Carpe diem
Mrs had the chance to sell her house in London and buy houses as buy to lets up here 6 years ago.. at the time she could have put down enough deposits to buy 10 (£60K in total)...and they were going for £40K each..
they're now £120K each.. she'd have made £800K. We don't talk about it much.
(Countryslicker, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:33, Reply)

OK, you lot, you asked for it
OK, where was I?

Oh yes, the lovely Ursula. She left Nice with her school chums and I remained for a while…[imagine hitting the fast-forward button for a bit]…met crazy Parisian/Algerian girl, just friends, went to Paris with her, then London with me briefly, then back to France to pick grapes, hitch-hiking, met people, did stuff, grapes finished, rang Ursula as she lived in Minfeld nr. Karlsruhe in the German grape producing area of Pfalz. She said she could arrange grape-picking work for me near her, I could stay at her house. Verdict: result! I got on a train in southern France with a couple of litres of red wine in my pack and somehow managed to arrive at Karlsruhe minus the red wine, in a train packed with young French army conscripts. [back to normal speed]

At the station, there was my lover looking really good. I found out her Dad owned a car dealership so she had the pick of the cars as run-abouts. We put my rucksack in the boot of a Renault 25 and she floored it home, which was a three storey detached residence next to the dealership.

Now, looking back on it, her folks were really good, I had been living in a tent for most of the previous month, was smelly, un-shaven and dirty. I was also foreign. I was also older than their clean-living, sweet-smelling, angelic daughter. So, I met Mutti and Varti and also her big brother (uh-oh). Ursula had warned me about him; he had ‘issues’, his fiancée had just dumped him, he was drinking too much and he’d attempted suicide.

Soooo, we went to her room where she very kindly asked if I wanted a shower, and boy, you know those few occasions when you feel completely transformed by a wash? Well, this was one of those times. Being German and with a big house, their walk in shower was the dog’s danglies, I emerged, wrapped in a towel and went back to her room. The change had the desired effect as she pounced on me and we rolled on the bed. It was late at night by this time, and everyone was in bed, she was due to sleep in the spare room, but took the time to make sure I was comfortable…which included taking her clothes off and impaling herself on me the ‘wrong way round’, while I lay on my back with the perfect view of possibly the nicest bottom east the Rhine as it rose and fell, rose and fell…

Sorry about that…ahem! So, she left me not quite as clean as I had been ten minutes before, but a hell of lot sleepier and about two fluid ounces lighter.

Now, you lot know that I always try to tell the truth, or at least as much of it as I can remember, so it’s confession time now. I didn’t love Ursula. In fact, hands up who remembers ‘Girl-of-my-dreams’? Yes, I was still in love with her, but that had been the summer before, and it was months since I had had any contact with her. I knew Ursula was in love with me, and I was using her like the horrid man I was. Question was, was this bad of me? She loved me, I was here with her, giving her pleasure, I hadn’t said I loved her – well, not since that moment on the beach, and it doesn’t count if you say it in a foreign language, right? I was enjoying myself greatly but truthfully, it would have been better for her if I’d stayed away…anyway, too late for that now, go to sleep Che, it’ll all work out OK in the morning.

Next day, lovely German breakfast, rolls, ham, salami, cheese, coffee, then Ursula took me to work. School had started back so she dropped me off on her way in. She, or her Dad, had fixed me up with some local wine-maker as a grape picker, so I was dropped off in a near-by village, called…Scheidt, yes, I can truly say I was in Scheidt every morning before I even started work.

The work was fine; very different from Languedoc Roussillon though, much taller vines, grown over wires, more widely spaced, tractors etc. It was also a hell of a lot colder, greener and wetter than the rosy Southern hillside terraces. There was one guy there that spoke very good English - he’d spent a year or so in London when he was younger - and he told me what to do. Most of the workers were local rural German women and they seemed to think I was something of an oddity, but we got on fine. At lunchtime, there was good grub at long tressle tables and at the end of the day, I was dropped off back in Scheidt, and there was my little angel in her Renault 19.

