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Fixed daily and monthly overdraft fees to be banned - MSE News
Comments
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Going into an overdraft is a sign of poor financial management, if people managed their money correctly they wouldn't need an overdraft and wouldn't be charged. I've never gone into an overdraft in my entire life.
It's a sign of passive aggressive text alerts designed to catch out people who misjudge how much or when they need to transfer money from their savings in a current account.
I think some US banks can be setup to pull money out of savings if payments would make you go overdrawn.True but it would be easy for the banks to know that it's just a transfer from another bank and discount that.
So I transfer £10000 to someone, who transfers it to someone else, who then transfers it back to me. All three of us have just increased their overdraft (not sure why I'd want a £1000 overdraft on my current account though) & as long as we're with different banks then I don't see how they can figure it out. Ultimately every payment is just a transfer from another bank.I've never ran out of money but that is not due to luck that is due to planning ahead and not living beyond my means making sure that i have enough money in reserve as a priority. I am not boasting; it is a simple thing to budget your money and plan for the future.
You had the luxury of planning ahead and your plans worked out. That sounds a bit like luck. Someone kicked out by their parents when they were 18 may not have done much planning ahead & if they had then their plans might not have gone quite how they thought they would.
I'm intrigued what was in your plan for being struck down with an illness which would incapacitate you for a year or more.0 -
That's easy to say, but for thousands of people living in poverty *that simply isn't possible*. People living hand-to-mouth and just about scraping through each month aren't going to be able to build up a safety net.
Yes so like i asked you in my last post someone who is living hand to mouth who simply has no spare money each month goes into an overdraft. This means they will start incurring interest so that's an extra expense each month and also they will need to pay back the overdraft. If they had no spare money to build up an emergency fund they will have no spare money to pay off the overdraft and interest. This will lead to an ever increasing overdraft and building up unmanageable debt.
How do you think that helps them?0 -
You had the luxury of planning ahead and your plans worked out. That sounds a bit like luck. Someone kicked out by their parents when they were 18 may not have done much planning ahead & if they had then their plans might not have gone quite how they thought they would.
I'm intrigued what was in your plan for being struck down with an illness which would incapacitate you for a year or more.
You do realise people do actually move out when they are 18 as they are an adult (i moved out when i was 19) and if they have a job they can rent a room/house depending on their income. They can create a budget to make sure they start building up an emergency fund and not live beyond their means.
If you look at peoples finances so many people claim they need to spend every penny each month to survive. But in reality they just spend every penny because they have it and have no budget. It extremely unlikely someones outgoings are going to be exactly the same as their income by chance.
My workplace offers a 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay sickness policy and then i also have an emergency fund that will cover my existing lifestyle for an extended period. This isn't due to "luck" this is due to good financial planning and not living beyond my means.
I'm surprised so many people on here seem to think that a good budget will not help people who are struggling and have no budget currently....0 -
You do realise people do actually move out when they are 18 as they are an adult (i moved out when i was 19) and if they have a job they can rent a room/house depending on their income.
I realise that some lucky people are able to pull that off yes. The 19 years up to you leaving home prepared you, it seems rather arrogant to suggest that because you obviously made all the right choices on your own without parents or an education system that everyone is able to do the same thing.If you look at peoples finances so many people claim they need to spend every penny each month to survive. But in reality they just spend every penny because they have it and have no budget. It extremely unlikely someones outgoings are going to be exactly the same as their income by chance.
Sure, some people are idiots with money. But that doesn't mean you should assume that everyone with money problems is an idiot with money. Some people who are idiots with money actually do alright with good luck, some people great with money end up with money problems due to bad luck.My workplace offers a 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay sickness policy and then i also have an emergency fund that will cover my existing lifestyle for an extended period. This isn't due to "luck" this is due to good financial planning and not living beyond my means.
In what way is a workplace that offers you 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay, not pure luck? It's certainly not something that everyone can just turn up and choose.I'm surprised so many people on here seem to think that a good budget will not help people who are struggling and have no budget currently....
Some people don't have a budget because they are too busy working and just deciding whether to eat or heat. It might be due to their husband dying when they have a child to look after, or their own ill health and having nobody to be there for them.
