posted
I just got a notice today that I was overdrawn on Thursday. Thursday is payday, so unless I got a huge bill from somewhere, that means they charged me based on the pre-paycheck amount, then ate most of the paycheck to pay for it. I'm probably overdrawn again by this point from what I've spent since then.
In other news, I think my mother came by to pester me for not staying in touch. I'm not sure because I wasn't out of bed yet and she got away; she didn't leave a note as she usually does. It might have been the JW's again instead... I can't afford to spend gas money driving home any more, and I can't afford to keep my phone hooked up either. Why can't she just get a computer so she can receive e-mail? *sigh*
Posts: 1114 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
When you say you just got a notice do you mean by mail or phone? If you don't already have it, you should set up an account that you can access online. Did wonders for me.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Hey Mabus. Sorry for your troubles. I know it’s a crappy feeling when you get that notice in the mail. I’ve been there a few times.
I don’t want to sound preachy – I’m sure that’s the last thing you want to hear right now – but I think it’s about time you get control of your finances.
I don't know how I'd manage getting all my bills paid on time without keeping up with everything on the computer and then reconciling with my online statement on a regular basis. It took me several years of excuses (I can keep it all in my head!) and overdrawing my account at least once every couple of months before I finally shaped up and started keeping track of my finances. Since then I (and now my fiancée and I) have not overdrawn my account once or been late on a single bill. We've had our rough moments, for sure (like coughing up $1800 to fix the car last week), but we still manage to make it work. I never let the account fall below a certain amount, and I plan our spending sometimes as much as two months in advance so that there are never any surprises.
I use Microsoft Money, but there are tons of other options out there, many of them free. Heck, just checking your account online every couple of days would probably be better than what you’re doing now.
Posts: 1945 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I hate banks, Mabus, they are all just different classes of money-changers. I'm thinking about going the way of my grandmother and keeping all of my money in the Matthew book of the King James' Bible.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Just call the bank and ask them to make them modify your account so you can't go over how much money you have.
My best friend did this after he purchased some candy and a soda seperately and it cost him $40 in fees because of it.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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The bank I used to use would charge the largest amount per day to the card first, so if purchased three two dollar items and then one $1200 item later that overdrew my account by 7 bucks, I would have to pay late charges on the three items I purchased first. Also, at this particular bank, they charged an "unavailable funds" fee and an overdraft fee, totally about $70 for each overdraft. After that happened twice I switched banks.
Which kinda goes to show that I am horrible at controlling finances, and am trying very hard to work on it, but having little to no luck. My first step has been to only buy cheap booze. Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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We set up an ING account for our savings, and just added a checking. If we know we're going to have to be temporarily overdrawn (like when my husband wasn't starting his new job for a week, our fridge broke, and we had to pay $250 to get it fixed) we use the ING checking (which we usually keep a little emergency money in, but we had already used it at that point, and which comes with a debit card) because they have a free $1000 overdraft line of credit with low interest. Then when the money does come in, we can just transfer it over to pay the balance off and have hardly any interest accrue.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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This is why I love Wachovia-- they run a merge every night, adding deposits first then subtracting debits.
This means that the only way we end up overdrawn is if we don't know how much we have spent which doesn't happen (or that freak accident when the doctor's office thought the debit hadn't gone through and ran it several times-- and they all went through *wince* They made it right, but it was painful).
We also have a free checking that we keep a bit of money in and have it set up to cover small overdrafts if they occur. No monthly fees, though they have started charging $2.00 every time we use the ATM card as a debit card instead of as a credit card.Still, that's easy enough to avoid.
Maybe you could find another bank with more friendly processes?
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I just dealt with this when I played social worker for my friend. Due to multiple brain surgeries, and family who abandoned him, he needed some help, especially with money.
He would get social security at the beginning of the month but would somehow overdraft halfway through the month, and be billed $8 a day for it. Thus leaving him several hundred bucks short the next month. Vicious cycle.
So I got him to put a ban on his overdraft option. This has helped out greatly.
Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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As for myself, I'm pretty bad with managing my money, so it's not that rare when I have to use my overdraft option. And I'm glad I have it! Posts: 4953 | Registered: Jan 2004
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