To cut a novel down to a novella, each evening Ursula and I would go out as soon as I was showered and changed. We usually went into Karlsruhe to a café/bar called the Krokodil or somesuch. Here we would drink beer and she would tell me how unhappy she was, how she couldn’t bear it at home any more, the atmosphere was horrible, her brother only came out of his room to find more booze or shout at people, a couple of times he’d hit her. Her parents were running out of patience and snapping all the time, they were only polite when I was around; there were lots of tears.

Throughout all of this I was useless. Like the bloke I am, I didn’t know what to say, what to do or how to act. Basically, all I wanted to do was work, get some money, have sex if at all possible and move on. Unfortunately for me, the sex was out now, the atmosphere or something someone had said made it too dangerous.

We had some good times, the first weekend we went to a neuer wein and chestnuts party. A couple of hours walking in the woods collecting chestnuts, then bottles of the new wine, still fizzy and roasted chestnuts a-plenty. We also went to a gig where one of Ursula’s friends called Timo was playing in a surprisingly good but weird band: a couple of black Americans from a nearby air force base and four white german kids – very funky, very tight. I met some of Ursula’s friends, one of whom sticks in my mind, her name was Trixie and she was a peach! She clearly fancied the arse off me and the feeling was mutual – I’m ashamed to say I even copped a lovely feel of her arse outside the club when Ursula went to fetch the car…

…perhaps that is why I was so frisky when we got home. When Ursula came in to say good night, I was starkers (always sleep in the nude) and she consented to a quick cuddle, though I knew nothing else was on the cards. Suddenly, the door opened and we heard Mutti’s voice say something before it slammed shut again. Shit! She’d seen my naked bod on top of her - admittedly clothed – daughter.

More tears, Ursula went out, sounds of shouting, doors banging…let me tell you, shouting in German is more scary than other shouting, well it is if you’re naked in a German house, young and, let’s not forget, Jewish.

Later on, Ursula helped me pack and at first light she took me to the station (I can’t remember which car it was) and helped me buy a ticket. I was going back to Nice where I knew a lovely 15 year old girl with friendly parents who’d put me up for a bit.

We did the old waiting for a train routine: checked the platform, checked it was on time, went for a coffee, had a cigarette or two, didn’t really talk much, held hands. Men aren’t really strong silent types, they just can’t think of anything useful to say most of the time. Train came in, and then something strange happened, I started crying. Real tears, streaming down my face. I tried to hide them from Ursula, well, I made it look as if I was trying to hide them, but made damn sure she noticed [told you I told the truth], then clung to her for one last kiss, our tears mingling, I hauled my rucksack onto my back and climbed aboard. By the time I found a seat, the train was moving, and the tears continued to stream down my face as we pulled out of the station, I could hardly make out the figure of Ursula running beside my window on the platform.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:32, Reply)

HSBC are the most useless c*nts ever
My sister in law is with HSBC, and by means beyond rational description is actually prevented from leaving them.

She had a personal loan from them from a failed relationship so no assets to show for £10k of debt. Plus the "payment protection" whacked another £4k on top!!!

She had 2 jobs and lost the main one, (on which the loan was based). However the payment protection refused to pay out for her redundancy on the basis she still had a second job behind a bar that paid 10 hours per week (WTF!?!?).

So unable to make the £300 per month payments on her £180 per month income they kept slapping penalty charges of £30 every time the payment bounced (plus interest on the £30 of course).

We wrote the bank to explain the situation and ask to try and make alternative arrangements.... The letter was ignored.

We went into the branch, who told us that loans have to be dealt with the central dept over the phone.

The central loans dept on the phone told us we had to go into the branch to sort it out.

Eventually we went in and sat in the branch and refused to leave until something was sorted.

They agreed to remove the payment protection part of the debt and put her on a managed loan. Basically raise the interest rate and length of the loan to reduce the payments to £135 per month.

