Saving money without using the bank?

[cicy33]

Originally Posted by minnie1928

Would keeping it in a waterproof container in the tank of your toilet make it fire-proof? The ick factor might also keep your hands off of it.

I've always wondered why there would be an ick factor here? It is clean water. You don't pee in that area! Unless someone can't aim!!! I have not personally used it but just always wondered.

[cicy33]

Originally Posted by skylovessea

I am currently bank shopping as we are coming into some extra money that I don't want to keep in the house. I want to be sure to find a bank that I am completely happy with. We are at Regions right now and they are great but my husband can't be on my account because he does not have a local ID.

Do any of you have suggestions for good nation-wide banks? The local ones here are not exactly up to par in my opinion.

Can you take him and just get him a regular id card? they are pretty simple to get and solve problems like that. I don't like banks either but deal with the one I have cuz I am terrible about having cash around. Also, I lose it. One day I took an extra 20 out at walmart to put aside for fuel later in the week and then forgot where I put it. No kidding. Took me 3 hours to find it. I put it in an envelope and put it back in the box. I know it made sense at the time, but....

[lemarquis]

Put it in a fireproof safe. But, you should periodically assign one person to be the keeper of the combination. Rotate this duty between yourselves. This will make it harder to raid your cash in moment's of impulse.

[rising2dtop]

I agree with the fact that you're taking a risk. Don't mean to be pessemistic, but you take a risk when you do anything these days so the best thing to do is to just go with the system and hope for the best.

Something else that has helped me is doing total research through my contact list and through my own knowledge. This has helped me save a lot of time and money and risk.

[cicy33]

As time has gone on and we (my so and I) have read more and more about companies going under, banks having trouble, etc. we have actually discussed starting to keep the majority of our money out of the bank. I think that the interest argument is not worth it unless you are making serious amounts of interest. Making $2 a month in interest is not worth it to me. That $24 a year is added to my income and I am taxed on it. So what do I have left of it? maybe $15. If I am lucky. Since I am single I am already taxed severely. That $24 could throw me into the next tax bracket for all I know. And I have also had banks charge fees for no reason. Sure they removed them, after they charged me an nsf for bouncing a check. sure they reversed that too but in the meantime I was without money. through no fault of my own. I am also one that is not flush with money and rarely have more than $200 in the bank at one time. Usually less. so when these fees are done they really hurt. So whether one keeps money at home or not shouldn't be such a weird thought. Perhaps if more did and operated solely on cash there would be less debt problems.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cicy33

rarely have more than $200 in the bank at one time. Usually less.

In that case, I doubt I would bother with a bank account, except you still need to be able to write checks somehow. Otherwise you'd be stuck buying money orders for everything which would get expensive pretty quickly.

[ActYourWage]

Interesting topic, OP have you tried First Tennessee back, I noticed you are from Cleveland Tn? They are a good bank.

BTW, When I was younger I used to blame the banks for being the 'bad' people because of fees, but later realized the issue was with me, not having enough funds, not keeping the correct balance amount. The only fees I paid were self inflicted.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by ActYourWage

When I was younger I used to blame the banks for being the 'bad' people because of fees, but later realized the issue was with me, not having enough funds, not keeping the correct balance amount. The only fees I paid were self inflicted.

I think this all the time when I see stories on the news complaining about banks and credit card companies and pay day loans and tax refund loans and all that other nonsense. Yes, the fees are high, but they are ALL avoidable. Follow the rules. Avoid the legal loansharks. Pay your bills on time. Don't overdraw your accounts. Do all of that and you will never pay a penny in fees.

[wnlbutterfly]

Sounds like the problem has more to do with customer service. She has had bad experiences and no longer wants to deal with bank personnel.

You CAN bank without dealing with the people. At least once you get the account started. I use the ATM to pull money out, I use it to drop off deposits, I never walk in, never use the drive through. I pay my bills online and check my account balance online, no calling to ask anyone the balance.

AND the account I have is free checking, so there hasn't been any fees other than one overdraft that was my own fault. No monthly fees, no check processing fees. If you use an ATM that isn't theirs then yes, a fee for that, but I avoid that.

Just trying to point out that you CAN have a bank account and not deal with the bank personnel. I remember about 10 yrs ago at another bank I would use the drive through and there was this one teller that always had an attitude, it was a "I am better than you" attitude and it was very rude and uncomfortable, so I think I understand a little about not wanting to deal with people if you are running into a lot like this.

