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April 2008 Archives

Bank Charges

Posted by Samantha Castle on April 29, 2008 6:55 PM

Great News(ish). High street banks have been told that they will have to cough up millions in repayments for overpriced bank charges to their customers.
The banks suffered a massive defeat this week after a High Court judge ruled that their charges DO fall under fairness rules.
Which means that charge-reclaiming for Penny Pinchers like you and me is back on.
Anyone who has been unfairly hit with excessive charges for bounced cheques, unpaid direct debits or getting over-drawn will now be able to claim back some of the £3 billion a year that banks take from our pockets.
However the banks have until May 22 to appeal this first judgment and at the moment nearly a billion pounds of reclaims are still on hold, but it’s worth asking your bank for the last six years worth of statements so you can total up the charges and start the reclaim ball rolling.
The comparison website uSwitch.com estimates that more than one million claims, totalling more than £713m, have been on hold since July 2007. And from the start of the claims freeze to January 2008, the banks have made £20.5m in interest on this money. For the foreseeable future, while the legal wrangling continues, consumers waiting to reclaim what they see as unfair charges remain out of pocket.
Last week, the credit crunch intensified when it was revealed that the cost of food has increased faster than the rate of inflation. Many families, who have seen their grocery bills go up by £800 this year alone, are now struggling more than ever to make ends meet. I asked around the office to see if everyone was feeling the pinch and to see what they were doing about it.
Some are growing their own vegetables and some are getting organic veg delivered straight to their door and cutting out the cost of air miles by using local suppliers and farm shops.
Start saving is my advice, I’ve found it very useful to have several accounts so I use different pots of money for different things. Open one account for holidays, another to pay for the car. This helps to identify money for particular future spending, rather than having it all in one big pot which is very easy to run down. While it is important to reduce debts, you should not ignore savings.
An emergency fund is probably more essential now than ever before, as credit gets harder to come by. Keep an amount in a savings account, ideally in an ISA for tax efficiency for those unexpected expenses, like a burst water pipe or new shoes (OK,OK not the shoes!).

Spend less live more

Posted by Samantha Castle on April 20, 2008 9:41 PM

I read an interesting article over the weekend which at first looked like it could be helpful to me in my Penny Pinching quest. It started off well talking about how rampant materialism is so last year and how a plucky bunch of people have pioneered the newest trend for this year- spending less and living more.
I’ve already tried and failed to give Compacting a go, my pitiful attempts to de-clutter my life and only buy what is deemed necessary to survive only just scratched the surface of the Compact lifestyle but it still made me feel I was living like a monk and was not a way of life I could adapt to easily, so becoming a New Aspirational looked promising.
These New Aspirationals have found a deeper kind of fulfilment by cutting up their credit cards and redefined gracious living, but there was a catch, a very big one, as I read on I realised that these people are all rich and most probably bored with their well-kept lives- how utterly frustrating (for me). They are all swapping their 20 bedroom country mansions for seven bedroom city penthouses because apparently we (the public) are not into extravagant expenditure anymore- which I guess is true but not for the reasons stated in this article. We are spending less but it’s because everyone is poor, people like me who earn under £18,000 a year are almost £200 worse off thanks to this government- wage increases do not reflect inflation, the credit crunch or the ‘wobbly’ financial market.
The more I read on the more I became infuriated by these people and what they were advocating, they wanted to become less motivated by material possessions by looking for fulfilment elsewhere implying that this was a healthier outlook on life than focusing on their next pay rise. Which I have to admit I agree with in part but it’s easier said than done especially when you are not loaded and without a financial care in the world, although I did agree that spending money on just one treat a month instead of every week is helping me to appreciate and respect the value of money more, but unlike the Aspirationals who buy less because they are prepared to pay a little more for quality products I am buying less purely because I'm skint!

Fight Club

Posted by Samantha Castle on April 16, 2008 4:02 PM

Since I began Penny Pinching four months ago I adopted the mantra that I would never let my financial situation control my well-being despite it controlling and restricting my life. And despite 85% of my monthly salary going towards paying off my debts I have done just that by always managing to squirrel away a few quid a month into savings and always trying to ensure that I have at least one treat, be it a small Costa coffee or a big night out with the girls a month.
Don't get me wrong these are trying times and its not just me feeling the pinch the Credit Crunch is upon us all, but in order to keep on Penny Pinching and managing each month on a day-by-day basis I believe it is important to reward myself for being good. If any of you are like me and got into debt purely through self indulgent spending then you'll understand just how difficult it is to break the spending habit, but I am getting there and I find the occasional reward is helping to wean me off my spending addiction. But I fear I may be replacing one addiction with another...
As some of you may already be aware part of my efforts to keep an active mind and body during these depressing times has involved the discovery of pole-dancing in the form of a six-week course of beginners pole-dancing lessons, (not moonlighting at a working men's club) which I was invited on by dance instructor Zara Groves of Break'n'Spin dance studio in Llandudno. (regular readers of my blog will be aware of just how much fun I've had with the pole-dancing!)
But I started to slip into a decline as I realised the course was coming to an end, I could feel the withdrawal symptom's creeping in- would I be able to cope not meeting up with my fellow dancing buddies once a week, no longer having a social, fun and healthy session on the pole to look forward to? But luckily for me as the course was coming to an end Zara very kindly offered me a place on the intermediate course which began this week, so I can continue dancing and feeling more fit, health and confident about myself. Phew, panic over.
However, in my blind panic for social interaction I also enrolled in a weekly Slimming World group, based in Llandudno Junction, with my sister Lisa, (all the comfort eating I've being doing of late to overcome my depression about not having any money to wantonly spend anymore has given me a bum the size of a small country) and like the weekly sessions of pole-dancing I get a warm fuzzy feeling of acceptance from attending this group and being part of something that involves people in the same situation as me, in this case- being overweight.
But I fear I may be becoming dependant on the group, as I am with the pole-dancing, in order to overcome my debt problems. Maybe I should start a Penny Pincher group! What's the first rule of Penny Pinching club- we don't talk about Penny Pinching.