All agreed in writing, then they tried to take the loan payment 3 times in one month!!! Of course putting her overdrawn again and again!!!

I reckon she's had about £500 in bank charges in the last 6 months.

We've tried to get her a bank account elsewhere but it keeps being refused due to the state of her credit rating.

HSBC also refuse to give her a cash card meaning that if she wants cash from her wages she has to go into the branch and write a cheque out to cash!!!

Now that she's doing a college course to improve her long term prospects she cannot attend the branch during working hours. Basically meaning she cannot get her own money out of the bank ever and cannot leave the bank either.

When we point out that the bank has made a mistake they deny it, make the minimum reversal of any charges or ignore us.

They are without a doubt the most useless financial institution it's been my missfortune to deal with. Forunately I don't bank with them, nor will I ever let my family!
(golddust QOTW now revolves around being a cunt, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:32, Reply)

i've been looking at the horizon and I'm scared.....
Err...has anybody else noticed that huge fecking interest rate coming over the horizon??

With the way things are going in the housing, jobs, industry, etc markets, I wouldn't be surprised to see 10 or 15% interest rates in the next couple of years...so I'm cramming as many pennies as I can into my cash holes and drinking as much wine as I can whilst I can still afford it!!! Take heed, boys and girls - next year you may not be able to afford t'internet nor vino and will have to live like your parents did.....you have been warned!!!

phew! feel much better now!

*reeling in the length a bit, just in case*
(downhill without brakes . It was the worst day of my life, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:22, Reply)

I once owed
50p to the hard man of the class. He hit me.
(wonderbrawl was pronounced dead on, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:19, Reply)

NatWest Are Racists
While we're outing scumbag banks etc.

They asked my wife, who is Polish, to return her credit card and told her she's not allowed to have a card. They said it was due to "financial reasons".

She's in full-time employment, pays tax, has never been over her overdraft (in fact, has never even used it) and has had over a grand in her current account for the last year. The bank recently offered her £500 overdraft and she has a switch card.

Financial reasons? Or because she's Polish? You decide. They gave me a credit card when I was unemployed, had £60 in the bank and hadn't even worked in this country for seven years.
(frankspencer, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:15, Reply)

Tax, basically
I've always been completely debt free, although at times I've not had much cash left, and have worked in a variety of shitty jobs to bring in the money.

I don't buy more than I can afford and have an aversion to spending large amounts of money on *anything*. I won't buy something unless I think I really need it. On the downside this sometimes means I don't sort things out that I really should, make do for too long, and other than too much obsolete computer kit I've had people comment that I don't actually have that much stuff. Spending too little isn't necessarily a good thing..

Mistakes though :

1) Sending a cheque to the wrong address, and almost getting a CCJ as a result. oops.

2) I went through a period when I wasn't in the best situation; it took ages to get out of this, as I had no confidence to sort stuff out, or to ask for a salary raise I'd not had in over 3 years. This ended up with me spending more than I earnt for about 6 months until I sorted my head, financies and salary out..

3) Not notifying the tax office early enough on a change of a company car. Cue tax demand for a grand years later(!) - I always tell them right away, now!

I still don't understand why people buy new stuff when they don't need it though. Why do you buy new computers when you can't afford it, and the old one still does everything you need?

edit: oh yes, obvious point : money doesn't make you happy. Re point 2) - I wasn't in any danger as long as I sorted myself out in a year or two because I had shedloads in the bank. I earnt it when I was seriously unhappy with life, and ok - it helped support me until I became happier. I'd much rather have been happier, and had less money though.
(EssY, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:14, Reply)

Christ-y!
Where the hell do I start. Owe 5k to Inland Revenue, three grand to former landlord, three grand to Nat West, four hundred to brother, four hundred to good friend, three-fifty to good friend, O2 and Orange and Vodafone all hate me, I can't get a bank account. Being chased left, right and up the arse by collectors and baillifs all over the shop. Oh, and eight-fifty on credit card six years ago.

