Managing Money

There was no other place to put this (perhaps a lifestyle section?)...

Ok I'm sure I'mnot alone here in the fact thatIfind managingmy personal accounts very difficult.

I am currently toying with the idea of a managed bank accout where you pay £12.50 a month and you have all of your outgoings taken out of your account as soon as your paycheck is in, leaving you only your own money to spend. on top of this you get a personal money manager and the ability to text for your bank balance and transactions.

OK so it's £150 a year but in considering this month my bank has hit me with £160 of charges (I finally got £110 knocked off after much protesting.) I can see that the added peace of mind might be worth the money.

Thoughts?

My husband and I have agreed to giving me $50 a week in cash. He does the grocery shopping and other household shopping. So when my cash runs out I can't buy any more. I have found this to be diffcult in the beginning but as I get used to it I am getting better. I still struggle with wanted to buy more things but if I don't have the cash I can't. I'm also a little more cautious with what I do spend it on.

This is how we have solved my spending issues.

Amanda

I am terrible with managing my money. I live alone and I'm on SSDI, receiving a small amount each month. There is no wiggle room. A spending spree would be absolutely devastating, and I 've has many of these in my life. This year I came up with a budget which flags me when I'm reaching my limit, but even then it isn't going to stop me if I determined to spend wildly. I've almost thought of asking my daughter to manage my money for me, but I don't want to put that burden on her (having to tell her Dad that he can't spend money). All I can hope to is stick to my budget.

Thanks Kolita and Amanda,

Amanda - did you find that in the beginning you used to run out of money early? How did it feel if you did?

The worst fear I have is switching to a managed account and then having a spending spree, thus leaving us with not enough money for food shopping (single mom 2 kids)....

vikki

The first couple weeks I would run out or only have a couple dollars left. But now I think a little bit more before I want to buy something. It is tough but it is making a hugh difference.

Oh money money money!

I'm 45, have worked and been well paid since leaving college (at 21) but have always had terrible money problems. Buying and borrowing sprees and bad investments when high. Ignoring post - bills, tax etc etc) when down. Lost my mind, my marriage, my house, my business. An employee embezzled from me whilst I was in hospital for about 4 months - when I came out the first person I met in the office was the bailiff from Customs and Excise - the VAT and Corporation tax payments for 2 years had left the bank account - but hadn't gone to C&E!. In 2005 I owed about £27,000. Now after a 3 year period of moderate to deep depression (but stability) a lot of that has been paid off andthe rest is under control. On my new meds for a month and a half, feeling great, and my business and personal tax affairs (distrait order was pending) are finally in control. I and my psych team now recognise that a pile of unopened post is a warning sign. I've set all my bills to be paid by direct debt and employ an accountant for a small monthly sum; he "makes me" give him my business documents every month so he can keep on top of things for me. I've got a business and personal bank manager who knows my medical history and understands the problems it can cause me. If he sees "unusual" activity in my accounts he calls and pricks my bubble. I got rid of all my credit cards and now enjoy refusing them when offered. Though I am sometimes tempted I know the chances of getting credit with my history should be about nil.

It's essential that families, carers medics and some of the people who serve us know how difficult it is for some of us to run our affairs and realise how crucial it is, if money is a problem, to have a system for dealing with things when we are ill.

Good luck everyone.

When you say you have a personal bank manager how do you mean? Is that like a managed account?

Vikki

I was really lucky with my bank in having an excellent small business banking manager. He was very proactive and provided masses of practical help. He had suffered from depression himself so I found it really easy to communicate with him. I think he also gave much more to his clients than his basic job description required.

What I've found now that he has moved on is that I don't get as much proactive support but providing I keep the contact it seems to work ok.

It would be so helpful if people in important services like banking were educated about mental illess. They get input about physical disabilities after all! It's yet another example of how we are discriminated against.

