The Fly versus The Bank
For those of you who revel in seeing my exacting control over my finances, here's a story for your reading enjoyment.
I have never overdrafted from my checking account, but I came close once, when I bought my utilikilt; luckily, they were away from their home base for a few days and didn't draw out of my account until I'd been paid. My general philosophy for years has been that insofar as my account was full of far more money than I'd need, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The first time I started paying extensive attention to it was probably last Summer in England, when I would sometimes work on my budget several times a day, partially for something to do during slow times at work when I should have been finishing coffins. The point, though, is that, as you know, I now pay more attention to my finances.
My goal for September was to finish the month with at least $1800 in my accout, and I finished with just over $2000. My September paycheck was very friendly, as I noted at the time. With more than $3100, only a couple of expenses (including the pair of Carhartt jeans I'm wearing for the first time as I type this), and an entire Summer of economic prudence, I went piglet wild (that's less than hog wild) once I had my September paycheck. Frequent readers are, of course, familiar with the various purchases I've made in the last few weeks. My goal was to finish October with at least $2700. On Wednesday, picking up the tab for myself and Dark Horse Sandal Man ($19.95) dropped me to $2699.66. In order to replenish my account, I took several books to a couple of used book stores in downtown Hometown to sell, and after unloading them and checking with the remains of my wallet, I went to the bank to deposit $10.65. I asked for a balance and left.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my account was two dollars less than I had expected, but figured that I'd made a mistake. Yesterday I noticed again, at the time of the transaction, that things seemed to be exactly two dollars light; $2699.66 plus $10.65 should equal $2710.31. Then, on the way back to work, it hit me: they've been charging me a two dollar fee, either for depositing, or for seeing a teller. Whatever it's for, it's crap, it's unannounced, and it's probably going to cost them my account.
About three years ago, my bank, a small independent bank with a few local branches, was bought out by a regional bank. They've slowly edged out most of the original employees, replacing them with anonymous automatons. In this case, it's no longer worth the few benefits I get from remaining there. I'm going to be moving eventually anyway, so I think I'm going to do some research with a friend of mine who's a retired bank manager, and move to a bank that doesn't pull the hidden fees bullshit, possibly the new independent bank in town.
Not to make a point of something somewhat trivial that pretty much just happened, but this is yet another element of what makes the free market better than a planned economy. If a big company or corporation, like Microsoft or Wal Mart, can do it better, then they deserve to get my money. In this case, consistency, local identity, and not being charged two dollars to deposit money is worth more to me than the supposed perks that the big chain can offer. That two dollar charge loses them $2700 of my money.
Anyway, I'm going to head out. I have to get my hair cut, which will once again take me below $2700, and run a couple of other errands, then hang out with Super Dave for a while. More from the Fly later, folks. In the meantime, read this.
I have never overdrafted from my checking account, but I came close once, when I bought my utilikilt; luckily, they were away from their home base for a few days and didn't draw out of my account until I'd been paid. My general philosophy for years has been that insofar as my account was full of far more money than I'd need, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The first time I started paying extensive attention to it was probably last Summer in England, when I would sometimes work on my budget several times a day, partially for something to do during slow times at work when I should have been finishing coffins. The point, though, is that, as you know, I now pay more attention to my finances.
My goal for September was to finish the month with at least $1800 in my accout, and I finished with just over $2000. My September paycheck was very friendly, as I noted at the time. With more than $3100, only a couple of expenses (including the pair of Carhartt jeans I'm wearing for the first time as I type this), and an entire Summer of economic prudence, I went piglet wild (that's less than hog wild) once I had my September paycheck. Frequent readers are, of course, familiar with the various purchases I've made in the last few weeks. My goal was to finish October with at least $2700. On Wednesday, picking up the tab for myself and Dark Horse Sandal Man ($19.95) dropped me to $2699.66. In order to replenish my account, I took several books to a couple of used book stores in downtown Hometown to sell, and after unloading them and checking with the remains of my wallet, I went to the bank to deposit $10.65. I asked for a balance and left.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my account was two dollars less than I had expected, but figured that I'd made a mistake. Yesterday I noticed again, at the time of the transaction, that things seemed to be exactly two dollars light; $2699.66 plus $10.65 should equal $2710.31. Then, on the way back to work, it hit me: they've been charging me a two dollar fee, either for depositing, or for seeing a teller. Whatever it's for, it's crap, it's unannounced, and it's probably going to cost them my account.
About three years ago, my bank, a small independent bank with a few local branches, was bought out by a regional bank. They've slowly edged out most of the original employees, replacing them with anonymous automatons. In this case, it's no longer worth the few benefits I get from remaining there. I'm going to be moving eventually anyway, so I think I'm going to do some research with a friend of mine who's a retired bank manager, and move to a bank that doesn't pull the hidden fees bullshit, possibly the new independent bank in town.
Not to make a point of something somewhat trivial that pretty much just happened, but this is yet another element of what makes the free market better than a planned economy. If a big company or corporation, like Microsoft or Wal Mart, can do it better, then they deserve to get my money. In this case, consistency, local identity, and not being charged two dollars to deposit money is worth more to me than the supposed perks that the big chain can offer. That two dollar charge loses them $2700 of my money.
Anyway, I'm going to head out. I have to get my hair cut, which will once again take me below $2700, and run a couple of other errands, then hang out with Super Dave for a while. More from the Fly later, folks. In the meantime, read this.
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