[JBinKC]

Dealing with cash drastically increases the costs of paying bills. I would at least maintain enough in an account to meet cover household expenses for expenses that could be paid from online like credit cards, mortgages, and utilities. Stamps, money orders and needless driving around to pay bills in cash is an expensive penalty to hold cash.

If you choose to save any surplus outside of a bank is your perogative. Since banks pay nothing for interest your loss likely would be inconsequential unless you are dealing with lots of money.

This might be crazy but I would try to store my wealth in pre 1982 pennies if you have the patience to sort through them. The metal content in them is currently double the value the coin.

The way the government is monetizing the debt I have a strong feeling pennies and will succumb to obsolescence and create an arbitrage opportunity much like when the government discontinued silver coinage in 1965.

[Inkstain82]

I'm not going to call the banks "bad," but they are definitely in the business of trying to trigger fees. Once your checking account is flagged as a potential fee generator, they will begin messing with the timing of deposits and debits in order to try to trigger overdrafts. It's not realistic to tell a person living paycheck-to-paycheck to deposit their check but not spend a cent of it for a week while they wait to see if the bank has decided to credit it or not.

If you are in a situation where you can't stop overdrafting, a checking account probably isn't for you. I'd recommend keeping a savings account for check-cashing, but I'd rather pay $3 to Wal-Mart for a prepaid debit card and $5 in money orders each month than risk multiple $45 overdraft fees.

[techguru]

You are a complete fool for not putting money into a bank or cu.

[cicy33]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

In that case, I doubt I would bother with a bank account, except you still need to be able to write checks somehow. Otherwise you'd be stuck buying money orders for everything which would get expensive pretty quickly.

keep in mind I didn't say there was never more than 200 but after the bills are paid and what not there is rarely more than that left and usually less. we are not rich, we are surviving and hanging onto some money. I use a bank because I like direct deposit and I use my debit card everywhere. Our concern is not keeping cash because we have problems with banks. We don't generally. I can't remember the last time I had an overdraft. We are more concerned with having money in a bank that goes under. Even if the money is insured you have to wait to get it back. in the meantime you have no cash. none. Last week we had a major storm hit. no power for 4 days. the first two days there was also no atm or the few stores there were open accepting debit cards for more than 40 miles. We had a $20 bill. Used it to buy some ice and for the first time and in years realized what it really meant to not have money. There was money in the bank but couldn't access it. kinda scary!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cicy33

Our concern is not keeping cash because we have problems with banks. We don't generally. I can't remember the last time I had an overdraft. We are more concerned with having money in a bank that goes under. Even if the money is insured you have to wait to get it back. in the meantime you have no cash. none. Last week we had a major storm hit. no power for 4 days. the first two days there was also no atm or the few stores there were open accepting debit cards for more than 40 miles. We had a $20 bill. Used it to buy some ice and for the first time and in years realized what it really meant to not have money. There was money in the bank but couldn't access it. kinda scary!

I've always said that everyone should keep some emergency cash on hand at home for just those types of occurrences. Even with ATMs, debit and credit cards, there are times when those things aren't available. It happens regularly after big storms. It happens in blackouts. Cash is king in those situations.

As a general comment (not directed at you cicy), overdrafts are NOT a problem with the bank but rather a problem with the user. It isn't the bank's fault if someone overdraws their account (unless it was due to some type of bank error, in which case the bank should correct it without penalty).

[Inkstain82]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

As a general comment (not directed at you cicy), overdrafts are NOT a problem with the bank but rather a problem with the user. It isn't the bank's fault if someone overdraws their account (unless it was due to some type of bank error, in which case the bank should correct it without penalty).

When banks intentionally mess with the timing and order of deposits and withdrawals, I'd call that a problem with the bank, but it's one that wouldn't be a problem if not for the user-caused problem of living paycheck-to-paycheck.

But I've had this happen to me and others:

Have $20 in bank. Deposit $600 through a payroll check from a well-known local business. Wait four days. Go to gas station, supermarket and spend more than $20 at each.

A day or two later in the mail get a couple overdraft notices in the mail. Go to bank and request transaction logs, and it looks like this:

01/01 beginningofday Balance $20
01/01 noon Deposit $600 (not cleared) Balance still $20
01/05 noon gas station -$50 Balance $-30
01/05 12:15 grocery store -$100, balance $-130
01/05 12:30 overdraft fees, balance -$190
01/05 12:31 deposit cleared, balance $410

This would happen repeatedly (because I was naive enough to think it was a fluke the first few times). Every time, they would hold the funds on a local payroll check for as long as they possibly, legally could and hope that I'd try to spend some of it. The moment I did, they'd slap a few overdraft fees and then minutes later clear the check.

