Argh. So, I have gone from several posts per week to about one per month. What can I say? Sometimes, life just gets in the way of living.
However, today was quite a financially exciting day. For the first time in I dont know when, I spent ZERO DOLLARS today!! I always buy lunch and get afternoon snacks and such. But today, I actually brought my lunch to work (leftover Chinese from Sunday), and I managed to stave off my cravings enough to avoid Walgreens and the store. So, yeah. Go me!
Then, in a flush of inspiration when I got home, I rolled all my change. Honestly, I am totally surprised at how much change I had in my change jug. $139.50!! There is about $3-4 that I didnt get to roll, but I do fully intend to take my change to work tomorrow and annoy the crap out of the people at BofA and deposit it. It is sad, because there is more money in change on my coffee table than there is in my checking account. But I had been worried about how I was going to make it to Monday. Now, not so much.
WOO HOO! Anyway, I am going to try to be better about posting more, but until things settle down IRL, I doubt I will be able to keep up with myself. =(
Showing posts with label BofA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BofA. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Found Cash!
I totally forgot the excitement of yesterday!
I found my bag of rolled coins that I (and friends of mine) had rolled a long time ago. There was $45 in dimes, nickels, and pennies. And I deposited it all into my checking account. Of course, my friend at BofA was annoyed, but it was great to get that change out of my apartment and back into circulation. WOO.
Even more exciting is that I have a my change jug still with TONS of change in it. I'm really looking forward to rolling and depositing that! =)
I found my bag of rolled coins that I (and friends of mine) had rolled a long time ago. There was $45 in dimes, nickels, and pennies. And I deposited it all into my checking account. Of course, my friend at BofA was annoyed, but it was great to get that change out of my apartment and back into circulation. WOO.
Even more exciting is that I have a my change jug still with TONS of change in it. I'm really looking forward to rolling and depositing that! =)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I am so DONE of BofA.
So, I posted the other day about how I overdrew my checking account. Anyway, my $100 autotransfer from my ING account posted yesterday, so I was positive again. I needed cash for lunch, so I went to the bank. I took out some cash, and I asked the teller (my friend, L) if there was going to be any overdraft charges, because I was unsure of the timing of the transactions. She said that there were no charges, because my account never went negative. GREAT! Nothing to worry about, right?
Anyway, later that afternoon, I went for a snack run and I used my debit card, because I wanted the cash on hand for lunch. I have money; there's no problem.
Today, I get in to work and check my email, and there's my daily balance email. -$32! What the hell?? So, I logged in to online banking, and sure enough, there were two $35 overdraft fees from yesterday. And looking at my balance over time on the website, my account never went negative! So, I printed out the transaction listing and such and marched down to the bank, fuming.
I went to the teller (my friend, B) who I hope to god can tell me what's going on, so I don't have to deal with the stupid bosses (E & D). Anyway, B tells me that I'm going to have to talk to E to figure this out. GROAN!
I show E my printout and ask her what's up. She says "Have you overdrawn your account before?" What the hell does that have to do with today? Yes. I have, but not for a long time. I've been good. She looks at my sheet and says "Here, your balance is negative." She's pointing at a transaction for -$5.30. I point out that she's looking at the transaction amount and show her the balance column. By now, we've made it back to her desk, and she looks more at the sheet. And says, "Oh I see what's going on."
She tells me nothing. Anyway, this is getting long. She looks me up in the computer, and she can't find anything that's not on the paper I have. Meanwhile, my friend, L, come out, because she recognized my voice. And the two of them look through the computer. Then, the big boss (D) comes out and joins us. Oh my god! All I want to know is what's going on with my account!
L explains that I was there yesterday and she said that there was money there. And D says, "No, you can't do that. You NEVER tell a customer their balance." WTF? Why not? Her explanation is that there could be pending transactions that aren't on the screeen, and L says that the screen on my computer is the same screen that we're looking at now. And that's the balance she told me. And D, reiterates that there could be outstanding transactions that don't show up. UGH.
All the while about ever 5 minutes, E or D ask me, "Do you write things down?" Um. Yes. IF I KNEW WHY I HAD THESE FEES, I WOULD NOT BE AT THIS SHITTY BANK!
