MAJOR money rant

[Kfamr]

Are you sure the invoice is recent? It could very well have been printed before you deposited the $90.


I have a hard time keeping track of my checking account, too. I decided to do away with debit/ATM cards and rarely write checks because of this.

[Suki Wingy]

I can't talk to them until Monday, when I'll be just down the street. I passed Consumer Education fine, but I have such a hard time figuring out what is going on with mine. I don't have a debit card, only checks, and when I want cash I have to go down to the credit union and fill out a form to make a withdrawal. I'd think this was old, but it clearly shows withdrawal -40.00 (check number)

[Cinder & Smoke]

Isn't your Credit Union open on Saturday mornings?

I would RUN, not walk, to see them ASAP!
Unless you belong to a very generous Credit Union, most of them charge a
very hefty Penalty if you account is overdrawn!

And to make it worse, if the Penalty results in an overdraft, they charge
another Penalty - and it keeps dragging you balance lower and lower.

Ask if they will temporarily freeze your account until you can make a couple of deposits.

[steel]

Just be sure to write all your transactions on your check ledger located inside your check book.Keep track of all transactions including cash withdraws.

[Taz_Zoee]

One thing my mom taught us was to create a cushion in your account. I could not do this for the longest time because I just didn't have enough money to do it. But now I have it and I'm very thankful I do, or I would probably be overdrawn many times.
Even if you can't do this now, keep it in mind for down the road.
What you do is deduct "x" amount of dollars (I have a $100 cushion) from your check register so you do not see that money on a regular basis when writing checks. It does take time to get used to. I go online regularly (at least once a week) to reconcile my checking account and I now just know that my balance online should be $100 more than what my check register says. This way (like right now, in fact) if I am strapped for money before my next paycheck I have a some wiggle room to tide me over until payday.
Hang in there. This is frustrating right now, but it will work out. I still live paycheck to paycheck. Hopefully some day it will be different for me too.

[Karen]

Just because you deposit a check, that does not mean the money is instantly available to you. It can take a week or more for a check to clear, and until then, the bank cannot put that money in your account.

Our bank has two lines on the slip you get from the ATM: Available Balance and Ledger Balance. The Ledger Balance includes checks you have deposited, but that have not yet cleared. See if your bank will do this, and if they can give you a list of the last week's transactions.

[Suki Wingy]

My credit union is not open on the weekends, but apparently they just made a mistake last week on my parents' account also, so they are going in with me to see what happened. I've also just posted a lot of my craft supplies and some clothes I don't need for sale at a Livejournal community. My paypal is connected to my checking so hopefully that will all work.

[Laura's Babies]

I too always kept a cushion in my account. especially when I didn't make much money. Another thing I did was I would only pay my bills and not buy or do anything until my next check was in the bank. What was left from the first one, I would blow half of it on what I wanted and leave the other half in there to build up the cushion.

My thinking was, you never know what life is going to throw at you, emergencies DO happen and you better be prepared... also, I am NOT that good with math! Credit or borrowing only means you are spending money you don't have and I DON'T like paying interest.

I also would ask someone, a parent, a potential employer or someone that would be honest.. What is their first impression of you when they see you. You may need to make some changes in how you present yourself. A persons first impression of you does count a LOT! That is just how the world is.