Banks and Building Societies

If they have already contracted to provide me with interest free credit for 30 months, they would surely have to honour existing contracts. They can only stop it for new contracts.

I'm not sure what the answer will be for drop money or tips. I think Pizza Hut could probably pay it through the bank if there was no cash.

My cousin is subsidising me with a free address. My eldest brother is subsidising me with a monthly gift. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-0-credit-cards

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards#rule7

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/money-transfers

 

Some good advice here 

This is helpful too.....

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/stop-spending-budgeting-tool

a lot of young people would do well to heed that advice!

So you are being subsidised  two of your family ? "every little helps" 

Yes it helps, not just a little. It helps a lot!

I just read that, Kj and from what I read, I seem to be ticking all the right boxes! 

Haircuts - my wife cuts my hair for free and never uses a hairdresser herself.

Holidays - We've not booked any holidays at all this year apart from the necessary two days away at Littlehampton Club site every 21 days.

Mortgages - we don't have one!

Nights out - my nights out are spent at work, earning money, not spending it.

Takeaways - Pizza Hut give me a free pizza to take home at the end of my shift every so often. So no expenditure for me.

It looks like I've been getting it right on this one too, Kj. Like advised on there, I use balance transfers when the interest free period is running out and thereby get another extended period of interest free debt. However, there are some on here that have told me that this is crazy economics because debt is debt and should be avoided! 

Also, I noticed about shopping for food, it advises shopping in the evening to get the reduced price bargains. My wife does this too, every evening whilst I'm at work.

So that means everything I said on here was good advice, wasn't it?

We miss our local banks but luckily still have a PO in our village. We use it for getting out cash and paying occasional cheques in. Without the PO and with more bank closures threatened we would have a very poor service even with on line banking. I do not know how some have coped with the TSB online debacle but there are drawbacks to internet banking! 

Dear Sir:

 

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. 

By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. 

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. 

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. 

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. 

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. 

My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. 

Be aware that it is an OFFENSE under the various Postal Acts for any other person to open such an envelope. 

Please find attached an Application Contact Form which I require your chosen employee to complete. 

I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative 

Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. 

In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. 

I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. 

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 

Let me level the playing field even further.

When you call me, press buttons as follows: 

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH 

#1. To make an appointment to see me 

#2. To query a missing payment. 

#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there. 

#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping. 

#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature 

#6.  To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home. 

#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier. 

#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 7 again 

#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. 

The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.  

#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English. 

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call. 

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. 

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Remember:  Don't make old people mad.  We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.

 

Yours sincerely