A big bank rules in my favor

Now imagine that! I went to an atm to take money out of my checking out. But I looked at the balance first, and the machine ended the transaction. Then I started over and took the money out. But I was charged several fees for this transaction including a foreign atm fee and a fee for looking at my balance.

Normally I don't fight fees because I figure it's my fault and I just pay them. In this case I didn't realize I had to pay to look at my balance as my main bank and my smaller banks don't charge these fees. Well I called the bank and politely asked to have the fees waived. I had also made a deposit that morning so my account was back in the black. To my surprise the csr said that they would waive the fee as a courtesy and credited the small amount back to my account. I also didn't incur any overdraft fees.

From now on I'll just use the account for my small purchases and no more atm withdrawals. I'm pretty sure that I won't be as lucky the next time and I certainly don't want to press my luck.

I don't want to walk to the bank in the rain

Ughh and it's raining pretty hard outside too. I generally deposit money every two weeks into my house account. I just realized that I have a few extra dollars laying around so I wanted to run it to the bank but it's pouring down raining and the bank is not as close as I would like it to be.

Because of the way the account is set up, you don't have a debit card for atm transactions but I can get direct deposit set up. I'm pretty much on the fence as to handle this account right now.

I'll figure something out because I'm not sloshing around in the rain.

My bank stinks!

Ughhhhh I hate them, hate them, hate them. They super suck. They're trying to stick me with 5 yes 5 overdraft fees. Now 1 is totally my fault and I won't even challenge that one. It's the first 4 that I have a problem with. They're trying to say that they cleared some payments on Friday (they don't even process Friday or Saturday night) and I deposited money on Saturday. I should have been ok but they're trying to pull a fast one.

The last fee is because of the first 4 which caused my account to go negative on Monday. I was so ticked off that I didn't go deposit any money until Tuesday and they hit me with another fee. Now that one I'll accept because I knew I should have gone to the bank on Monday but I wasn't thinking.

I can't wait until my new direct deposit goes through so I can totally close this account.

I'm switching banks again

You would think I have a ton of money the way I keep switching banks every year. But I haven't had a bank that was willing to value me as a customer no matter how much money I have (or don't have as in my case). I do belong to a credit union but they don't offer their own credit cards which is something I want to get in the future. So I'm looking at some of the big national banks and they all rub me the wrong way.

I would prefer to have most of my money at 1 or 2 institutions but it's not working out that way.

Should I get a safe deposit box?

I don't know if I should or not. I work for a bank so my box would be free. I'm planning on moving in 18 months so I don't know if I should even bother with it. I have one of those fire-proof strong boxes at home where I keep my papers at. The only papers I'm really worried about are my birth certificate, social security card and my passport.

I also have a few paper savings bonds that I could put in the box. I'll sit down and make a decision about it this weekend.

Do you earn interest with Paypal?

I have a Paypal account. I basically just use it as a clearinghouse. People pay me for posts, Ebay stuff or whatever and then I transfer the money into my regular checking account. Then I break down the money into whatever categories including savings.

One of my friends told me that Paypal pays interest. I didn't know that. Does anyone else get interest off of their Paypal account?

I broke one of my piggy banks!

I just wrote a post yesterday about my piggy banks. 2 are ceramic and 2 are plastic. I broke the tiny ceramic pig from Toronto. That was really my favorite of the 4. It had my birthstone as a accent on the front plus it said Toronto. Who knows when I'll get back there to get another pig.

I doubt if I'll be able to buy that exact same bank. I just wanna cry.

I may have found my new bank

I've been researching banks to invest in. I think I may have found one. As soon as I went to the website the first thing I noticed was that there is a 6.49% interest rates on deposits. The rate is guaranteed for one year.

That's not the only thing that got my attention though. There is also a deal where you can earn rewards on your purchases made with your credit cards. For example, there is a travel card with travel rewards points. I love to travel so that would be awesome for me.

Of course I need to read the fine print and decide which would be the right accounts for me. It's looking promising though.

Heck no I don't have a lot of money

I am thinking about opening another bank account. In another country no less. But no, I don't have a lot of money. I'm just an average Jane with average Jane money.