I am generally a money fuckup. But I've had issues the past few years. No excuse, I know. But that's for another post.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:06, Reply)

having a mortgage with the Nationwide
they are utter tossers, so we are now moving it.
( Duke Otterby you pre-verts, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:04, Reply)

Quick! Hide the phones!
I worked for a company which was renting horrendously expensive premises in Covent Garden, because the boss thought having a prestigious address was more important than paying our wages. Anyway, it wasn't long before the landlord gave us a massive rent hike. My boss refused to pay, and we eventually had a visit from the bailiffs to make a list of everything they could take away from us. They were very kind and gave us half an hour's warning (or thereabouts). We rushed round the building, hiding everything of the slightest value (all the paintings off the wall, computers not in use ferreted away... we didn't get round to taking the carpets up, but if we'd had more time...).

When they came round (a tight-lipped woman and two of the biggest, burliest blokes I've ever seen, who looked like they could snap your spine just by glancing at you) there was little visible to list as assets. They sniffed, tutted and left. Not long afterwards, my boss paid up - pretending all the time to be unfazed by the experience (even though he'd made sure he was out when the bailiffs came, leaving his staff to deal with the heavies). I still wonder why we agreed to co-operate with him.

Some time after I left the company, I passed by the same office building. It's now a shoe shop. The company I worked for isn't even listed any more.
( Sonic the Hedgetrimmer doesn't care what you think, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:02, Reply)

I paid your mum 12p
Gutted.
( Goatworrier had your mum and she was shit, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:00, Reply)

Virgin mobile are a bunch of knob jockeys
I've just been turned down for a Virgin mobile phone on a 12 month contract.

Don't know why though!

I've got an orange contract that ends this week and I thought I'd just get one with Virgin but despite being in full time employment and owning my own home for some reason I'm not allowed a Virgin phone.
The snotty "Emma" at mobileshop.com just said "You need to talk to Equifax about your credit rating". I asked for formal notification from them that the Virgin contract was not being set up so I could shop elsewhere and not end up with 2 phones. To quote Emma's FULL and formal notification by email: "Order declined, regards.".

Errr.... cheers, that's great customer service you have there!

Never mind, plan to renegotiate with Orange instead.
EDIT: Applied for new Orange contract at 1pm, phone now dispatched and contract all sorted by 3pm!!! Further proof that Virgin mobile are c*cks.
(golddust QOTW now revolves around being a cunt, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 15:00, Reply)

Passing up a directorship in a company...
.. because I didnt have the money to hand to buy in.
The company is now worth several million and I'd have been minted.
But would i have been happy? Probably.
(LunarJim, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:53, Reply)

As an accountant, I have to deal with my debt ridden clients on a daily basis
The client with the highest level of debt is a FINANCIAL ADVISOR, I hope the irony isn't lost on him.

He is like a Welsh version of 'Gill', the crap salesman from the Simpsons.

After marrying & then divorcing the same woman for the third & final time he had to live in his office as he was £60k in debt. He then travels to Australia for 6 weeks to watch the Lions tour and on return buys a new BMW on HP at an interest rate so high it doesnt have a number followed by a % symbol, it just says "BUMRAPE"*


*Not quite, but the finance charge does mean he is buying the car twice.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:49, Reply)

What a relief it is:
To know that not everyone else in the world has HDTV, a Lexus and skiing holidays every year.

I thought I was the only poor middle-class boy left in the world.
(HectorProtector, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:46, Reply)

Thieving Dundonians
NB: This is a story of fraud rather than debt but it still conjured the gut-wrenching feeling of helplessness that having no money creates.

So while at uni I'm in my branch of Lloyds TSB when I'm accosted by a manager-looking man who insists I upgrade my standard bank card to a debit card.

"It will only take a few minutes."

Fair enough. I've always been sensible with money and didn't think there was much risk. I'd recently turned 18 and was keen to do more grown up things. After more than "a few minutes" I'd answered all his questions and was told the card would be in the post.

A few days pass.

