An expensive mistake, and a request for recommendations

[SKR8PN]

Since I run my own shop, I try to deal in cash as much as possible. I HATE credit cards. I have a debit card, but I couldn't tell you the pin number if my life depended on it! The wife and I are both down to just ONE credit card each and by the end of this year, MY credit card will be history. The wife gets paid by direct deposit, she pays the bills that need to be paid and withdraws the rest immediately from her account and it goes into our safe with my rainy day money. Our house is paid off, the HELOC is paid off and I personally don't give a damn WHAT my "credit score" is. From here on out, if we can't pay CASH for something then we don't buy it until we can.

 

[patandchickens]

Paying cash is a good concept as far as it goes but unfortunately there are a bunch of bills that oftentimes people can't pay cash for (or in some cases *could* pay cash but would have to drive 50 minutes each way to the utility company's regional office).

Meaning you are sometimes stuck with either putting a check in the mail and hoping it gets there in time, or using computerized transactions - either of which is sometimes subject to typos.

(We had this happen a few months ago, DH accidentally omitted the decimal point from the number for an online bill payment, thus effectively multiplying it by 100x, and since it then exceeded the balance in the account the bill was not paid and we had late fees and interest, grrrr)

The only (and best) solution I know of is what a few others have mentioned above -- CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT ONLINE every few days.

And keep a spreadsheet of pending payments etc, either in your head if you dare or in Excel or in your checkbook or whatever.

If you check every few days so you can notice something that seems not-right (an unusually high or low balance, or penalty fees) you can nip it in the bud before the problem snowballs.

GOod luck and sympathies,

Pat

 

[Big Daddy]

I am like Ann.
I have overdraft protection. It is free. Check with your bank. It is perfect protection for a small overdraft. Rarely does it happen to me but when it does, I pay no fees, the bill gets paid and I am safe. I check online statement every 2-3 days and when I see this happen by mistake, I just pay it off immediately. Everyone should have this free overdraft--why wouldn't anyone? lol


I use my credit card for rewards and cashback. I am sure I pay it off each month and it works fine to have for emergency needs also.

I do not carry alot of cash. I pay with a check or credit card in everything I do. I never use debit card.

A lot of people can't qualify for over draft protection. With 24 hr access to your account it's pretty easy to keep on top of it. The thing that can kill you are the automatic payments that you forget about. I switched all our auto payments to 1 of our credit cards.

 

[sylvie]

If you have no history of overdrafts sometimes they will work with you the first time.
I had one where I thought the bank should have been a little more understanding. They weren't and I told the manager that I wanted to close my (meager) account because of it. He waived the over draft charges to keep me.

I keep a penny pinching hawk eye on my accounts. Absolutely balanced to the penny. I don't use debit cards. I want to have to write out that check and think about the purchase. I want a paper trail that I can produce to prove anything. I even print a copy of my check with my bill that I send in. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked to provide a copy of the check for proof of payment. Yeah I know they are trying to make it unpleasant to pay by check. To have proof.

 

[lorihadams]

I too am guilty of the dreaded overdraft. We use our debit card for everything. If my husband has cash he just cannot save it for what he really needs. He will spend a weeks allowance in one day and then look at me like I'm crazy cause the money "all comes from the same place so what does it matter how it gets spent?" He buys gas every day or 2 and if I gave him a set amount to spend on gas I would never hear the end of it. I was able to go to the online page and set up an alert system that notifies me when my balance reaches a predetermined amount---mine is $50, that way if I know we will not make it until payday I can transfer money without penalty from our savings account. I have it sent to my email address so that I can check my email, which I do just about every day anyway, but not have to constantly check my bank statement.

