Saving money without using the bank?

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by 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.

I wish I had thousands of dollars, haha. Definitely not true. We live paycheck to paycheck and we have debt to our ears, so we don't save a lot of money.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I probably have more in my wallet right now than OP would be keeping in her home.

That seems a bit rude..

[simpleyme]

in the other thread this lady was trying to raise enough money to pay her 400 dollar rent

I think we are talking about a max of 500 dollars at ant time,I personally think it would be hard to have no bank

but it appears that is the decision she has made at this point and if the fees have been bad I think it is a wise one when you make very little money to allow the bank to fee you to death is not wise ,

we all know the less you have the higher the fees,my bank will charge you for not keeping a minimum balance , and free checking pays no interest anyway

using cash and getting a solid foothold is very wise in her situation I think she is a smart young gal who will continue to grow and eventually deal with banks again but when they are good for her not just making money off her

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

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.

Please take this as intended, as helpful advice and not criticism, but this is the kind of thinking that keeps people in an endless cycle of financial difficulty. Keeping money in non-interest bearing accounts (or no account at all), paying for money orders instead of using checks, and just generally avoiding all of the relatively simple things that successful people use to get ahead.

Paying for money orders might somehow make you feel good (though I don't know why it would) but it is costing you money each and every time you do it. Your financial situation is precarious. You can't afford to waste money, even if is is "only" 30 cents and 1 dollar. Those little charges add up over time into real money.

[ktmarvels]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

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.

This seems a little counter-intuitive to me. You don't want to pay the banks fees for an accout, but are willing to pay the fee to make a money order? How many money orders are you getting in a month?
There ARE banks (or credit unions) out there that have free checking, I use ING and USAA, and don't have to pay for checking. Maybe other people know of others. It sounds like you are working with limited funds, so I just hate to see you spending money on things if you don't have to.

[GREENBACK]

Sky

I don't know the area you live in or your circumstances but when, not if, Things turn around and you have some substantial money to deal with you will be glad you found a bank you have a long relationship with.

Many years ago I was a 14yr old paper boy that started a savings account with a bank that I still do buisness with. Good banks do exist and it sounds like you need to really search to find the one for you.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

That seems a bit rude..

My apologies. It wasn't meant that way. I was trying to make the point to others that I didn't think you were talking about a large sum of money (which I think a lot of people were envisioning).

As several others have mentioned, keeping a modest amount of cash in the home is actually a good idea for emergencies when you can't get to a bank or ATMs are down or phone lines are down. In a blackout or other emergency, cash might be the only thing that works.

Again, I'm sorry if that came out wrong.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by ktmarvels

This seems a little counter-intuitive to me. You don't want to pay the banks fees for an accout, but are willing to pay the fee to make a money order? How many money orders are you getting in a month?
There ARE banks (or credit unions) out there that have free checking, I use ING and USAA, and don't have to pay for checking. Maybe other people know of others. It sounds like you are working with limited funds, so I just hate to see you spending money on things if you don't have to.

Usually, we only have to get one money order per month, for our electric bill, if we don't have time to pay it directly with cash.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

That seems a bit rude..

Why? You haven't been shy about telling people your financial problems. Anyone who has seen your threads knows that you have very little and the money you bring in is already spoken for. I wouldn't expect you to keep a whole lot of cash either.

It's an observation, not an insult--putting the issue in perspective, if you will.

Frankly, for someone who has been very patient and has made an honest effort to help you, I think you could extend the benefit of the doubt, no?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Read this before you do it.

The Best Place To Hide Money: Conversation With A Burglar - Personal Finance Advice

It's about a burglar talking about robbing people.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

Why? You haven't been shy about telling people your financial problems. Anyone who has seen your threads knows that you have very little and the money you bring in is already spoken for. I wouldn't expect you to keep a whole lot of cash either.

It's an observation, not an insult--putting the issue in perspective, if you will.

Frankly, for someone who has been very patient and has made an honest effort to help you, I think you could extend the benefit of the doubt, no?

He just said it in a very insulting way. No doubt that it's true but it was hurtful regardless because of the way he said it.

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

He just said it in a very insulting way. No doubt that it's true but it was hurtful regardless because of the way he said it.

That may be how you took it, however, as an independent observer, I read it and did not see that it was said in a insulting way at all. Quite the contrary, he was speaking in defense of you. The emphasis of the statement, addressed to people who were berating your desire to avoid banking and keep money at home, was that, based on information you've supplied, you likely were not talking about very much money.

[poundwise]

Let's return to the original question. The OP wants to know how to best keep money at home. How would you secure it? How would you "keep your hands off it," since it would be so easily accessible.

Some people addressed this but, otherwise, the thread was going off in a direction where we are going to see bickering and insults and that is not what this forum is about.

[skylovessea]

Originally Posted by poundwise

Let's return to the original question. The OP wants to know how to best keep money at home. How would you secure it? How would you "keep your hands off it," since it would be so easily accessible.

Some people addressed this but, otherwise, the thread was going off in a direction where we are going to see bickering and insults and that is not what this forum is about.

Thank you. I was close to saying something myself.

[disneysteve]

So far, I think the best idea is probably the waterproof container in the toilet bowl. I like that one. It might possibly not be totally safe from fire there, but is probably pretty safe, moreso than a a lot of other options.

Another option which hasn't been mentioned is hiding it in the freezer somehow, perhaps in an empty food box or opaque container. Anyone looking in would have no idea that one container held cash.

[SacredFaerie]

I personally wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of it Sky if I had it in the house.

I had a craptastic experience with Capital One but I love love love Navy Federal. What fees they do have are quite reasonable. What I've noticed is the mom and pop local banks tend to have lower quality customer service vs. national chains. Any office can have a peckerhead working there. As for the money order account, try to see if you can find a bank that doesn't charge (or charges very little) for cashier checks. At my last apartment they wouldn't take personal checks and Navy Federal doesn't charge for cashier checks. They work the same way as money orders but should be a bit more affordable. (I was NOT about to pay to pay my bills...later for that crap.)

The toilet tank method sounds solid. Icky but solid.

[mommyof4]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

That seems a bit rude..

I really don't think he meant it that way. He just realized from your other tread that your financial situation is tough, and you don't have a lot of $$ at this time.

[minnie1928]

Originally Posted by SacredFaerie

The toilet tank method sounds solid. Icky but solid.

The ick factor may be why it would work...or lets make it a money saving option, if you put the money in a water proof container you'll be displacing water in the tank, thus reducing the water used per flush. It's a win-win!

[simpleyme]

about putting money in the toilet tank or anywhere in the bathroom for that matter - I would not do it

why would you hide things in a room that you would let people you may not know well use? (like service people) and give them a lock and even a noisy fan ?

[wincrasher]

I can imagine getting by without using the bank.

The convenience of a debit card and checks just makes life so easy.

That said, I always keep cash at the house in a cheap safe I bought from walmart. You never know when a situation comes up that you need cash ASAP.

But how do you keep from spending it? Easy, you just don't.

If you can't stick to your plans, if you can't decide not to spend it, then you will never be financially successful. There is no way to keep you away from your money if you decide to go after it. There is nothing stopping me from, within minutes from now, going to my safe and spending thousands, or checks for 10's of thousands, or credit cards for $100k. It's up to me to control it.

Once you excercise that control, alot of other issues will start taking care of themselves.

Good luck to you.