Tag Archives: money

Why I Will Be Paying the Bank of America Debit Card Fee

A lot of people are up at arms at the news that Bank of America may be implementing a $5 monthly maintenance fee for debit card use. They’re talking about changing banks. On Marketplace yesterday morning, they read a letter from a listener who declared that she would be using her credit card and paying it off every month rather than paying the $5 fee.

On the one hand, I agree with the sentiments. $60 isn’t a negligible amount. Debit cards are less expensive for merchants to accept. If you have bad credit – as I did for many years – the Visa logo on your debit card may be the only way for you to shop any way other than in person.

On the other hand, and for a variety of reasons, I’m a little irritated by these sentiments. We’ve all gotten so used to “free” checking that we’ve forgotten that monthly maintenance fees used to be standard. I worked in banking from 2001-2004, and spent much of that time explaining the suite of fees charged for services ranging from using a foreign ATM to getting your checks back in your statement to transferring money by phone. Cut off times governed by geographic distance restricted when transactions could take place. Need to make a deposit at a branch at 6pm on a Friday to beat a check to the bank? Sorry. We accepted these fees as the cost of convenience and of doing business.

Now, I’m not going to defend the actions of Bank of America or any of the other big banks in this era of rampant financial speculation. They’ve screwed up, and taken our economy down with them. What I am saying, however, is that we’ve been able to take for granted that banking services are free. Opening an account? Free, and in some cases, they’ll GIVE you money as long as you keep the account open. Depositing cash into an ATM without using an envelope? Free. Transferring money using a (free) mobile app from your phone? Free. Talking to someone on the phone? Difficult, but free. Writing checks? Free, though you have to buy the checks. Receiving, viewing, and paying bills online? Free. Withdrawing money from ATMs in any state plus a few foreign countries? Free, as long as you use the right ATM. In the grand scheme of all of the things I’m able to do with my money through my bank, $5 per month in the months that I choose to use my debit card seems pretty minor.

I also understand wanting to keep your money in your community, rather than putting it in a national bank. I did that for a number of years, banking with AMCORE until I moved to a Champaign, more than an hour away from the closest branch or ATM. I loved AMCORE, and would have kept my money there if it had been remotely convenient. I loved it for all the reasons one loves a local business – with the added layer of affection from two and a half years of working there. In 2010, AMCORE was failed by the Fed, and is now part of Harris Bank. I worked for Busey Bank for the first year I was in Champaign, and immediately felt the limitations of having my money at a small town – not even regional – bank. I paid ATM fees at least 50% of the time I needed cash because Busey ATMs weren’t conveniently located in town, much less available out of town. I switched to National City, then we moved to DC, where there were no National City banks. We started using ING, but still couldn’t find ATMs. So, in 2007, we opened a joint account with Bank of America – first to give us an option for depositing cash and checks, then for all of our banking.

So here’s why I’ll be paying the Bank of America debit card fee: the convenience is worth it. It doesn’t make sense to me to change banks over $60 per year. We would pay far more than that in foreign ATM fees if we were to change to the local credit union, for example, considering that we’ve been out of town 12 of the last 20 weekends, and taken day trips 4 of the remaining 8. I don’t have a problem with paying for services I use, and the convenience of using a debit card is FAR GREATER than the cost.

2011 Resolutions

I usually like to give myself until my birthday to make resolutions and to report in on those from the previous year. This year, however, I’m pretty set on my list, and if I post it today, that gives me almost 13 months to complete the following:

Expand my bread repertoire by baking 2 new types per month. I can make a solid sandwich loaf, but there are many more loaves to try!
Knit socks. I’m there. I can do this.
Run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. If my knee, winter training, or finances prevent this, run at least one 10K.
Continue saving aggressively for a down-payment on a house. We’re hoping to buy this summer, but it might be advantageous to wait another year, which is why this resolution is ‘save’ not ‘buy’.
Complete the 25 Recipes challenge, in which we attempt to master 25 recipes that we’ve been intending to try.
Learn to accessorize. I love the look of scarves, jewelry, and all of that, but haven’t spent much time figuring out how to work those things into my wardrobe.
Make a decision about grad school. Do I need/want more of it? In what field? This decision will largely be influenced on my job situation.
Sock away 3 months’ worth of my half of the household budget (approx $4500). I worked on this in 2009, was un/underemployed for a few months, and then got a job that pays $15,000 less than I was making when we established our budgets. I’ll be posting about this and other financial goals on How I Am Not Spending Money. Hopefully extra income from teaching will help with this.
Survive my first semester of teaching. Can I tell you how intimidated I am about this? It’s a little paralyzing.
Take a solo trip and a vacation with SB. We’re thinking Portland or San Francisco, and I’m thinking that my reward for #9 should be a trip to NYC.