Anyway, the long and the short of it is this. When you use your debit card, the bank puts the money on hold. If you keep taking out money, the holds queue up. Well, all my transactions from the weekend, queued up BEFORE my auto-transfer for Monday. So, Monday NIGHT (why they clear at night and not in the morning is beyond me) when they cleared, I was overdrawn for that INSTANT between the transactions. Thus, fees were assessed. HOWEVER, fees take two days or so to appear! So, L didn't see any fees when I asked her yesterday.
So, I'll admit that according to these backasswards rules, the overdrafts are my fault, and I'll accept any fees. I just wanted to go to the bank to figure out what happened, because I never saw an actual negative balance.
Anyway, then a huge argument between L and D erupted. L said that they should credit the fees, because it was her fault that I used my debit card yesterday, because she told me that I had money (because the computer told her I did). D said that she's not responsible, and I have to pay the fees. Anyway, I was so pissed at the end of this, I just gathered up the papers and said that I had to get back to work. I was so tired of being talked down to and yelled around. D says to me that she'll put $35 in my account. And I said "Thanks, that'll put me positive today, but I'm still going to get fees for yesterday's transactions that are now overdrawn because of today's fees." And I just stormed out. I told my teller friend, B, that I was **this close** to closing my account and that I hated BofA and that the only reason that I still had it was because the bank is in the hospital and it's convenient. She smiled and said that she understood.
So, I get back to lab, and I check my balance again online. And there's a $70 "counter credit", which I think is from when E tried to refund the fees in the beginning that didn't work. I grab my phone to text L and ask what's up. And there's a text from her saying that D put $70 in my account. I thank her, and she replies that she cried and pleaded with her and that's why. God, I love her.
Anyway, over the course of the day I started looking around for new banks. I talked to coworkers and friends online. I still haven't made up my mind completely OTHER than, I don't want any BofA accounts any more. NOT because of them charging fees that I "deserve", but because of their shitty/non-existent customer service. I'm not stupid, and I don't like people treating me like I am. Even L told me later that she didn't even understand what was going on in my account, and she said that E and D talk to all the customers like that. WTF? How do these people stay in business?
Unfortunately, it's the end of the month, so I can't change anything until after I'm sure that I get paid my direct deposit. But come September, I'm so breaking up with BofA.
Anyone have any suggestions? It seems from talking to people I know that ING and Wachovia are pretty good.
Anyway, later that afternoon, I went for a snack run and I used my debit card, because I wanted the cash on hand for lunch. I have money; there's no problem.
Today, I get in to work and check my email, and there's my daily balance email. -$32! What the hell?? So, I logged in to online banking, and sure enough, there were two $35 overdraft fees from yesterday. And looking at my balance over time on the website, my account never went negative! So, I printed out the transaction listing and such and marched down to the bank, fuming.
I went to the teller (my friend, B) who I hope to god can tell me what's going on, so I don't have to deal with the stupid bosses (E & D). Anyway, B tells me that I'm going to have to talk to E to figure this out. GROAN!
I show E my printout and ask her what's up. She says "Have you overdrawn your account before?" What the hell does that have to do with today? Yes. I have, but not for a long time. I've been good. She looks at my sheet and says "Here, your balance is negative." She's pointing at a transaction for -$5.30. I point out that she's looking at the transaction amount and show her the balance column. By now, we've made it back to her desk, and she looks more at the sheet. And says, "Oh I see what's going on."
She tells me nothing. Anyway, this is getting long. She looks me up in the computer, and she can't find anything that's not on the paper I have. Meanwhile, my friend, L, come out, because she recognized my voice. And the two of them look through the computer. Then, the big boss (D) comes out and joins us. Oh my god! All I want to know is what's going on with my account!
L explains that I was there yesterday and she said that there was money there. And D says, "No, you can't do that. You NEVER tell a customer their balance." WTF? Why not? Her explanation is that there could be pending transactions that aren't on the screeen, and L says that the screen on my computer is the same screen that we're looking at now. And that's the balance she told me. And D, reiterates that there could be outstanding transactions that don't show up. UGH.
All the while about ever 5 minutes, E or D ask me, "Do you write things down?" Um. Yes. IF I KNEW WHY I HAD THESE FEES, I WOULD NOT BE AT THIS SHITTY BANK!
