Comments on: Murphy Strikes Again, Twice

By: Reluctance to Use Emergency Funds | Frugal Dad

Reluctance to Use Emergency Funds | Frugal Dad — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:52:37 +0000

[...] my wallet with one of those ATM card slips that says, “Break only in emergency!” When Murphy strikes I use that debit card to tap my emergency fund rather than turning to a credit [...]

By: 1stopmom

1stopmom — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:23:34 +0000

Those overdraft fee get me too sometimes. I know in 2007 I have had over $250 in overdraft fees. It always feels like a kick in the chest. I hate it when it happens because I made a stupid calender mistake. This year I am trying really hard not to get any. Wish me luck!

By: Eden

Eden — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:26:02 +0000

Ouch! I feel your pain. Been there with the insane overdraft fees many times.

I first solved that problem by tricking myself- I use Quicken to balance my checking account so I went back to the opening balance and subtracted $200. That helped me to always have a bit of a cushion in the account. That worked until I could get further ahead financially and now I always carry over about $1,000 in my account going into each month so I know I can safely pay bills as scheduled regardless of the posting/scheduling dates. I know it you can’t magically throw an extra $1,000 in your account, but it is something to work toward.

By: Meg

Meg — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 06:09:25 +0000

I do have overdraft protection on mine, but it too works in $100 increments (or if I have less than $100 in savings, it takes it all). And I only had about $30 from that savings account (its my Keep The Change account, really), but it doesn’t cost anything to use. The $30 didn’t really help.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:14:52 +0000

Thanks for the advice, Sandy. Unfortunately, even overdraft protection has associated fees at my bank. Apparently, they pull from savings in $100 increments and charge you $10 for each pull. Unbelievable. Then they had the audacity to tell me that they would credit one of the fees if I signed up for a credit card. I told them I wasn’t trading one fee for another, and I didn’t do credit cards. Needless to say, I’m shopping a new bank tomorrow!

By: sandy

sandy — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:07:09 +0000

Oh I remember the pain years ago, from bounced check charges. But these days, most checking accounts offer “overdraft protection.” You just have to sign up for it, or request it, by making a phone call to your bank. If this situation were to happen to me, then the funds would come out of my savings account, and there would be no bank fees. It is definitely something I would recommend you inquiring about. I would be very surprised if your checking account didn’t provide this service. When you go to your bank in person, you could ask them about you getting on their overdraft protection program.

By: Meg

Meg — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:23:05 +0000

Oh, how I hate Murphy. Murphy struck me too. My college decided to wait to cash my tuition check, a month after I wrote it. I thought I had budgeted for it, but apparently I didn’t. Luckily the check didn’t bounce, nor did my rent check for that matter, but I had about 6 overdraft items after that, plus $35 overdraft fees per item, for a total of $225 overdraft. Yuck.

By: Credit card » Murphy Strikes Again, Twice

Credit card » Murphy Strikes Again, Twice — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:04:39 +0000

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