Page 17 | Look rich but very poor

greyfoxy · 2025-01-12T10:38:35+00:00

I live in a lovely house in a nice area, I wear nice clothes and I know people perceive me as being well off. The truth is I have absolutely no money. It's 2 weeks until pay day and I have £15 left. I will end up using credit cards to buy the essentials which is why I'm in this mess - my repayments are huge. Anyone else relate to this?

Positivenancy · 15/01/2025 15:24

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 15:00

It can be safer to buy things using credit cards.
Used sensibly they’re great.

(But if you owe money on them, not so great. That’s the danger.)

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No difference in Ireland, no extra protection when buying using a credit card.

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 16:49

Positivenancy · 15/01/2025 15:24

No difference in Ireland, no extra protection when buying using a credit card.

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I don’t think that’s true?

This is from the Bank of Ireland website:

Your online purchases are never safer than when you pay with your Bank of Ireland MasterCard credit card. If something goes wrong, you can relax knowing that you'll get your money back, whether your parcel gets lost in transit or your purchase is faulty or in the event fraudulent activity.

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 16:59

Also, I’m Irish myself and I use a credit card to benefit from the added protections (though I’ve never actually had issues where I needed to claim).

Positivenancy · 15/01/2025 17:57

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 16:49

I don’t think that’s true?

This is from the Bank of Ireland website:

Your online purchases are never safer than when you pay with your Bank of Ireland MasterCard credit card. If something goes wrong, you can relax knowing that you'll get your money back, whether your parcel gets lost in transit or your purchase is faulty or in the event fraudulent activity.

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www.moneyguideireland.com/protection-when-buying-with-debit-or-credit-cards.html

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 18:03

Positivenancy · 15/01/2025 17:57

www.moneyguideireland.com/protection-when-buying-with-debit-or-credit-cards.html

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Well, that is interesting, thank you very much. BOI’s blurb does make it seem otherwise (the bold type for emphasis was theirs btw, not mine).
Thanks for the link, much appreciated.

NordicwithTeen · 15/01/2025 18:10

A lot of people I know have gradually slid into their overdraft as a regular means of surviving each month. As the cost of everything seems to keep going up while wages are stagnant it's hardly surprising, plus the banks can charge every month for going into it, so what starts as £50 can end up as £500k by the end of the year, meaning the overdraft is half used to pay the bank fees anyway.

Positivenancy · 15/01/2025 18:51

Polkadotbean · 15/01/2025 18:03

Well, that is interesting, thank you very much. BOI’s blurb does make it seem otherwise (the bold type for emphasis was theirs btw, not mine).
Thanks for the link, much appreciated.

Edited

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@Polkadotbean no bother at all, I was I. A rush to get out the door but wanted to say a lot of advice out there re credit cards is American or uk based, Ireland has its own policies that many do not know about. Typical Ireland…they need to advertise things better 🤣

Mummytotwosprogs · 18/01/2025 17:36

Jollygoodtime09 · 12/01/2025 11:26

We are the same OP. We have several holidays a year. DC have expensive hobbies. A decent sized house. We bring home £7.5k a month. But we have £20k on credit cards. We pay the minimum each month. All on no interest rate offers. We also have a credit card we use and pay off in full each month (we correct avios so we can fly business class). This bill is around £2k a month. I would rather we didn't use it but DH racks it all up. After credit cards, mortgage and bills we are left with around £1.5k a month for food/petrol/social/DC. I've said to my mum a few times in passing that "we can't afford X" to which she replied "you've got loads of money". She doesn't know the truth. I've taken a second job in years gone by, she has never known this. Yes we should pay off the credit card debt and not go on holiday. But life is short and the DC are only young once.

This year we're skiing, I have a holiday with friends abroad, then we're off on a 3 week holiday to USA. None of this will go on credit card. We're not adding to the £20k but we're not making a debt in the balance either

If we had 1 year of no holidays and I took a second job for the whole year then we could clear a hell of a lot of the debt. But DH won't do no holidays and I don't know if I could do a second job for a year (would mean 50hour week, with my FT job)

You have £1.5k left? That’s a luxury. I’d say you are terrible at managing money.

BeEagerCyanWasp · 18/01/2025 18:01

Jollygoodtime09 · 12/01/2025 11:39

We have a lot of equity in our house. We work in public sector and I've been in my job for 35 years. We are fortunate to have reasonabley secure jobs. But accept a risk That anything could happen. I don't worry in the short term. I probably will take another second job at some point and will see how long I can stick at it, as it becomes a 50 hour week for me. But with a 3 week holiday plus 2 other 1 week holidays, employers won't give me that much time off for my second job (but my FT work does)

Er what? Your full time job AND your second only add up to 50hours a week??? And in the public sector? Jesus. Talk about provelidge. What are you talking about? You want to try and be a teacher.

Londonbabyland · 18/01/2025 21:33

Remember Churchill? Winston Churchill, a man of famously expensive habits, believed that income should always be adjusted to meet expenses, and never the other way around. So, earn more, problem solved.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 18/01/2025 22:03

Sell some of your nice clothes on Vinted?

HelmholtzWatson · 19/01/2025 06:01

I got into a huge amount of CC/loan debt (~£50k) in my twenties that was bought to a head by the 2008 financial crash. I caught the housing bubble at the right time, so I was always carrying net wealth which is how I explained it away.

In the end I went on a debt management plan through stepchange. I trashed my credit score, so it was impossible to borrow again, which helped break the cycle.

Anyway, if you know how the system works, I got at least half of it written off as they couldn't prove the debts, some I settled with debt management companies for a fraction of the loan and the rest has fallen off my record and I'm paying back at £1 a month.

It was a lesson leaned, and I'm now very comfortable financially.

Whatever you do, DO NOT take consolidation loans. This is just burying your head in the sand. Speak to Stepchange/CAB, and see what your options are.

TrixieMixie · 19/01/2025 07:12

Jollygoodtime09 · 12/01/2025 11:39

We have a lot of equity in our house. We work in public sector and I've been in my job for 35 years. We are fortunate to have reasonabley secure jobs. But accept a risk That anything could happen. I don't worry in the short term. I probably will take another second job at some point and will see how long I can stick at it, as it becomes a 50 hour week for me. But with a 3 week holiday plus 2 other 1 week holidays, employers won't give me that much time off for my second job (but my FT work does)

@Jollygoodtime09 I was going to bring up the issue of savings as im
guessing from you saying you’ve worked for 35 years you’re in your fifties and therefore may want to retire soon. But then I clocked public sector - so probably you have a jolly good pension as well as a lot of equity in your house. So your only issue is the credit card debt which is just silly - it’s such an expensive way to borrow. Your DH needs to break his plastic habit. L