I don't expect to put a lot of money into the account either. Just enough to get me through vacation. I'll put some of my savings money into the account. If I'm on vacation and need it, it'll be there. If not, even better.

If I do use the money while on vacation I'll replace it before the next year. I always keep a few dollars in reserve, so that's what this will be. And if you're a family member, no I don't have no money for you.

Why I would open a bank account in another country

I talked about this a little in my last post. I spend a good bit of time in another country. Only once or twice a year, but I always need money when I'm there. Paying those fees to get money from the atm is ridiculous. On my cruise, I was charged $5.50 just from the atm owner. That doesn't count what my bank will charge me.

There are two different banks where I travel to that I can open an account with. I just have to decide which one I want to go with.

The internet is changing the face of banking

But will it make traditional brick and mortar banks obsolete? I don't think so. Not in the near future anyway. However, in 10-15 years, I could see traditional banking going by the wayside.

The younger generation seems more likely to do internet banking than most older folks. As a matter of fact, I've been contemplating opening a bank account from a overseas bank since I spend a lot of time there. Needless to say, I would do almost all of my banking online. Then when I go to that country, I would have access to my money without having to pay fees.

So what do you think? Would you bank online only?

I hope this check is still good

You would think I would know how long personal checks are good for considering I work for a bank. But in all honesty, I have no idea. I just found a check in my purse that I was supposed to deposit weeks ago. That's one of the drawbacks of only balancing my checkbook once a month, sometimes I have no idea how much money I really have.

I totally forgot that I had the darn thing. To make matters worse, the person who wrote the check is probably waiting for it to clear. Oops.

I got my money

I logged onto my bank account this morning as soon as I got to work. My money was there. I only transferred slightly over $100 into my account but at least there's some money there now. I don't have any checks on my primary checking account so I always try to keep money in this account just in case.

I think I might transfer some more money, just in case. You just never know what's going to happen.

I have a lot to do this week

I didn't go to the bank yesterday. I hemmed and hawed around the house and by the time I got dressed, it was too late. So that's one of the first stops that I have to make.

I also have to stop and get scratchy tickets for my mom. I put some in her card on every holiday. She loves those things. I'll get 2 or 3 different kind to give her some variety.

Laundry is a must sometime this week. I need clean clothes for this week, but I'll also need clean clothes for next week when I get back. I don't want to get home Monday night and have to worry about laundry.

Last but not least, I need to stop by Fashion Bug. I don't have a lot of summery type tops. Pants I don't worry about, because I just wear slacks almost every day. I have to stop buying those little cheap cotton tops from those stores. They shrink and they wrinkle like crazy. I have 3 shirts that I bought last year that I can't believe I ever wore. And I've lost a little bit of weight since last year. So I should be able to wear everything that I bought then.

I think I'm going to break everything down and do one thing a day so I don't get overwhelmed.

I have to go to the bank in the morning

One of the things that sucks about where I work is that we're not close to a bank. We have 1 mac machine for 2 buildings, but that thing is constantly down. I remember about a month ago, we had a repair man there every day for a week straight. I don't understand why we can't get a new machine instead of the hand-me down rejects.

Anyway, I have to go to the bank because I need to break a couple of large bills down into smaller bills. I need transportation money for my trip home. I have to catch the airport shuttle here. Then a train and bus when I get home unless I call my cousin and have him pick me up.

I also need a checkbook register. I only write on every other line so I go through them fairly quickly. I also withdraw money for lunch twice a week. That makes the entries add up quick.

Even though it's Saturday and I don't have anything else to do, I hate making plans. I feel like I have to rush to get everything done even though I'll have plenty of time.

Paying bills on line

Just a word of advise. Find out when your bank, credit union, or financial institution sends out the checks when you use on line bill pay. When I first signed up, my bank mailed the checks out 3 days before you said you wanted the bill paid.

Two months ago, they changed their tos (terms of service) to say that the check will be mailed out on the exact day that you want the bill paid. I still paid my bills the same way and last month, two of my bills were late. One charged a late fee (a credit card company of course), one did not. I am not mad at the bank at all. I should have read the up to date tos.

I just want to send a reminder/warning to everyone else to keep up to date with the tos of your bank and to find out exactly what day your checks are being sent out. Hopefully, your bills won't be late and you won't get slammed with late fees like I did.