I wish I could manage money the way I used to. I was always the one who took care of all things financial. I've been doing it since I was 16 and my mom put me on her and my dad's checking account. I've had some spending sprees, but thats a minor thing for me, thank God. My problem is that the meds have fried my brain to the point I can't think. My hubby takes care of the finances now. It really ticked me off when Social Security wanted to put my checks in my hubby's name. Ggrrrr........I'm not a child!! I know when I can and when I can't handle the money and then I turn it over to my hubby. We finally convinced them that our system worked and it could go into our joint account. But he has the right if he thinks I am not spending it correctly to go to SS and they will put the check in his name and I can't touch it. I guess that would be a good thing if spending sprees were a problem for me. I am so affraid of losing control of something else (money) in my life that I won't buy anything without his permission. I guess in that way I've already lost control. :O(

Vikki,

I think what you're doing is GREAT!!! Yes, 150 pounds a year is a lot, but so is 600 (40 pound difference in your service charges times 12 months), right? A lot of people try to get the cheapest bank account to save money, but if your service fees exceeds that, you may not be saving at all :( [ I work for a financial institution, so I see this often, especially with ODP ] Talk to a Financial Advisor at your branch about which account best suits your needs : )

Something I found helpful was to write everything down that I spend, either on paper or using an excel sheet, adding up how much I spend and how much is left. It also helps me visualize how much I actually have to spend... AND ONLY USE CASH!!!! When I get paid, I leave in my account what comes out automatically and take out the rest in various denominations for the 2 week pay period. There's a show called "Til Debt do us Part" (I don't know if you've heard of it; I recommend watching an episode or two... let me know what you think?) that has a lot of helpful tips, too. From this show, I've gotten "jars" out to separate money for various things so I don't spend say, grocery money on ridiculous things like my now-given-away Chicken Soup for the Soul book collection that I never read. (I often bought things and stored them away, never using them)

Finally, I just wanted to add that managing money is hard for a LOT of people... even though I work for a bank, I'm on STD right now and had to file for Bankruptcy.
I know, LOL, you probably don't want advice from me now, but I can manage other people's money better than my own... and now that I'm Bankrupt, I feel free from financial stress. I will NEVER again get credit, except a mortgage (of course), and dealing strictly with cash has actually greatly helped me in managing money better. I feel I will be able to save better now since I don't have that credit card telling me "you can buy that now and make the minimum payment later"

OH, btw, look at your credit card bills... if your interest rate is 18% and your minimum payment is 2% than on a monthly basis you are only paying the interest :(


I could go on forever but I need to stop, lol, I've already written a novel...
hope this helps! please let me know...
and if you have other questions, feel free to PM me ; )

Hey Jester,

Funny that, I work for a global investment bank lol. We don't deal with the average joe's accounts, in fact the statements I see on a daily basis people can only dream of owning that much money!

I have been considering either consolidation or getting a charity to renegotiate my debts for me as I'm off work and I don't know if I'll be back again. If I don't then I can't live as I am now.

It is really strange. Apparently, the economies of both the US and the UK depended big-time on billionares borrowing money from each other to the extent that they had to be bailed out when the supply dried up a bit. But if anyone a little lower down on the economic ladder has a problem---boy its like the Worst Major Sin in the Known Universe.
I am very bitter about this because I had no problem until I got too sick to work; then my husband got laid off. That sure goes thru savings in a hurry---especially since apparently if you worked in a professional field in the US you can't get disability unless you can jump thru major hoops first. If I had been well enough to do all the hoop jumping I could have kept working and would not have needed the disability in the first place--and I had paid taxes for over 30 yearssince leaving high school too and I'm a Veteran too---major venting going on here.
Anyway, my husband got a better job that the one he was laid off of, so now we are are climbing out of debt. And once we are out we will never give the credit and everyone should have a 401K and pay penalties if they have to take money out for any emergency industry another dime of ours. There is nothing like the feel of potential righteous vengence to keep one on the financial straight and narrow.