Not sure if this should be in here but we are skint and I have just discovered dh has spent over £200 on a tool.

[TheSparkling]

As I said in the title I apologise if I have put this in the wrong topic.

Last year was a particularly difficult year for us as a couple and lots of things went wrong. This year has been hard as we have had much less money coming in and it has taken us a while to adapt. The result of this is we have some big credit card debts from last year and this.

In Sept we decided to basically stop spending on anything non essential and we agreed a loan to pay off our credit card debts so the monthly repayment was much more manageable. Last week the loan was finalised and I paid off the credit cards with a view to closing the accounts apart from one emergency card (mine)

I have shown dh our budget, what we have coming in and going out and how much to spare we have ( zero til next month when I start work)

Today dh has gone to see some friends for the day (using his monthly travel card so already paid for) and I click on our ebay account to check where we were up to. There on the purchase list is a drill. Sold for over £200. Dh has bought it.

I am just so stunned right now. I honestly thought we understood how much shit we are in financially and that we need to get a grip. Seems it is just me that thinks that.

Don't know where to go from here.

Mmm... seems you've bought a tool, namely your dh.

He may have won the drill or agreed to buy it, but has he paid for it? And, if so, how has he paid for it? On a joint credit or debit card?

Relationships seems the right place

In a similar situation here, we have money for basics not extras and I'd be very cross if DH bought anything costing this much

Wait to speak to him before getting too hurt and cross, but he will need a very old reason!

Not paid for it yet. It is there on the page awaiting payment.

I have no idea how he is going to pay for it - unless he thinks I am going to give him his credit card back. At the moment our paypal account is linked to my bank account. There is enough money in there to cover the cost but the money is allocated for the next three weekly shops.

You need to unlink your bank account.
No doubt he'll have a foolproof way of getting the £200 back into your account by somehow using this tool. Its unlikely.

I take it that it's not something he needs for his job

No, not anything to do with his job. Last time we needed a drill he borrowed one of a friend which was fine. .

I don't think I can unlink the bank account pbh I thought you had to have one linked to have it set up correctly?

Sorry, never used ebay so don't know the ins and outs.
However I would have thought you could suspend it temporarily? What if there was fraud involved? (general question...)

I will go and have a look now. Thank you.

I was listening to a radio 4 programme the other week which claimed that in its life a drill is used on average for 8 minutes a year. He is selfish I'm afraid

You can't 'suspend' it unfortunately. All you can do - if it is a genuine transaction and I can't think why it wouldn't be - is message the seller, apologise profusely and ask to go down the 'mutual cancellation' route. He won't be able to leave you negative feedback. If he doesn't agree to mutually cancel you might get a record on your account as a non-paying bidder but tbh that's not really the end of the world.

I have just had a text from dh asking how my day has gone. So I mentioned the drill.

I am awaiting his reply.

Thank you for your advice Madge I will decide what to do when dh comes home.

Is it possible he bought it on behalf of a mate and is getting the cash?

I would you suggest you contact the seller, say something along the lines of bidding in good faith believing you had werewithal to pay for the item but got your sums wrong and offer to pay their eBay fees for listing/relisting the item.

Alternatively, simply don't pay - you'll get a non-payment strike on your eBay account but 1 strike won't mean suspension.

If you log into your PayPal account you can delete some of your bank/card details which means your dh won't be able to pay for the item and you can reinstate them at a later date.

So it appears I am wrong. It is for work, he was using the work account and has bought others through that. Logged into wrong account and bought one. Work is paying.

Big sigh of relief and apology to dh.

paypal payments are set up as direct debits from bank accounts. cancel the direct debit with you bank. i did this when someone hacked my ebay and paypal account and bought a £500 tv. I cancelled the direct debit before it came out and spoke to the bank who said that they would make sure it would not come out (if i had cancelled it too late).

Phew!

phew indeed.

yep phew here too.

Fantastic news.

and all is wrapped up before we got the a 'Leave The Bastard'