Saving money without using the bank?

[Bimmer]

Consider this: a bunch of people now know you keep decent amounts of cash in an apartment in a city/state listed in your profile.

If your internet is at home (ie you do not use the library or similar), some creep in your area could figure out your ip address and probably find your name/address through your ISP. (Yes, I doubt creeps like that are surfing SavingsAdvice, but you never know).

Having lived in apartments, I know things are heard. Noises travel through the thin insulation, air ducts, floors, etc. All it takes is the wrong person to hear "hey honey, grab some $ out of the keepsake box."

[kork13]

I will caveat what I said previously--it's not a bad idea to have some cash at home for emergencies... I grew up with 4-5 typhoons every year. When ATMs and electronic banking services go down, having cash on-hand is a must. However, even then it should only need to be enough for maybe 2-3 weeks of expenses. If everything is cutoff for that long, having cash onavailable is the least of your worries, and you should have gotten yourself out of the area by then. So yes, holding some emergency cash is GOOD. It just concerns us that you want to hold ONLY cash.

[snafu]

I too have been annoyed by bank errors but as long as I stay pleasant, polite but firm, my request has been corrected quickly. I wish we could convince you that keeping sums at home is a dangerous practice. I would like to point out that you are losing the convenience of paying bills on-line and using the direct deposit service for your income. I haven't done a face-to-face transaction at the bank in 8 months.

Did you know that banks ALWAYS take out debits before adding in credits? If you make a deposit into your account in the morning and some checks arrive electronically in the afternoon, the sums will be deducted Before the credit is added. That causes charges against your account that you would not have expected. For example, our bank will charge $25. for each NSF and the payee also charges a hefty fee which can put an account into a huge negative balance.

I attended a home safety conference and the police emphasized that the worst place to keep valuables was the master bedroom. That's the 1st place thieves ransack. If you plan to get a lock box, have it bolted to the floor or on a stud hidden in a cupboard.

Banks do place 'holds' on checks written on other banks let alone from out of town.

[Johansen8]

Just make sure you have it placed in a secured place. Im really a "piggy bank" saver cos I always cant meet my week's target.

[momof1in150]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

Plus, I do not like the hassle. For example, we took a $25 check in on Saturday to cash and they held it because it was an out of state check. We then had to borrow money from friends just to buy diapers for my son. It becomes more and more infuriating the more I have to deal with them.
.

How would you cash that out of state check without a bank account?

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by kork13

Yes, people all over the world live their daily lives without banks. However, you might be surprised at how many of those people do so because they never have anything to save; because they live day-to-day on what they earn; because they live in poverty.

That actually includes me at this point.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by momof1in150

How would you cash that out of state check without a bank account?

I wouldn't. I can start telling people, though, to send money orders instead of checks.

[skylovessea]

Okay I suppose it is worth it to mention that these sums of money aren't large. At most maybe a couple hundred dollars. I can't afford to save money right now. I think I'm just going to end this thread here. Apparently it wasn't appropriate to ask. I didn't realize I was starting such a heated discussion. You would probably have to know my exact situation in detail to understand where I'm coming from.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Here is a long thread in which many ideas for hiding money were discussed. The thread is a mix of humorous and and serious. You might enjoy it.

Where Is the Best Place To Hide Money In Your House?

May I also suggest that you can put money directly into a safe deposit box at a bank? Credit unions may have them, too. A safe deposit box is a box to which only you have a key and it is inside of a huge, walk-in vault that is securely locked at night. The vault is like a room that is lined with locked boxes. Only one customer is allowed into the vault at a time, so you have privacy and security putting your items in or out of your own box. No one asks what you are putting into or taking out of your box: it is totally up to you.

If you have never seen safe deposit boxes and bank vaults, you can go to a bank and tell them you might be interested in renting one and ask if they can show you the area and explain how it works.

At my bank, rental fees for the smallest box is about $20 per year. A safe deposit box is where many people keep important papers they must not lose in a fire, flood, or theft, or misplace. Many people also keep valuable jewelry or other small valuable objects there. You could put cash in there. It would be safe, but a little inconvenient to add to or take from. You can only get to your safe deposit box during regular open hours of the bank. Some banks do not have safe deposit boxes at all branches.

[DayByDay]

I understand your frustration. I had a ridiculous amount of trouble at one bank (see my last blog post) and finally ended up shutting down our business account there, switching to another bank. No problems so far at the current bank.

Do what works for you.

[Goldy1]

you need a bank account in case you have a check to cash. I hate the idea of folks paying to get checks cashed.
I hated it in college when I was not saving any money and focusing on school that I had a bank account that the bank would charge me a few bucks each month to hav eopen b/c I didn't have the minimum required balance. Basically I got charged a few bucks each month for nothing. I did cash my pay checks at the bank and had no checking account then. At the time they all charged when I called aorund but this was about 8 years ago.

My banks are now fee free. They hold all personal checks I cash and I will get charged if they bounce but that is just the policy. You can't cash a personal check out of your bum . lol I sell my old stuff on e bay I no longer need. e bay doesn't let u take checks so I no longer have to cash checks.

[boosami]

If you want your money to be safe from complete loss, my suggestion is simply this: Diversify.

You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket because that increases your chance that you lose it all at once. Maybe you don't have tons of money, but that doesn't mean you can't compartmentalize it and keep it safe. For example, maybe you keep a week's worth of cash at home in a lock box, and a month's worth in a safe deposit box offsite. You've got another month's worth in the bank earning a little interest for if you have to burn up all the cash for an emergency.

If your home burns down, you lose a week's worth of money, not all of it. If any single point fails, you don't lose the whole farm.