Me, I was bad with money and then sorted myself out 7 years ago. I've had some really good luck and some really bad luck. I've come through it pretty ok because the effects of the good luck outweighed the bad luck by a huge margin. It's mostly down to a couple of random decisions I made 30 years ago that I couldn't have forseen what effect they would have had.0 -
I realise that some lucky people are able to pull that off yes. The 19 years up to you leaving home prepared you, it seems rather arrogant to suggest that because you obviously made all the right choices on your own without parents or an education system that everyone is able to do the same thing.
I certainly haven't make all the "right" choices, like most people i could have spent less and saved more and had less "fun" in my life. But I've always been aware of how much I've been spending and how much I've been earning.Sure, some people are idiots with money. But that doesn't mean you should assume that everyone with money problems is an idiot with money. Some people who are idiots with money actually do alright with good luck, some people great with money end up with money problems due to bad luck.
I really don't like how much emphasis your putting on "luck". If you look at the Debt Free Wannabee the vast majority of people have got into unmanageable debt due to prolonged poor spending habits. I've seen people on there who earn far more than i do struggling to make ends meet simply due to a poor budget.
If someone is in debt the first thing that people ask is for them to post an SOA, people then go through this and show them where they can save money. They then make these changes to their budget and get out of debt. If they had made a budget years beforehand they wouldn't have been in that issue.In what way is a workplace that offers you 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay, not pure luck? It's certainly not something that everyone can just turn up and choose.
But that's almost irrelevant because i have an emergency fund to cover my expenses for an extended period which is my backup plan. I never knew the sickness policy before i started working here it is a bonus, but not necessary for me.Some people don't have a budget because they are too busy working and just deciding whether to eat or heat. It might be due to their husband dying when they have a child to look after, or their own ill health and having nobody to be there for them.
Me, I was bad with money and then sorted myself out 7 years ago. I've had some really good luck and some really bad luck. I've come through it pretty ok because the effects of the good luck outweighed the bad luck by a huge margin. It's mostly down to a couple of random decisions I made 30 years ago that I couldn't have forseen what effect they would have had.
Even the busiest person will probably sit down and watch TV for an hour on some occasion and they could spend this time sorting out their finances.
Budgeting properly and living within their means would help the vast majority of people who struggle with money. Prioritising building up an emergency fund will cover most "bad luck" situations.0 -
Yes so like i asked you in my last post someone who is living hand to mouth who simply has no spare money each month goes into an overdraft. This means they will start incurring interest so that's an extra expense each month and also they will need to pay back the overdraft. If they had no spare money to build up an emergency fund they will have no spare money to pay off the overdraft and interest. This will lead to an ever increasing overdraft and building up unmanageable debt.
How do you think that helps them?
I wasn't speaking in support of overdrafts, I'm challenging your assertion that the only reason people fall into debt is due to poor financial management, which is patently false.0 -
I wasn't speaking in support of overdrafts, I'm challenging your assertion that the only reason people fall into debt is due to poor financial management, which is patently false.
There are probably some rare extraordinary circumstances that could lead someone into unmanageable debt. But for the vast majority of people who are living paycheck to paycheck it's because they are living a lifestyle they can't afford and have poorly budgeted.0 -
There are probably some rare extraordinary circumstances that could lead someone into unmanageable debt. But for the vast majority of people who are living paycheck to paycheck it's because they are living a lifestyle they can't afford and have poorly budgeted.
Whilst I agree that *most* people living paycheck to paycheck could budget better, I don't agree that those others are "rare extraordinary", I think they're a lot more common than you think.
There are over 300k homeless people in the UK - and whilst not directly related to the topic under discussion, it does indicate that people living in serious poverty aren't rare.0 -
There are over 300k homeless people in the UK...
https://continentaltelegraph.com/economy/complete-nonsense-from-shelter-britain-does-not-have-320000-homeless/Conjugating the verb 'to be":
-o I am humble -o You are attention seeking -o She is Nadine Dorries0 -
Whilst I agree that *most* people living paycheck to paycheck could budget better, I don't agree that those others are "rare extraordinary", I think they're a lot more common than you think.
There are over 300k homeless people in the UK - and whilst not directly related to the topic under discussion, it does indicate that people living in serious poverty aren't rare.
I do accept that there are a substantial amount of people who are unable to budget very well and they should be given the support they need to do this.
I strongly believe that if everyone took the time to understand their finances and how to manage them well then we would hardly see any posts on the Debt-Free Wannabee forum. If you look at the energy forum it's surprising how many people who don't understand how to check their bills and keep an eye on their usage.
Yes some people would need a lot of support to budget properly but these are the people who would probably benefit the most.0
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