What do you want to do in the new year?

$15.11

That’s how much I had left in my checking account before payday. Usually it’s much lower than that – and I had cash in my wallet and extra funds in my Paypal account besides!

It’s probably – OK, definitely – not a desirable thing to have such a low balance in my checking account. In this era of online and mobile banking, however, I could transfer money from another account in literally seconds from anywhere. My accounts at two different banks are linked, and I have a Paypal debit card that can draw on either of them. It’s kind of amazing, if you think about it, especially as I recall all too clearly the era of calling the bank and paying $3 to transfer funds between accounts. In fact, I wrote up thousands of such transfers and fees in my days in customer service.

Back to my $15.11. I get paid every other week, and generally when I have extra money left over, it goes straight into savings. This being the month before Christmas, however, it’s going to go towards holiday gifts.

The Back Story

In 2009, I was making good money working at a very expensive private university in a major US city, while my now husband SB was making good money working at a public university nearby. We paid $1200/month in rent for a one bedroom condo in a cute suburban neighborhood, ate or drank out a few times a week, and did most of our travel on our employers’ dimes. We owned one car, a fair amount of furniture and household goods, and two cute but occasionally quite expensive cats.

Then came the move to a college town in the Upper Midwest, where SB took a dream job and I rapidly drained my savings while looking for a good job, then a job, then any job. About a year ago, I took a job that paid dramatically less than my previous position, but that offered benefits and a salary, which shouldn’t be sneezed at in this economy.

For the last year, I’ve struggled to embrace austerity and responsibility – at least in comparison with my previous moderately spendthrift ways. Gone are the days when I can drop $100 on clothes, $30 on happy hour drinks, $40 on a spontaneous perfect gift. I can’t fly home for a long weekend because I have neither the money for the plane ticket, nor the vacation time for the visit.

Inspired by South by Sacrifice, though, I’m going to give this austerity thing a try by posting how I want to spend my money – and how I’m going to make it happen by forgoing other things.

Resolution Check-In

With 6 months down and 6 months to go in 2008, it’s time for a resolution check-in:

1. Read two books for pleasure each month.

14 books so far, including one adorable childrens’ book that bizarrely made it to our New Bookshelf at work, so I’m actually ahead of schedule. And no, this doesn’t include any of my textbooks, finished or otherwise.

2. See 12 movies in the theatre.

So far we’ve seen There Will Be Blood, Atonement, Michael Clayton, Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, and WALL-E, so I guess I’m right on track here, too. WALL-E and Michael Clayton were the best, in very different ways.

3. Take a trip west of the Mississippi (and also west of Iowa).

Not yet, but we’ve confirmed that we’ll be spending Christmas in Carlsbad. Also, I’m presenting at conferences in Denver and Monterey. This one will definitely happen.

4. Go to Bonnaroo or Coachella.

Check!

5. Put $5,000 in savings by the end of the year (sub item: and leave it there).

No comment. Paying tuition has killed me this semester.

6. Finish Couch to 5K and run a 5K.

Check! I ran the Kelley Cares 5K in early June, and plan to run more in the fall. I’d like to do a 10K next year.

7. Continue weight training and do an unassisted pull up.

Less successful on this one. I took a lot of time off from lifting this spring due to shoulder and knee problems.

8. Finish my CAS.

I’m on target to defend my thesis in the fall, however I’m going to be one credit hour short of finishing unless I take another class. If that’s all that I have left at the end of the year, I’m fine with it.

9. Get published.

So far this year I have 3 accepted conference proposals (all co-written), 1 accepted (and award winning?) co-written virtual poster, and 3-4 conference and journal submissions outstanding. Not bad!

10. Find a church.

We’ve been sporadically attending services at Del Ray United Methodist Church, which we both really like. We found it when we went there with my family on Easter.

11. Reconsider therapy and/or medication.

I tried therapy with the GW staff counselor person, but I mainly found her annoying and “let’s fix it”-y. I did go back on medication, though, and it seems to be doing a lot to even me out. I go back this week for a six month evaluation.

