Bank say I don't eat enough!

impy78

Well, here I am talking to Lloyds TSB collections department, arranging how I'm going to pay all this money back .

I am going through my expenses with the curt lady on the other end of the phone, when we get to food.

Her: How much do you spend on grocery shopping?
Me: At the very most about £90.
Her: So about £360 a month?
Me: No, £90 a month.
Her: Pardon
Me: Well, I overestimated that really, I usually spend about £12 a week on food, but sometimes I go over.
Her: Well what about your dinner?
Me: Sorry?
Her: Well, do you buy your dinner every day or take a packed lunch?
Me: A Packed lunch
Her: Well, in that case you must spend at least £30 a week on food
Me: But I don't
Her: But that's physically impossible! It says on my screen that the minimum food expenditure is £120 for a single adult for a month.
Me: (Mutters) Oh well then, it MUST be true!
Her: Eh?
Me: Nothing.

perfectlypoor

I had a much the same conversation with the Lloyds collection dept just before christmas, In the end they couldn't help me because the figure I had leftover after everything I spend was to high because they had to use the figure on the screen for food costs and not the amount I spend (a lot lower) After explaining I do a food budget and meal plans etc the girl on the phone made me feel that I wasn't feeding myself, OH and little boy properly. I wanted to email her my meal plan and shopping list to show that we eat very well-Prehaps I should recommend she visits this site lol

cbsexec

I remember the same conversation with someone at CAB some years ago - she said she ought to take lessons if I could feed a family on 5 on the amount I said!! (can't remember how much exactly but it was low - needs must as they say - I do remember that at one point it was more or less £10 per week - it is amazing how far one chicken goes but this was 10 years ago) You can cut down if you have to yet still eat well - none of my children starved or looked under nourished or look back and say they were never fed!

sharon59

what a sad reflection of society today-the more you splash out automatically means you eat better!Really you deserve praise for doing so well!!

wayoflife

impy78 wrote: »

Well, here I am talking to Lloyds TSB collections department, arranging how I'm going to pay all this money back .

I am going through my expenses with the curt lady on the other end of the phone, when we get to food.

Her: How much do you spend on grocery shopping?
Me: At the very most about £90.
Her: So about £360 a month?
Me: No, £90 a month.
Her: Pardon
Me: Well, I overestimated that really, I usually spend about £12 a week on food, but sometimes I go over.
Her: Well what about your dinner?
Me: Sorry?
Her: Well, do you buy your dinner every day or take a packed lunch?
Me: A Packed lunch
Her: Well, in that case you must spend at least £30 a week on food
Me: But I don't
Her: But that's physically impossible! It says on my screen that the minimum food expenditure is £120 for a single adult for a month.
Me: (Mutters) Oh well then, it MUST be true!
Her: Eh?
Me: Nothing.

LMAO, It seems that common sence has been taken out of the equasion!
Any one seen the Little Britain sketch...COMPUTER SAYS NO...! how true to life is it!

I would have had a bit of 'tongue and cheek' with her and questioned her on the £30.00 per week, if her screen does indeed say that minimum expediture on food £120 a month, I would quickly reply saying, well that isnt 30 a week then is it, as there are more than 4 weeks in a month....! Then work it out and say actually it is £27.69 a week if you want to be exact! I find that in situations like this it is best just to joke along and see how far you can take it!

On a serious note to get this resolved, you often have to go alot higher than the first person you speak to. I would suggest contacting the CEO of that company with a detailed question. He/she will then direct you to a senior representative (you know they will be high up whoever it is, as the CEO wouldnt like it to not be resolved and have to go back to him/her)

I have tried this technique with alot of different companies...I can remember alot of CEO names off by heart! lol

if you need the contact details then message me I may be able to find it for you

CLAPTON

I assume you are negotiating a reduced payment on your loan/CC/OD etc.
A great many of these arrangements fail because people under estimate their spending. Presumably you have worked out all your spending equally exactly and are comfortable with the overall total.
However, many people find that they have essential spending or have major problems (car or boiler packs up etc.) that isn't allowed for so so fail to maintain the reduced payments.
Best agree with them and save the money, then maybe later you will be able to come to a F&F settlement.

michaels

I can imagine for the bank that a newspaper headline suggesting the bank asked, for example, a mother and child to live on £15 a week for food would not be the best publicity hence why they may have such a high minimum for that category?

Andy_L

From you point of view though surely it's better if they think you've got higher fixed costs than you have & thus have less spare cash to repay the debt?

Contains_Mild_Peril

michaels wrote: »

I can imagine for the bank that a newspaper headline suggesting the bank asked, for example, a mother and child to live on £15 a week for food would not be the best publicity hence why they may have such a high minimum for that category?

Fair point, but the amount listed is the minimum you're "allowed" to need for food, not the maximum! However, since most of these budget things fail to include sufficient contingency funds, it may be best to base the amount you can afford to repay on the bank's calculations and keep any spare cash for emergencies.
My household food budget is about £160 per month for 3 people, 2 cats and a hamster.

patchwork_cat

I agree with AndyL and Claypton, surely it is a good thing that you can manage on less than they say? That means you can put that amount either into another debt or save it up and then close the debt early.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I'm still amazed that the woman thought £90 was per week and apparently didn't think there was anything remarkable about the idea of one person spending that on food for themselves! Isn't that about twice what the unemployed are expected to live on for food, all their bills, clothes and whatever else they need?