 

[PamsPride]

Have you asked your bank to reverse the overdraft charges? If they don't tell them you are switching banks!
I use the credit union and I have overdraft protection and it goes directly onto my credit card if I overdraw. I think it is a $3 fee. But, it moves money over in $100 incriments so if I overdraw once and am less likely to overdraw another small amount becuase it put more into my checking than I needed.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I also have overdraft protection. It is attached to my saving account. I know about how much I need each month for bills, which are paid via automatic withdrawal online, and make sure that amount is in my checking account.
For everything else I use cash. I only carry about $20.00 on me to prevent impulse buying. If it is something I really want or need, I have to plan ahead a little bit. This helps me hang onto my money.
For emergencies I also keep @20.00 in my locked glove compartment and I have lots of loose change in a nifty coin dispenser in my car also.
If I am going grocery shopping and I go over the amount I had planned and am ok with it, I will use a credit card. As soon as I can I make an extra payment to cover that amount. That way my cards will continue to go down.
As broke as I am, this has worked well for me, my credit card balances are going down and I haven't been overdrawn.

I save my receipts in folders by month. I can keep track of what I have spent my money on that way and also have the receipt handy, if there is a problem with an item I bought.
When it is time to do taxes, I throw out all the prior year's receipts, that I really don't need to keep hanging onto. I usually do this in the end of december, early january.

In the past, I had created spreadsheets and kept detailed records of what I spent my money on. It was very helpfull at the time, but a little time consuming. But made tax time real easy, since I could just use my monthly totals on the tax deductable items.

 

[FarmerChick]

I am like Ann.
I have overdraft protection. It is free. Check with your bank. It is perfect protection for a small overdraft. Rarely does it happen to me but when it does, I pay no fees, the bill gets paid and I am safe. I check online statement every 2-3 days and when I see this happen by mistake, I just pay it off immediately. Everyone should have this free overdraft--why wouldn't anyone? lol


I use my credit card for rewards and cashback. I am sure I pay it off each month and it works fine to have for emergency needs also.

I do not carry alot of cash. I pay with a check or credit card in everything I do. I never use debit card.

A lot of people can't qualify for over draft protection. With 24 hr access to your account it's pretty easy to keep on top of it. The thing that can kill you are the automatic payments that you forget about. I switched all our auto payments to 1 of our credit cards.

I didn't know you "had to qualify"
I just always had it and love it.
Yea, I am sure to wipe the slate clean---fast---when I check if it happened (which is rare) I move money from savings to checking real fast. Then way paycheck goes in I put the money back into savings, real fast..LOL

 

[reinbeau]

I am like Ann.
I have overdraft protection. It is free. Check with your bank. It is perfect protection for a small overdraft. Rarely does it happen to me but when it does, I pay no fees, the bill gets paid and I am safe. I check online statement every 2-3 days and when I see this happen by mistake, I just pay it off immediately. Everyone should have this free overdraft--why wouldn't anyone? lol


I use my credit card for rewards and cashback. I am sure I pay it off each month and it works fine to have for emergency needs also.

I do not carry alot of cash. I pay with a check or credit card in everything I do. I never use debit card.

A lot of people can't qualify for over draft protection. With 24 hr access to your account it's pretty easy to keep on top of it. The thing that can kill you are the automatic payments that you forget about. I switched all our auto payments to 1 of our credit cards.

I didn't know you "had to qualify"
I just always had it and love it.
Yea, I am sure to wipe the slate clean---fast---when I check if it happened (which is rare) I move money from savings to checking real fast. Then way paycheck goes in I put the money back into savings, real fast..LOL

If you can get a credit card, you can get a line of credit and overdraft protection at a bank - if you bank at one that doesn't offer it, go to another one.

I avoid big banks, they're the worst for the fees. My credit union knows me, I've been there since I was 17, they hold my equity line, if I need something, I know I can go there and get a competitive rate with no hassle. It pays to develop relationships with local banks.

 

[Big Daddy]

Actually that is not always true. Overdraft protection is a loan. If you overdraw and the money is not replaced in a set time then it accrues interest. Banks have much tighter lending requirements than a lot of credit card issuers. You probably have very good to excellent credit and have not had to deal with denials. There are a lot of people that can't even qualify for a checking account.