Bank Fees

[zoraster]

I have a hard time reconciling "$250 ain't shit to me" and being in a position where you might overdraft by spending $201.

Still, yes. I agree. Pretty shitty.

[Not_Mafia]

Yes I learned to keep track of my accounts better and to read disclosure documents and fine print so I don't get F'ed in the A.

Somehow I don't believe you

[eagerSnake]

I have a hard time reconciling "$250 ain't shit to me" and being in a position where you might overdraft by spending $201.

Still, yes. I agree. Pretty shitty.

I have multiple accounts, one of them I let get away from me.

The system is designed against you.

[inte]

unless you're married why do you have multiple checking accounts?

[eagerSnake]

I do have a domestic partnership.

[zoraster]

Try Personal Capital (Mint also works). It makes it super easy to keep track of all accounts, and is great for tracking investment performance and allocation. Just don't give your real phone number because if you have a certain net worth, they'll call a bunch with services.

[eagerSnake]

I will check it out, Zoraster, thanks for the recommendation. I have tried Mint in the past but it was always buggy for me. Balances would not update appropriately and such.

[zoraster]

Yeah I mean, I'm not sure it'd stop the complained of activity except that you shouldn't only have $200 in an account that you're actively using to spend money on, and you could catch that (processing stuff doesn't show up until it's processed).

Mint is more geared toward budgeting. Personal Capital more for investing, for what that's worth.

[zoraster]

One other easy way to avoid this kind of thing is to use a credit card for everything that doesn't charge you extra for doing so (my rent can be paid by credit card but charges an extra 2.2%). You get cash back/rewards plus you don't have to worry about overdraft. You DO have to worry about having enough to pay it all off at the end of the month, but if your problem isn't not having enough money but rather not having enough money in the right bank accounts, this solves that.

In the past 6 months, I've used my checking account for exactly one thing that wasn't credit card payments, rent, utilities, or cash. And that was a check to our cat sitter.

[eagerSnake]

That's a pretty good idea; but aren't you going to be charged interest on everything you purchase? I tend to shy away from credit cards - I only have one with a low limit that I only use to manipulate the utilization on my report via cash transfers back and forth as there's no cash transfer fee on my credit account. If I were to do this I'd have to get a card with a higher limit, but still, I would not want to be charged interest on everything.

[zoraster]

No. You get charged interest if you don't pay off the credit card each month.

So, for example, if my monthly statement has $1000 on it and I pay off $800 of it, I'll get charged a bunch on $200 I didn't pay off that month, not $1000. That's why it's important to pay it off completely each month so you don't get charged anything. Cards with good rewards tend to charge yearly fees. You can check to see whether your average spend each year counters that, but many of these cards have sign up bonuses that are worth many times what the fee is.

If you don't want to pay fees: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-cre ... dit-cards/

[eagerSnake]

Oh, I see. The card I have accrues interest based on daily balances. I'm getting F'd in the A again.

[zoraster]

what card is that? That's a crazy bad deal if true.

[zoraster]

Are you sure that you don't get charged interest based on average daily balance AFTER the statement period has concluded? In other words, if I have a statement of $1000 for last month that's due today and I pay off $800, then wait 15 days then pay off the other $200, the average daily balance will be $100 and that's the balance for which I'll be charged.

[eagerSnake]

It's a Savings Secured Line of Credit. The interest rate is about 2%, and I continue to gain interest on the savings account, so I guess it's not

too

bad. I pay about 2-3$ a month in interest on it if I utilize around $1,500-$2,000 of it, regardless of if I pay it off or not.

For example, the payment is always due on the 1st. If I borrow $1,500 from it on the 5th and then pay off the $1,500 on the 25th, I will still be charged about $2-3 in interest on the 1st.

Pedit: That's actually what I do. I move the $1,500 from my LoC into my savings, then back into the LoC about 20 days later.

[eagerSnake]

Are you sure that you don't get charged interest based on average daily balance AFTER the statement period has concluded?

I think this might be how it works, actually.

All I know is that even if I pay it all off I still pay interest.

[zoraster]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the appeal, but.... get a different credit card.

[eagerSnake]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the appeal, but.... get a different credit card.

The appeals are

It's my money I'm "borrowing" so I never have to worry about actually owing any money
The APR is extremely low and therefore so is the interest paid each month
There is no cash transfer fee so I can move however much I want to appear as my utilization on my report to the savings account and then back to the LoC later in the month
So it serves its purpose for manipulating my credit report, relatively cheaply, and with basically no risk.

I don't even have a physical card for it; I transfer all the funds online. On the 5th to my savings, on the 25th back to my LoC.
It appears on my credit report as a credit card that I used 1,500 on the 5th (the bureaus don't realize I transferred to savings and didn't actually spend the money on anything) and that I paid it off on the 25th. The bureaus also don't realize it's the same money I just borrowed, or that it's my money I'm borrowing in the first place.

Extremely low risk. The no cash transfer fee is what makes the cake, I think.

IDK. I've been doing this for a while, and it works for me. Only costs me $2-3 per month to manipulate my credit report's credit card utilization however I want.

The only thing that would make it better for me is if they didn't do the whole average daily balance thing and did it like you said where if it's paid off I don't pay the 2-3$ interest

Do you understand the play?
If there's flaws in it or better ways to do this let me know

[eagerSnake]

But as far as avoiding fees goes, what you suggested is a good idea; so long as they aren't charging interest based on the average daily balance.

I was apparently under the false impression this was how all the credit cards worked.

[zoraster]

Pay your full statement every month. That avoids all interest on a typical credit card.

[Katsuki]

Ruthless

Life is ruthless and unforgiving.

[Cheery Dog]

Why are you having to worry about your credit score being constantly updated?

[Annadog40]

Could take your money out of the bank and just pay cash for everything.

[eagerSnake]

Why are you having to worry about your credit score being constantly being updated?

Why wouldn't you want to continuously improve your score?

[Accountant]

You agreed to a certain set of rules and regulations when you made that account and when you ticked the box for overdraft coverage. You don't get to complain that they're unfair later on. Ignorance is not an excuse.