Constantly overdrawn - help?

[CCOVICH]

Take a small bowl of water and fill her up.
Place credit card in bowl.
Stick it in the freezer.

Slightly OT-would the card still work after defrosting?

 

[mell61]

I've heard this suggested before, I think the reasoning behind it is that you can't use boiling water or microwave to defrost it, as it will banjax that magnetic strip, so you have to leave it to defrost overnight.... giving you time to decide if you actually need to use it!
A bit extreme, but hey if it works...

 

[casiopea]

A friend of mine does the frozen credit card thing too. She didnt want to cut it up as charges are incurred closing the account and then ordering a new one. As Mel61 says she has to wait for it to defrost before she can use it.

I think the magnetic swipe got banjaxed anyway (its been defrosted a few times now) but she's still freezing it, dethawing it, using it, freezing it etc.

 

[lff12]

Bizarrely it does work.

Alternatively give it to somebody to trust to keep it away from you (this has also worked).

I'm a terrible credit card junkie. My main habit is to run it up within 10% of the credit limit, then spend 5 months paying off the whole lot - and start all over again. I think I just shouldn't be given credit.

 

[conor_mc]

My main habit is to run it up within 10% of the credit limit, then spend 5 months paying off the whole lot - and start all over again. I think I just shouldn't be given credit.

This was me too.

I sat down and worked out my irregular bills during the year, basically stuff that wasn't more or less a monthly bill. I was shocked at how much I was trying to absorb into monthly cash-flow. I never stood a chance, so the goal has to be to build up a fund that spreads these costs into 12 even payments.

Car insurance, car services, road tax, birthday presents, Christmas presents (and booze!), Summer holidays, any sort of college/exam fees. All of these add up and you feel you're only getting one thing sorted and another lands on you. Yet, put aside 200-300 per month and the whole lot takes care of itself.

 

[Guest107]

I moved my car insurance to April because of that cashflow crunch . It was a nightmare (with the company) getting a 3 month policy then a 12 month (Jan-Mar) but well worth it.

Leaves me feb and march to accumulate after christmas.

 

[lff12]

This was me too.

I sat down and worked out my irregular bills during the year, basically stuff that wasn't more or less a monthly bill. I was shocked at how much I was trying to absorb into monthly cash-flow. I never stood a chance, so the goal has to be to build up a fund that spreads these costs into 12 even payments.

I think thats a very reasonable statement which would apply to most people on or below an average wage. For a lot of people even stuff like car tax or insurance is between 300-600 (if not an awful lot more for young fellows) so it is hitting you in the pocket. Especially if you're paying a jumbo mortgage or high rent.

One of the biggest problems I have is that fact that eircom, bord gais, bt, and ESB all bill every two months - but almost none of them seem to bill on a regular date so I generally get bills between 6-10 weeks apart on whatever date they feel like it. There is surely a case for competitors to bill on a monthly basis (which would suit people paid monthly) - though sadly with the case of ESB and BG there simply is no competition and unless things change dramatically, unlikely to be for a long time.

Also I find that with a very temperamental postal system its happened once or twice that the bill only arrives the day before the direct debit is due. And incidentally some companies now insist on you paying by direct debit if you're a first time customer or tenant, which makes it even harder to manage. I find in Ireland that after living in the UK and Germany at some point, Ireland is a very non-consumer friendly country in which to live.

Having said that people here are their own worst enemies - I read in the Post yesterday that apparently 50% of all eircom customers will not change company even if they find a cheaper option!