Steadying the ship - a perilous voyage across the financial middle

edinburgher

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82087989#Comment_82087989

One of my siblings is the same @Staffordia - they're a bit of a late entrant to the CS and so it is really promotion or bust if they want more money. Still, they're thriving after a rocky decade, so I'm very pleased for them 🤞🏻

edinburgher

Another month has rolled around and we are taking things relatively easy.

I took the girls out to McDonald's for breakfast, Home Bargains and the Range for groceries, stickers, and beads. Things end up being spendy so quickly these days, but I have to remind myself that we budget realistically for all of it. DD1 is becoming more independent as well. She gets a decent wodge of pocket money nowadays, but her spends on trips such as this morning are fully funded by her (with the exception of breakfast and groceries, obv), and I force her to save 30% of her money. I think it will be time for a bank account soon, unfortunately all of the 11+ accounts seem to require a physical branch visit 🙄

Mrs E and DD2 are out at a birthday party, DD1 has now vanished with her pals and isn't expected back 'til early dinner time.

I've made c. £8.50 on surveys (mostly Y Live) and have shuffled some monies around, £40 freed up for the Future Projects 🔋 pot. I have also planted some radishes 🤣

Happy weekend all.

South_coast

Good luck tracking down a physical branch! It's just been announced that we're getting a banking hub here, which is something I associate with rural villages, not a town with a 50k population 😬

P.S. Apologies if I now send everyone off on a bank closures tangent/rant 😅

Baileys_Babe

@edinburgher said:

. I think it will be time for a bank account soon, unfortunately all of the 11+ accounts seem to require a physical branch visit 🙄

Have you looked at Starling?

Watty1

11+ require a physical visit - that is bizarre for a generation that is already computer literate.

edinburgher

@Baileys_Babe - I haven't, but had considered one of the other challenger banks. Are you a customer?

rtandon27

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82088464#Comment_82088464

We are also in a town of 50K and in the past two years we have lost 4 of our banks, leaving us with one bank and two building societies.

teapot2

We have a banking hub here [town of around 20k population]. I've only used it once because when all our bank branches closed one by one and there was a couple of years gap before the Hub opened, I'd already switched to online or app banking in the meantime🙄.

Baileys_Babe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82088551#Comment_82088551

DD (17) has an account, she needed an account with a card she could use abroad, I was very impressed with the quick and easy application process.

I keep thinking about getting my own account, but I don't travel abroad and I already have accounts with 10+ banks/building societies.

themadvix

I’m a Starling customer and am very happy with them. Pots for spending and saving, very easy to use app and as Bailey’s babe says, free spending on the debit card abroad. (My only gripe is that they refused me a business account - and of course wouldn’t tell me why.)