I try to withdraw some money from a hole in the wall to find that my funds are severely limited and I'm nearly up to my overdraft limit. Considering my hall fees were just about to be removed in the next few days I was really bricking it. I didn't know exactly how much was gone but it was over £900.

Straight to the bank the next day to ask essentially, WTF!? I'm given a printout of my account activity. Apparently I'd been a busy person buying a new PC, golf clubs, £250 of groceries from Safeway etc. Jesus, what the hell? I explained that I hadn't received anything from the bank and how the hell did this happen.

Then I noticed an address written down on one of these documents the teller produced. An address familiar to me as I saw it on a computer screen when I originally applied for the card. An address I specifically remember telling the bank manager monkey where I used to, but *no longer* live. That cretin had managed to somehow reinstate my previous address and mail everything there.

Now this old address was still in the same town where my family moved to. Both myself and my mum had worked at the nearest local convenience store to it. My mum had been personally thanked by the woman who moved in for leaving all the carpets. I chatted to the husband about football (where I learnt he was a Dundee FC fan). Twunts the both of them. These bastards spent my money in two days (which was to pay for months of accomodation) when I was literally living on a few part-time shifts a week.

Lloyds TSB "graciously" let me use their phone to call the police and some other call centre that had to be notified before the bank would admit that it wasn't my fault. I then had to go to a police station and reconfirm all this again and make a statement. Meanwhile I was left for about two weeks without enough to live on and I was lucky to get my money back before the university came for their hall fees.

Two things that really pissed me off about the whole thing though: 1.) No apology from Lloyds TSB about their collasal f*ck-up at any point (especially not from the manager who was totally to blame). 2.) The police. Utter jobsworths. Yes I realise that you don't like paperwork and by being a victim of fraud I've created some more for you but Inspector Clouseau could solve this one. YOU'VE GOT THE GUY WHO DID THIS BANGED TO RIGHTS! But no apparently, "If we went round to his house sir we'd just say, 'We have reason to believe you've improperly used a debit card.' and it would be his word against yours."

I know it's not a particularly exciting crime and more people have suffered a lot worse but it annoys me to think that people will screw over their fellow humans without consideration just because they can get away with it.
( djtrialprice, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:45, Reply)

beer money
I once was away at a course, while at Uni, and needed money for beer. Cash card wouldn't work (no money in account), so I wrote a bloke a cheque for 5 quid and he lent me a fiver. Never saw him again. The beer was good though.

And of course, before the days of real-time bank accounts, the "packet of polos and 10 quid cashback" trick at the Royal Bank of Sainsbury's was a regular favourite.
( BamaSS, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:44, Reply)

Look, it's quite simple...
4 words:
"Live within your means."

Then you won't get into so much debt. Britain is heading for a financial crisis because Labour's economy is based entirely on consumer debt, and nothing is being ploughed back into the economy in the shape of investment.

When the bubble bursts, and it will given that interest rates, unemployment and inflation are all rising at the same time, and fast, all you lot who owe thousands are *really* going to be screwed.

The thing is, it's not hard to live a relatively debt-free life. Here's a few blindingly obvious guidelines for you all.

1. Do not spend more than you earn. Ever.
2. Never borrow more than you can afford to pay back, should it all go tits up.
3. If you want something expensive, *save up for it*
4. Get one credit card only. Pay it off in full every month. Only use it for the purchase protection benefits, and don't spend more on it each month than you can afford to clear.
5. Don't buy a new car. If you do you are an idiot. It loses more than half its value in 2 years. Let some other mug suffer that loss and buy a car at least 2 years old.
6. You do not need a huge flat screen TV. Your CRT recieves and displays television perfectly well. You do not need a PS3 or an XBOX 360. You don't need a new mobile phone. Technology never gets more expensive, and early adopters pay well over the odds compared with those who waited a year or two.
7. If you live in London, buy a motorbike or scooter and commute on it instead of using public transport. It will cost you less each year to own than one month's travel card. If you are close enough to work then walk or cycle. It will cost you almost nothing.
8. Put as much money as possible into paying off your debt each month.
9. For those with student loans, even if you could defer payments, don't. Start paying it off as soon as you get a job. It might be index linked and basically free credit, but the company fuck things up on a staggeringly regular basis and will royally shaft you for their mistakes. Avoid the hassle and sudden shock of having to pay them 2 year's payments on one day by not deferring.
10. Buy property. Get a mortgage and buy somewhere. And if you only need a 1 bedroom flat, only buy a 1 bedroom flat. If you rent you'll pay dead money and landlords steal from and con their tenants all the time. Get a mortgage and within a year your home will be worth more than you owe the bank.
(The Queen, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:30, Reply)