While this may be within the law and the user agreements, I'm not going to say they did "nothing wrong." That's pretty darn immoral in my world, and a good reason why many people who put themselves in bad financial circumstances learn to distrust banks.

[Staceyy]

Instead of keeping money in the house, I like to save our change (we save about $500 a year doing this), stockpile food (bought in bulk on sale), and pay our bills ahead. These methods keep our hands off the cash but ensure our bills are paid. We don't let excess money sit around to be frittered away, it immediately goes into buying excess food ,paper products, otc meds etc. or into paying our bills ahead. We also have payroll deductions for savings.

[cicy33]

Originally Posted by Inkstain82

When banks intentionally mess with the timing and order of deposits and withdrawals, I'd call that a problem with the bank, but it's one that wouldn't be a problem if not for the user-caused problem of living paycheck-to-paycheck.

But I've had this happen to me and others:

Have $20 in bank. Deposit $600 through a payroll check from a well-known local business. Wait four days. Go to gas station, supermarket and spend more than $20 at each.

A day or two later in the mail get a couple overdraft notices in the mail. Go to bank and request transaction logs, and it looks like this:

01/01 beginningofday Balance $20
01/01 noon Deposit $600 (not cleared) Balance still $20
01/05 noon gas station -$50 Balance $-30
01/05 12:15 grocery store -$100, balance $-130
01/05 12:30 overdraft fees, balance -$190
01/05 12:31 deposit cleared, balance $410

This would happen repeatedly (because I was naive enough to think it was a fluke the first few times). Every time, they would hold the funds on a local payroll check for as long as they possibly, legally could and hope that I'd try to spend some of it. The moment I did, they'd slap a few overdraft fees and then minutes later clear the check.

While this may be within the law and the user agreements, I'm not going to say they did "nothing wrong." That's pretty darn immoral in my world, and a good reason why many people who put themselves in bad financial circumstances learn to distrust banks.

Our bank does this. They do charges first and then do the deposits. I think that is wrong. If the deposit and charge were both there at the same time I don't see why they don't do the deposit first. I just try to make sure there is extra in the bank so that I don't have problems. We just moved and opened a new account. I have over $3700 and can't access it for 2 weeks cuz they are holding it for 9 business days. I don't mind really but geez NINE!!!! I can see five. What happened to faster check clearing? Or does that only apply to us and not businesses. All three checks I deposited were from established businesses.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cicy33

I have over $3700 and can't access it for 2 weeks cuz they are holding it for 9 business days. I don't mind really but geez NINE!!!! I can see five. What happened to faster check clearing? Or does that only apply to us and not businesses. All three checks I deposited were from established businesses.

I have no idea why in this day and age with everything electronic it takes any time at all to confirm that a check is good. What about those systems that let businesses deposit checks by scanning them in and not even having to go to the bank. Isn't the whole point that the business knows instantly if the check is good? If you can do that, why does it take the bank even 3 days to verify a check?

[Inkstain82]

Originally Posted by cicy33

Our bank does this. They do charges first and then do the deposits. I think that is wrong. If the deposit and charge were both there at the same time I don't see why they don't do the deposit first. I just try to make sure there is extra in the bank so that I don't have problems. We just moved and opened a new account. I have over $3700 and can't access it for 2 weeks cuz they are holding it for 9 business days. I don't mind really but geez NINE!!!! I can see five. What happened to faster check clearing? Or does that only apply to us and not businesses. All three checks I deposited were from established businesses.

The deposits were there four days before the debits. Sometimes it was longer than that, I think our record for them pulling this stunt was eight. But magically, it would always be right after we had some debits.

[Inkstain82]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I have no idea why in this day and age with everything electronic it takes any time at all to confirm that a check is good. What about those systems that let businesses deposit checks by scanning them in and not even having to go to the bank. Isn't the whole point that the business knows instantly if the check is good? If you can do that, why does it take the bank even 3 days to verify a check?

In many cases, because they are hoping to manipulate the balance of the account into an overdraw. It's called "fee-based banking," and it's something the industry turned to in recent years.