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March 2008 Archives

Bankers..!

Posted by Samantha Castle on March 30, 2008 11:32 AM

In my last Blog entry I shared with you my frustration with Credit Card charges and how I’m going to try and ease my debts by claiming back all of Barclaycard’s unfair charges before they try and put a stop to people like you and me from getting our money back.
A friend of mine, who does not have an agreed overdraft with his bank, discovered he had unknowingly become overdrawn by £1.05 the other day and the bank has charged him £30 for privilege. But how can he become overdrawn if he doesn’t even have the facility on his account in the first place?
The reality is it’s an unjustified charge which is just helping to make the banks richer.
According to financial professionals High Street banks have raked in nearly £580 million in penalty overdraft charges since the start of the court case in January 2007 challenging the legality of these fees.
The case was brought by the Office of Fair Trading to establish whether charging of up to £30 a time for exceeding credit limits and for bounced and stopped cheques are legitimate and fair.
Millions of people have already claimed back more than £1 billion in overdraft charges, but last July the Financial Services Authority announced a waiver, preventing consumers from claiming refunds until the case had been decided.
In the meantime, the banks are still charging high fees and the longer the case takes before being settled, the more money consumers are losing in penalties.
Consumer groups were initially hopeful that a decision would be reached by early April, but experts believe it is likely to be summer at the earliest.
So get ready Penny Pinchers to claim back money which was rightfully yours!

Bumming Credit Cards

Posted by Samantha Castle on March 22, 2008 10:43 AM

It was the *loml’s birthday last month and although I had already bought his present with saving money (concert tickets to see Newton Faulkner in Manchester) I had also committed myself to making sure the whole weekend was great for him because I missed his last birthday (the big 30) as I was on holiday in India.
I had some saving left over and found an amazing hotel deal on lastminute.com however to secure it I had to pay by credit card and once we got there I had to hand over my credit card again in case we ordered anything to the room (which we did). Don’t get me wrong we had a wonderful weekend and the concert was amazing but obviously I’ve been left with a credit card bill gathering extortionate interest by the day.
So yesterday I transferred the balance to egg.com, who I have an account with, as it was offering 0% interest for six months, yippee! And I’ve decided that now my Barclaycard is clear I’m going to start the laborious process of claiming back all the nasty over-priced charges they’ve put upon me over the years, it must be millions!
I will be just one of a growing number making claims against credit card issuers, having been hit by hefty penalty charges for late and missed payments or spending over the credit limit.
It is estimated that 700,000 credit card payments are late or missed every month. In 2006 the Office of Fair Trading ruled that lenders must limit penalty charges to no more than £12 a time, but before this ruling borrowers faced penalties of up to £35.
Customers like me, can claim refunds direct from their credit card company, but whatever course of action cardholders choose, it pays to be persistent. (There are claims firms out there that can so this for you but beware, they will expect 25% of your money!)
The longer I leave it to claim, the smaller the refund. This is because there is a six-year limit on how far I can go back to reclaim charges.
Plan of Attack: Step One.
If you can’t calculate yourself how much you have paid in charges over the past six years through bank statements contact your provider yourself. Ask them to provide you with a list of all charges, there is a maximum charge of £10 for this service, so send a cheque. Card companies have a legal obligation to respond within 40 days.
So why not give it a go with me, we can do it together and support each other. I’ll let you know what my grand total is when I hear back from them and then we can do the next step together and get our money back.

Look Away Now!