Sensible
Well compared to most of you I'm an angel

£1000 overdraft
£1900 credit card
£100,000 mortgage (although I don't really see that a debt for some reason)

Have finally got my card debt transferred to a 0% one so I can actually start paying it off instead of giving the twunts money for nothing each month. If I was more intelligent I would have got my dosh sorted out a long time ago, but I prefer buying booze/cd's/games/clothes/drugs so that was never gonna happen.

The wife has had a positive effect on me when it comes to money - I'm even having second thoughts about whether I can afford to splash out £1K on a LCD telly

The worst thing about my debt is that I can't even remember what I spent on my card (it started off as £3K). If I had something to show for it, at least it would have been worth it.....
(fried gold, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:30, Reply)

This may put it in perspective
If you are feeling down about how much you owe how about this. I have a friend who owes, on credit cards alone:

£105,000

No other details about him in case it gets out except for that he's not in a position to pay it.
( Actually i was skiving on, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:21, Reply)

Biggest money fuck up? No contest.
My biggest fuck up was getting a credit card. At 18 (2001), I wanted to go to the Carling Reading Festival, but didn't have any money. So I came up with the genius plan to get a credit card, pay for the ticket, then cut it up.

I took it with me (fuck up), and bought more beer than anyone should be allowed to buy in one weekend. Worst of all, a lot of it ended up down random people's chins, coming out their noses and going down their shirts, all via a funnel contraption designed to split the drinking men from the drinking boys.

As it turns out, I'm a drinking boy.

The card was at it's limit inside a month.

It was only £500, which is a lot if you don't have £500, and the interest rate was enough to bankrupt Billy Gates. I only just paid it off at the beginning of last year after finally transferring it to a card with a half decent rate.

Length? 4 years.
( Fork Has lost his bash virginity!, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 14:00, Reply)

Claim back your bank charges
The hooded fish finger is right.

It just takes 5 simple steps to reclaim ALL your bank charges from the last 6 YEARS. Find out more at www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/25457-user-guide-contacts-list.html thought you need to register.

It's not a scam, it is totally legal, it's not a loophole, and it sounds longwinded but it's actually pretty easy once you get your head round it.

The only downside is it can take up to 6 months for it to happen, but on the plus side I'm just 2 months away from getting 2,500 back, plus a load of interest. :-)
(Andy Crane Arse Magik, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:59, Reply)

getting 50k in debt
and have to sell our house, get blacklisted, and move to rental accom.

Good news now is that we have another mortgage and are moving in a week - so there is light at the end of the tunnel lol.

Mark
( Capt. Tastic, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:59, Reply)

Just a student loan. Hooray for me.
Student Loan = £16,000.

Thats it :). Been out of uni for nearly 3years and the SLC hasn't caught up with me yet. I'm not going to tell them either.