Credit Crunch

Posted by Samantha Castle on April 10, 2008 11:53 AM

Calls to insolvency helpline's in the region are reported to have increased by a massive 75% in the last year, repossession is also on the increase and the cost of living is at an all time high, even the Queen has cancelled her Diamond Wedding celebrations. This week I've taken an indepth look at the current recession and what help, if any, is out there for people struggling to cope.
According to figures released by the UK Insolvency Helpline, over 88,000 calls were made by people in Conwy County in the last year alone to the helpline relating to personal debt and house repossession.
“The helpline receives around 5000 calls each week from people all over the UK struggling with debt from personal loans that are costing more than they can afford,” explained the helpline's Ian Boden-Smyth.
“Many callers have long term loans and their loan rates often have very high interest rates. One of the main reasons why people are getting into debt is because they are unable to obtain personal loans at cheap rates because have had past credit problems.
Figures show the total amount of consumer credit, leaving out mortgages, stands at a staggering £150 billion pounds. That’s three times higher than when current records began just a decade ago.
“The causes of debt are so many and varied and not usually due to irresponsibility, as is commonly assumed,” added Ian. “Some loan companies charge up to 95% interest on their loan products.”
“Calls to our helpline from the people in the Conwy County are for a number of reasons but are mainly due to drops in tourism, lack of resources, poor transport links and isolation, in particular small rural communities where people are in desperate need of budget advise,” explained Ian.
The causes of debt can be devastating to people and their families and make people feel ashamed, guilty, frustrated, and angry and can seriously affect both mental and physical health. It can also be the cause of relationship break downs.
More people are seeking help because they are having problems paying their essential household bills, according to figures released by the national charity Citizens Advice.
New debt figures released this week show that Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales saw mortgage arrears problems shoot up by 35% in the first two months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007. The new figures also reveal continuing increases in problems relating to basic essentials such as gas and electricity, water, telephone and council tax debts.
Teresa Perchard, Director of Policy for Citizens Advice said: “It is a worrying trend that our bureau are reporting a very sharp increase in the number of mortgage arrears problems they are dealing with. These latest figures paint a worrying picture, suggesting a significant number of households are struggling to meet their most basic living costs. The combination of big increases in household bills, especially fuel, and rising housing costs is putting additional pressure on people’s finances when they are already stretched to the limit.”
In the financial year 2006/2007 Citizens Advice Bureaux dealt with 5.7 million new problems, more than 1.7 million of which concerned debt. Debt is now the number one issue advised on in bureau, accounting for nearly one in three of all enquiries.
Both Ian And Teresa advised that seeking help is the first step towards clearing debts, telling creditors about difficulties with payments and working out a manageable payment plan can all help ease the burden of debt.
Check out the full story in this week's edition of the North Wales Weekly News.

Always look on the bright side of life...

Posted by Samantha Castle on April 3, 2008 11:14 AM

They say things happen in three’s like good luck, buses, and unfortunately bad luck (And apparently celebrity deaths according to my Editor?!)
As much as I would love to be telling you now how I’ve been given a pay-rise, won an Audi V8 and found £20 in the street, I'm not because things like that just don’t happen to people like me and especially in three’s.
In the last week alone we (its a collective 'we' now that we co-habituate) have had three strokes of bad luck and they're all to do with money.
Firstly *loml's car broke down- something to do with the electrics which is apparently going to cost a fortune to fix.
Secondly, his MOT, car tax and motorbike tax are all due, more expense.
And thirdly, after deciding a cheap, last-minute get-away somewhere warm would do us the world of good, as after months of living together in so-called domestic bliss we've both experienced an unexpected strain on the relationship.
(I just didn't realise that living together could be this hard. Don't get me wrong everything is great but sharing the household chores and seeing my hard earned cash go on a 12 pack of Carlsburg larger and Mr Muscles plug and sink unblocker instead of a beautiful pair of black suede shoe boots from Faith is taking a bit of getting used to.) Anyway I digress, no matter how much we want and need to feel the sun on our backs unless I splash the cash on a credit card the harsh reality is that neither of us have got a penny to spare. I'm not a realist but its hard to justify another £1000 credit card bill on top of my other debts which I am just about managing to pay each month. However I would like to think I’m quite an optimistic person as I always try to look on the bright side of life.
For example my car passed its MOT this month, I qualified for my annual company bonus and even though the greedy tax man took a massive chunk of it I was left with a few quid to put in my (first time buyers deposit) ISA.
Now I know some of you might say 'why didn’t I pay off some of my debts' with my bonus, but I’m doing that already, every single month from my monthly salary and having nothing left to show for it every single month, so at least this way when I do get a little bit of luck I make the most of it.

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

March 2008 is the previous archive.May 2008 is the next archive.

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