Anyway, the long and the short of it is this. When you use your debit card, the bank puts the money on hold. If you keep taking out money, the holds queue up. Well, all my transactions from the weekend, queued up BEFORE my auto-transfer for Monday. So, Monday NIGHT (why they clear at night and not in the morning is beyond me) when they cleared, I was overdrawn for that INSTANT between the transactions. Thus, fees were assessed. HOWEVER, fees take two days or so to appear! So, L didn't see any fees when I asked her yesterday.
So, I'll admit that according to these backasswards rules, the overdrafts are my fault, and I'll accept any fees. I just wanted to go to the bank to figure out what happened, because I never saw an actual negative balance.
Anyway, then a huge argument between L and D erupted. L said that they should credit the fees, because it was her fault that I used my debit card yesterday, because she told me that I had money (because the computer told her I did). D said that she's not responsible, and I have to pay the fees. Anyway, I was so pissed at the end of this, I just gathered up the papers and said that I had to get back to work. I was so tired of being talked down to and yelled around. D says to me that she'll put $35 in my account. And I said "Thanks, that'll put me positive today, but I'm still going to get fees for yesterday's transactions that are now overdrawn because of today's fees." And I just stormed out. I told my teller friend, B, that I was **this close** to closing my account and that I hated BofA and that the only reason that I still had it was because the bank is in the hospital and it's convenient. She smiled and said that she understood.
So, I get back to lab, and I check my balance again online. And there's a $70 "counter credit", which I think is from when E tried to refund the fees in the beginning that didn't work. I grab my phone to text L and ask what's up. And there's a text from her saying that D put $70 in my account. I thank her, and she replies that she cried and pleaded with her and that's why. God, I love her.
Anyway, over the course of the day I started looking around for new banks. I talked to coworkers and friends online. I still haven't made up my mind completely OTHER than, I don't want any BofA accounts any more. NOT because of them charging fees that I "deserve", but because of their shitty/non-existent customer service. I'm not stupid, and I don't like people treating me like I am. Even L told me later that she didn't even understand what was going on in my account, and she said that E and D talk to all the customers like that. WTF? How do these people stay in business?
Unfortunately, it's the end of the month, so I can't change anything until after I'm sure that I get paid my direct deposit. But come September, I'm so breaking up with BofA.
Anyone have any suggestions? It seems from talking to people I know that ING and Wachovia are pretty good.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday Blahs
UGH. I was so bad. Every morning, BofA emails me my checking account balance. I set that up years ago to help me keep track of what's going on with my money (or rather, when I get low on funds). On Friday, I had about $160. Today, I have -$12!
What went wrong? Well, I had preordered House Season 5 from Amazon when I noticed it was at $0.025/min. And I COMPLETELY FORGOT about it. I spent money on things at Target and Best Buy over the weekend, and on Sunday, I still had money. But Amazon charged me for House today, and my $100 auto-transfer from savings hadn't come in yet.
Grr. This was completely avoidable, and I feel so stupid. I haven't overdrawn my account in a long time. I think I need to stop preordering things.
What went wrong? Well, I had preordered House Season 5 from Amazon when I noticed it was at $0.025/min. And I COMPLETELY FORGOT about it. I spent money on things at Target and Best Buy over the weekend, and on Sunday, I still had money. But Amazon charged me for House today, and my $100 auto-transfer from savings hadn't come in yet.
Grr. This was completely avoidable, and I feel so stupid. I haven't overdrawn my account in a long time. I think I need to stop preordering things.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
New Goals
I finally got off my ass tonight after work to sit down and work on my finances. As depressing as it is, it does feel good to reassess the situation and get some goals in place for the next 9 months.
First off, my Quicken file for my checking account does not match what BofA says online that my balance should be. I have no idea what's missing, but there's money there. Luckily, I took out $275 cash from my checking account back when that whole debit card drama was going on. This was supposed to be cash for visiting a friend of mine in the city (who was there on a business trip), but those plans fell through (kinda luckily). So, I've been using that cash for just about all my purchases for the past couple of weeks. I do plan to print out my transactions since my last statement and double check the Quicken tomorrow.