Posted by Samantha Castle on March 17, 2008 3:29 PM

For those of you who are not interested in how my free pole dancing lessons at Break'n'Spin dance studio are going please look away now. And for those of you who are keen for an update- read on....
Long gone are the leg-warmers, head-bands and Lycra of aerobics, now all women need to get fit is a pole to dance around.
Pole dancing is the exercise craze for 2008 and Llandudno based dance studio Break’n’Spin, is one of the first in the area to support the new fitness regime.
Even Tesco is selling the Peekaboo pole-dancing kit alongside trampolines and skipping ropes on its website.
Not only are more women visiting pole-dancing clubs, but many are also doing it themselves.
If actress and fashion designer Sadie Frost and model Kate Moss can do it then so can I so I jumped at the chance to enrolled on one of Zara Groves six-week beginner pole-dancing courses.
As I rummaged through my wardrobe, bravely discarding the baggy track suit bottoms in favour of the Lycra hot pants (that hadn't seen the light of day since Ibiza 1995 Jemma!), I wondered if it was wise to be seen again in public sporting such unforgiving clothing after such a long time.
Break’n’Spin is a professionally run dance studio offering classes to those looking to either build confidence, tone up, spice up their private lives or just satisfy a curiosity.
Arriving at the secluded Bridge Street venue, and half expecting to find a bar full of super-toned leggy models, I was pleasantly surprised to find a whole range of friendly faces of varying shapes, sizes and ages buzzing off a collective air of giggly excitement and fear of the unknown.
After just half an hour the atmosphere had warmed up considerably and after being taught the basic combinations, we took it in turns to try them out.
Fitness instructor Zara Groves is determined to change all preconceived ideas and her pole-dancing classes are going down a storm.
She said: “What people tend not to realise is that it’s a fantastic form of exercise. It strengthens every muscle in the body and improves flexibility.
“It’s a form of art like ballet and gymnastics. Another benefit is that it teaches the person to be more graceful and confident. It’s a lot more difficult than people realise. Professionals make it look so simple but in fact you can get quite bruised by all the clinging you do to the pole.
“One of the biggest benefits I’ve noticed in my classes is how much more confident the women get,” said Zara.
After just one session of bumping and grinding, my thighs and arms were begging for forgiveness (a feeling akin to an intense strength workout down the gym).
With my new-found skills and confidence, I was harbouring thoughts of moonlighting as a professional and using the extra cash to pay off my debts.
Approachable, well-trained instructors with a great sense of humour and down-to-earth quality, combined with a friendly 'up for it' group, all added to a fun experience and one worth repeating: advanced lessons are also available.
All I need to do now is persuade my landlord to let me erect one in the living room.
To book a pole-dancing course contact Zara at Break’n’Spin on: 01492 868665 or email: info@BreaknSpin.com

The Compacting continues...

Posted by Samantha Castle on March 10, 2008 1:51 PM

According to the Compact; consumerism is destroying the world, and I do agree to a certain degree and I already recycle diligently, re-using my plastic shopping bags and those bags for life, although I have to admit sometimes I use my Tesco one in Asda and my Netto one in Sainsburys, but who's looking...
So in my bid to try and turn my back on the greedy consumer led lifestyle I seem to live and die by, and to help to ease my financial situation I have stopped shopping, (sharp intake of breath) And not just clothes shopping, all shopping apart from the necessities. I'm attempting to break the habit of spending on my lunchbreak, browsing the shelves of Home and Bargain and Asda, looking longingly in River Island with an over-priced Costa coffee clutched in my clammy palm as I dare to splash the cash (credit card).
But I don't want to evangelise too much, proving it is possible for women to resist the girlie urge to bling-buy that society has installed in me. I've even noticed that it is actually other women who seem to be driving the never-ending consumer boom, and we're also the ones who are targeted by advertising, marketing and other more insidious pressures (although I've not stopped my daily ASOS emails just yet as they are reasonably priced to be fair).
Insecurities and body image and the constant pressure that you must have the newest, best, colour and shape can be tremendously stressful especially when you haven't got the disposable income to do so.
Although I wasn't a huge shopper of fashion I did buy into this philosophy before I tried Penny Pinching. You have got to be quite secure in yourself to resist the competitiveness of consumerism. I have the No7 miracle face cream in by bathroom cabinet, so what does that tell you?
My main motivation for giving the Compact life a go was that I was spending a substantial amount of time, many weekends and lunchbreaks shopping. Buying clothes and products was not even the time wasting part; it was the looking at stuff. Even if I couldn't afford or didn't want the latest fashion accessory, I still wanted to look at it just to keep up with the product line. According to the Compact I needed to cut out over-used products.
Like many other 30 something women, I have two wardrobes full of clothes, one of which don't even fit me anymore and are a mix of designer, highstreet and far too good items to just throw away, I'm ashamed to admit that I have even found shoes I've never worn. My old self disgusts me. Apparently like most women I fall into the trap of wearing only 20% of my clothes 80% of the time.
Being a Compactor is all about responsible consumerism, of thinking before you buy and using things to the end of their natural life span instead of replacing them too early. Although I'll never be anti-retail or anti-commercial the lifestyle change I've encountered by attempting to embrace the Compact life have been hard as I've always been a bit of a bling queen and always had clutter, think Carrie Bradshaws walk-in wardrobe and coordinated shoe boxes in SATC, well that's me- just not walk-in or coordinated but live-in and messy. Still at least I'm giving it a go!

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Penny Pincher in the March 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.

February 2008 is the previous archive.April 2008 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the home page or by looking through the archives.