[Ima saver]

Well, I have kept my money in banks for over 50 years. I have never been charged a fee for anything. Even my business and personal checking accounts pay interest. I love interest, free money!!

[simpleyme]

I use a credit union and love it

the problem came when I moved 250 miles away from my credit union

I have lived here for 8 year now and have never found a local bank or credit union to use! I have opened accounts and have been charged fees for no reason ,

my kids savings account dinged every month for 3 dollars each, credit union that wont allow 3rd party checks deposited to my account despite they fact they the are only for pidley amounts and my account balance being way more than enough to cover them

so I have no local bank at all and bank through the mail and online

If the amounts of money are real small I would just keep it in a envelope or a wallet ,and pay bills as soon as you can that will keep you from getting late fees and will limit your cash losses if you lose your money

I often have hundreds in cash in my wallet and have never lost money ,I recount my cash and have a running list of how much I have

I know many people cry they will lose the cash if they had or foolishly spend it all in both cases you have to just be careful and be accountable to yourself if you can not lose a child you should be able to not lose 50 bucks wouldn't you agree?LOL

when you get to a place where you are dealing with larger sums of money revisit dealing with banks

[KatieNK]

Originally Posted by kork13

Stashing it away in boxes slowly depreciates your money, making it more worthless month by month as inflation presses on.

That is what I first thought about. Unless you have such little money that it doesn't matter. Meaning you have enough to pay your bills each month but nothing left to save.

Sky, Maybe you need to try another bank. I have had a couple banks that I have really hated. The people were rude, the fees sucked, and even weird things happened to my account. But I just moved on to another bank. Now I have 2 banks that I really love. The people are super nice and go out of my way to help me and there are no fees. Unless I were to bounce a check but some banks won't charge you a fee if you have money in a savings account with them too. My favorite bank is a local one (WSFS in Delaware) and they have been nothing but nice. Even a couple times I did overdraft my account and they waived the fee because they are that nice.

I just thinking not having a bank would make life so difficult. You have to get your checks cashed somewhere and PAY for it, you have to pay bills in person with cash or BUY money orders. Plus you are more likely to spend a pile of cash at home. I think not using a bank is going to cause you to spend way more money on fees than with a bank. So many offer free checking with free online bill pay. I never pay a dime to cash my check or pay a bill. Also,your bank is not going to cash your checks for you if you do not have money in the account. I have one account that I don't use very much and if I try to cash a check there, they make me deposit it first. So what will you do about your paychecks? Always keep one paycheck in the bank so you can then cash the rest of them?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by KatieNK

Unless you have such little money that it doesn't matter. Meaning you have enough to pay your bills each month but nothing left to save.

I think we've all been overlooking the fact that this is the situation here. OP isn't talking about keeping thousands on hand but probably a hundred or so dollars. As per her other thread, they don't have enough to pay the rent, so I'm thinking we're talking about a very small amount of money here. I probably have more in my wallet right now than OP would be keeping in her home.

[GREENBACK]

This thread was slightly misleading but I'm sure that wasn't on purpose. I was thinking that she meant she wanted to keep thousands of dollars at home. I wouldn't do that no matter how much I hated banks. I think a lot of folks here probably keep a few hundred dollars stashed away which isn't to big a deal if you can afford to lose it. If it's money you have to have no matter how small the amount then find the right bank....They're out there.

[ktmarvels]

Since you say you have an account at a bank, and have internet access, why not open an ING (or other internet bank) account. ING doesn't charge any fees, but you do have to have a 'real bank' for making and receving deposits.

I know this doesn't answer your question of how to go without banks, but with your money online and a 2-3 day waiting period to get the cash would help with the motivation not to spend the money. Plus you have the bonus of relatively high interest rates so your money can grow!

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by KatieNK

That is what I first thought about. Unless you have such little money that it doesn't matter. Meaning you have enough to pay your bills each month but nothing left to save.

Sky, Maybe you need to try another bank. I have had a couple banks that I have really hated. The people were rude, the fees sucked, and even weird things happened to my account. But I just moved on to another bank. Now I have 2 banks that I really love. The people are super nice and go out of my way to help me and there are no fees. Unless I were to bounce a check but some banks won't charge you a fee if you have money in a savings account with them too. My favorite bank is a local one (WSFS in Delaware) and they have been nothing but nice. Even a couple times I did overdraft my account and they waived the fee because they are that nice.

I just thinking not having a bank would make life so difficult. You have to get your checks cashed somewhere and PAY for it, you have to pay bills in person with cash or BUY money orders. Plus you are more likely to spend a pile of cash at home. I think not using a bank is going to cause you to spend way more money on fees than with a bank. So many offer free checking with free online bill pay. I never pay a dime to cash my check or pay a bill. Also,your bank is not going to cash your checks for you if you do not have money in the account. I have one account that I don't use very much and if I try to cash a check there, they make me deposit it first. So what will you do about your paychecks? Always keep one paycheck in the bank so you can then cash the rest of them?

We have an account open that we use for cashing checks. I always pay bills with money orders because I refuse to use checks. It is worth it to me to pay between 30 cents and 1 dollar for the comfort of knowing that it is taken care of right away as opposed to making sure a check clears.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by ktmarvels

Since you say you have an account at a bank, and have internet access, why not open an ING (or other internet bank) account. ING doesn't charge any fees, but you do have to have a 'real bank' for making and receving deposits.

I know this doesn't answer your question of how to go without banks, but with your money online and a 2-3 day waiting period to get the cash would help with the motivation not to spend the money. Plus you have the bonus of relatively high interest rates so your money can grow!

I have been thinking about doing that. Thanks.