I am a skint donkey

[JodieWodie]

Well, I am a pratt

I thought to my reckoning I had £40 in my account until pay day (which is tomorrow). I checked online yesterday.
But no...
Went to the cash machine earlier.. OMG £70 over my limit!

Two payments from TWO weeks ago came out this morning, which has left me with £100 of charges to pay in a few weeks, (my wages are cr*p too. Hope we manage).
One of the payments was for Tesco two weeks back (I went shopping there on Sat and that has already come out. I don't really understand how the payment from two weeks ago got delayed).

A query I have is, why can I go out now and spend £10 on the card, come home and my available balance is showing a tenner less, but these two didn't show at all until today?

Does anyone have a spreadsheet that can help me keep track of things?
I am going to have to watch everything very carefully or we are going to go under!!
I think I am going to just pay cash from now on for most things, as that shows on the balance immediately.

Thanks in advance

JO x
____________________
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[G]

You can get home accounting software that makes this sort of thing fairly easy.

I kinda forgot I'd paid for glastonbury tickets for 4 earlier in the year and found myself over £500 past my OD limit.

You can claim the bank charges back from the bank if they're over £12 per charge.

[McJamweasel]

You need Ace Money. Download it from here.

You put in all of your regular payments (wages, mortgage/rent, utilities etc.) and then any other transactions as you make them. It will look forward upto 12 months and it really does help. With the free version you can only manage one account, but I've paid for it so that I can track all of my accounts (current, credit card, saving).

It is very important that you do put in all of you payments when you make them though, its no use if you go to Asda and spend £10 but forget to put it in for a few days...
____________________
BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[J0Al1]

Bummer, we have all done it. My mistake recently was thinking I had paid for all my ERMAX stuff on Maestro, but NO, I had a whopping credit card suprise.

[owdamer]

I've been using microsoft money since 1997. Its helped me loads as I always know exactly how much money I have and what bills are due. Can be a bit of a pain if you dont keep it upto date thought. I hate trying to balance my account after holidays.

[bazza]

Bad news and yes, we've all done it. Have a look around this guy's site. It seems pretty clued up.

Link to spreadsheet (also works in OpenOffice thereby saving you even more money):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=950
____________________
"That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."
'98 Ducati 750SS, '08 Suzuki GSX650F ©2004-2014, Bazza's Harmless Banter

[JodieWodie]

Thanks all

Spoke to the bank...
The reason I didn't notice anything with my available balance, was because they took the cost of the 2 outstanding payments from my account 2 weeks ago, but then refunded them 3 days later as the 2 companies (Tesco and Clintons) had not took them within the 3 days
Ok...
So, I probably checked one day.. X amount..checked a few days later.. X amount and thought nothing of it

They have increased my overdraft so I don't get hit with any more charges (thanks )
As soon as blokey did that he said the charges looked like they have been wiped from my account.
Odd
I have to call back tomorrow to check he said

I will keep detailed records myself from now on, as the banks systems are a bit unreliable
I have never heard of this 'refunding of money after 3 days thing'. You?

JO xx
____________________
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow"

[BIKELESS STEVE]

Internet banking (if you can get it) has been a godsend for me. Used to be rubbish with money, now I check balance each day. Also handy to spot any fraud on your account. shows outstanding balance and available balance so you can see pending transactions such as visa debit payments.

[Shaun]

Another thread about Jodie by Jodie, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

[Barry_M2]