Despite having a job though, with savings of around £6,100, I'm back into the wonderful word of overdrafts for the grand total of £60, because of my constant spending this month. I have a feeling Barclays are going to shaft me good for some reason.
(metalfeast666, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:57, Reply)

Some light (debt) relief
God this sounds all Fatherly like advice but...
for all you people continually getting charged for going over your limit there is a loophole somewhere in the banking code that means banks can only ethically charge the customer what is proportionate to their costs. i.e. if you spill over your overdraft, a letter and smacked wrist costs the bank about £14.00. So if you go over your overdraft by £2.50 and they charge you £50.00 thats £33.50 that is pure profit to the bank. I was frequently charged for going over my overdraft limit and thought hey ho, it was only when I found out about this did I chance my arm and get £1,200.00 of previous charges out of the bank for writing a letter. They werent happy about it but I bullsh*tted that I was prepared to take it to a legal stage and they coughed up, they will never take it to court because just imagine how many people would start going through previous statements and charges etc and putting in claims. visit moneysavingexpert.com and go to reclaim bank charges, hopefully a future QOTW will be how I screwed the bank and spent all the money.
(The Hooded Fishfinger, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:53, Reply)

If you decide to be self-employed...
...save for tax. I went self-employed for two years, and even though I worked for the same firm all the time, PAYE for tax and NI doesn't apply. I knew this, but did I set aside the 30% I needed each month? Did I fucksocks...
(Good old boy just like yer grandma!, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:52, Reply)

i have just sold a load of stuff to cashtraders for fuck all...and now i'm home again i'm fucking
gutted!
(robotrobotROBOT, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:51, Reply)

For a couple of years
I found myself in exactly the same position as Rob (over on page 1) - doing odd bits of web work, freelancing and not paying tax. Ditto cold sweats and panic attacks. I got an accountant (a friend of mine I'd been drinking with for a couple of years) who discovered I'd been overtaxed in a previous job, and actually managed to get me a £350 rebate. Not bad, his fee was £100 and I made £250 profit. Result.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:51, Reply)

Credit cards are the devils own work
and credit card companies are gready bastards.

Guess you can say I've got a grudge against the Halifax.

Was offered a new job, exactly what I wanted, money not amazing, but I was willing to scrape by because it's a good job. Started the job about 2 weeks before I want to the US on a holiday which had been planned months in advance. Credit card 2 was obtained to keep all the holiday costs in one place.

Finding a place to live took a month longer than expected and ended up staying in a hotel for that month. Credit card 1 & 2 quickly maxing out. rang Halifax and said that I am experiencing problems paying the whole amount and was told not to ring them till I went over my limit. WHAT? So promptly went over limit on both cards. WRote them a nice letter to explain situatino and presented them with a statement of affairs. Both companies refused the amount offered.

By this time, I wasn't sleeping, was having panic attacks, mad visions of being on the streets etc. At this point, Halifax decided to put the boot in and took £200 out of my bank account with them to pay the amount I hadn't paid them.. no warning. Quickly discovered that if a bank issues you a card, and you have a account with them, they can take the money without warning. Even if you've advised them of the situation. Cue sleepless night as the rent was due, and saturday morning dash to the nearest branch to prove my rent was due. Money returned... for about 2 weeks, then taken again.

Spoke to Credit Card Counselling service who put me on a £20 a month payback plan :) Closed my accounts with halifax, went to First Direct got a decent account there (VERY helpful)

Had a bank statement from Halifax saying that I owe them 12p as they applied charges AFTER i had closed the account, and so held the account open. I have advised them that they can whistle for the money as I have no intention of paying it. and shan't so there.

Moral of the story Credit Card companies are only happy when they're taking you for a ride. My advice? NEVER take a card with your bank, don't pay money to a debt management company, use CCCS it's free! and above all, try to steer clear of credit cards unless you absolutely need one.
(pup, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:50, Reply)

How does that work then?
Worked my arse off after leaving university and never managed to get out of my overdraft which was set at just under 2k. Just over two years ago I was made redundant and my settlement just about coverred the overdraft. Through careful money management (dont spend what you dont have, and dont buy anything unless you really need it)I now have no overdraft at all and have a reasonable amount of savings, which considering I only get £50(ish) is pretty good going.........I just want to thank all you B3tans from the heart of my bottom for paying for me to stay home and watch porn for the last 27 months, you guys rock!!
(jidler changed his name on, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 13:49, Reply)