out, just to see what would happen. Well, before I knew it I was suddenly granted a £750 overdraft, maxed it out without thinking, and was being charged 50p a day.

Paid it off, contacted Monzo to disable overdrafts and loans from them (which they did very quickly) and now I will never ever have a negative balance in my current account again. It was a very depressing feeling.

Socajam

I have a £3,500 overdraft with NatWest that just sits there.
I have never used it
My credit cards are paid off each month, manipulate them so that I can 6 weeks free credit on my Council Tax and other things I bought.
I have been to the bottom, know exactly how demoralizing being in debt can be. I am now debt and mortgage free and live within my means after realizing the difference between a "need" and a "want".

Kentish_Dave

I’ve a £5,000 overdraft on my main current account and have never touched it. The idea was I did not necessarily have to match payment dates around weekends or move cash around but I’m so debt averse that I’m just not willing to dip into it at all.