Basically, I revamped my goals for the next 9 months tonight. There are now two sets of goals (short term and mid term). Short term goals are for the end of this year: getting my savings accounts beefed up and paying down credit cards and loans. The mid term goals are paying off my taxes (both state and Federal) before April 15, 2010. I'm well on my way for the state taxes. Federal is going to take a lot out of me to get it done, but I know that I can do it. The big pull on the Federal taxes is going to be filing my 2009 return as soon as I can. If I'm going to get a refund, all of that will go to paying down my 2008 balance. But, I was able to get myself onto a payment plan, so I'm hoping that will get all this finished sooner.
Of course, the MAJOR goal here would be to live within my $100 per week without using any credit cards and still working towards these new goals. I'm sure that it'll be tough, but I'm used to tough. Really, I just need to get off my ass and motivate myself actually to do this. I think I can.
First off, my Quicken file for my checking account does not match what BofA says online that my balance should be. I have no idea what's missing, but there's money there. Luckily, I took out $275 cash from my checking account back when that whole debit card drama was going on. This was supposed to be cash for visiting a friend of mine in the city (who was there on a business trip), but those plans fell through (kinda luckily). So, I've been using that cash for just about all my purchases for the past couple of weeks. I do plan to print out my transactions since my last statement and double check the Quicken tomorrow.
Basically, I revamped my goals for the next 9 months tonight. There are now two sets of goals (short term and mid term). Short term goals are for the end of this year: getting my savings accounts beefed up and paying down credit cards and loans. The mid term goals are paying off my taxes (both state and Federal) before April 15, 2010. I'm well on my way for the state taxes. Federal is going to take a lot out of me to get it done, but I know that I can do it. The big pull on the Federal taxes is going to be filing my 2009 return as soon as I can. If I'm going to get a refund, all of that will go to paying down my 2008 balance. But, I was able to get myself onto a payment plan, so I'm hoping that will get all this finished sooner.
Of course, the MAJOR goal here would be to live within my $100 per week without using any credit cards and still working towards these new goals. I'm sure that it'll be tough, but I'm used to tough. Really, I just need to get off my ass and motivate myself actually to do this. I think I can.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Frustrated as Frak
I haven't posted for a few days, mostly because my parents were in town, and I'm completely wiped out. I never like to do this, but I'm posting a little snippet from work.
I'm just really pissed at my landlord. Why the hell is rent due on the 1st, and I get charged a late fee if he doesn't get my check by the 5th if he's not going to cash my rent check for weeks and weeks. It's the 15th, and my rent money is still in my checking account. For some people, this isn't a problem, because they have a month or so cushion in their accounts. But for me (and others I know), this is a dangerous thing to do, because I live paycheck-to-paycheck. If I'm not paying close attention to what's going on, I can easily overdraw my account and bounce my rent check, all because the landlord holds onto the check for weeks longer than he should. I've done this before, it's not pretty.
Luckily, I've set up Bank of America to email me every morning with the balance in my account. That's how I've caught it this time. As much as I would LOVE to actually have the $1550+ in my account like it says, I know that $925 of it can disappear in an instant. I'm contemplating enclosing a little note next time asking him nicely to cash the check promptly. I don't know if this is an assholy thing to do or not. But I may just do it.
I'm just really pissed at my landlord. Why the hell is rent due on the 1st, and I get charged a late fee if he doesn't get my check by the 5th if he's not going to cash my rent check for weeks and weeks. It's the 15th, and my rent money is still in my checking account. For some people, this isn't a problem, because they have a month or so cushion in their accounts. But for me (and others I know), this is a dangerous thing to do, because I live paycheck-to-paycheck. If I'm not paying close attention to what's going on, I can easily overdraw my account and bounce my rent check, all because the landlord holds onto the check for weeks longer than he should. I've done this before, it's not pretty.
Luckily, I've set up Bank of America to email me every morning with the balance in my account. That's how I've caught it this time. As much as I would LOVE to actually have the $1550+ in my account like it says, I know that $925 of it can disappear in an instant. I'm contemplating enclosing a little note next time asking him nicely to cash the check promptly. I don't know if this is an assholy thing to do or not. But I may just do it.
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