12. Beat SB at Zooloretto or Alhambra.

I won at Zooloretto in January, but have been soundly defeated in almost every other game since then. Between Shane and our friend Kevin, I just don’t stand a chance.

13. Finish 2007’s Bond-watching resolution.

We’ve watched two Bond movies this week, and have now made it to the ill-fated George Lazenby era. 15 to go!

new goals

New goal: no spending money on coffee and/or going out to eat for one week, beginning this morning and ending next Friday, 10 March. This will be challenging because (1) I have things going on every night between now and next Thursday, (2) I’m in the habit of buying coffee every day, and (3) I don’t have much food at my house. This will be addressed by (1) going grocery shopping on Sunday, (2) redeeming free coffee cards (I have at least three stockpiled), and (3) planning meals.

Today is Unofficial St Pat’s, and good god, the undergrads have a gorgeous day for it. I haven’t the first clue how this tradition got so entrenched into student life here, but there are hundreds of drunk kids out on Daniel and Green Streets, and I’m somewhat dreading the ride home – but glad I have my bike and so don’t have to wait for the bus at Sixth and Green, within projectile vomiting distance of Murphy’s, Brothers, and Legends.

It seems like there’s a lot of peripheral stress these days, and I’m not sure what to do about that. I’m mainly just stressed about my seeming state of inertia – I need to be moving forward on projects on which I’m just doing – nothing. Things will sort themselves out. They always do. In the meantime I have sunshine, fresh air, and Gjetost cheese to keep me happy.

How am I?

Physically? I’m kind of a mess. I’m not really eating or sleeping much. It’s not that I don’t want to – I’m tired all the time and I really do enjoy eating – but when I try to eat, I get full really quickly and nauseous if I continue to eat what I know is a normal portion. Exception to the rule seems to be chips and salsa. I try to go to bed at a decent hour – but then I either lay awake, or do this weird sleep thing where I wake up every 30-45 minutes convinced that I haven’t actually been asleep. I got 8-10 solid hours of sleep at Shawn’s Friday night, which was some kind of miracle, but today I was awake early again (thanks, people picking up yard waste).

Emotionally? Again, a mixed bag. Some days are really good, some days are really low. Some days are in between. Things seem to be mellowing out a bit with work and relationships and such, but I’m still up and down – just a little more in control. I think the biggest Agent Of Evil is boredom, really. I long for summers off, but I know it wouldn’t be a good thing for me emotionally. I’m not a workaholic, but I definitely deal better with the rest of life when I’m working.

Financially? Good, actually. Well, I spent $40 on underwear today which I probably should’ve saved, but things are pretty stable for me right now, money-wise. It’s a good feeling. I still have bills and such – but I’m on top of them, so that’s a good thing. I still owe money to my lawyer, but that’ll be paid off in a couple of weeks when I get my deposit back. Definitely still living paycheck-to-paycheck, but am hoping that’ll change a bit.

Professionally? Job sucks, but what are you going to do? There’s a couple of things on the horizon that I’m thinking about, but nothing really worth mentioning – just some changing around that might lead to opportunities worth considering. Not sure what’s up with UIUC, but I’ve made it my goal to have my GSLIS application out by early August. I’m dying to get into school, but am feeling strangely dispassionate about the whole thing right now, which means that I’ve continued to stall.

So it’s kind of a mixed bag, but I’m getting by. I’ve been reading a lot, which is good, but challenging as well. I rode my bike yesterday and today. Tonight we went out for sushi with friends, which was fun. Gambit has been quite bad lately, and his neediness is just getting to be too much. It’s looking very likely that Nate will take him back, and I think that’s probably the best thing for all of us, though I will miss my boy cat. This week I mainly work at the hospital, and it is my friends anniversary with Sarah on Sunday – ten years. Shawn and I had a nice night together Friday, and I got to wake up with him the last two days. Life is a curious thing, friends.

Need a new job need a new job need a new job

After a few weeks of gorgeous, the fall weather has returned. It’s chilly, and this morning I had to turn on my heat so I could even think about walking around in a bath towel. To think that I was wearing shorts on Friday! Ah well, spring will come ’round again soon enough. It’s been nice though – this weekend was a bit cooler than it has been, just the right temperature for snuggling down in bed with the blankets pulled up and a cup of coffee and reading – which Shawn and I did a lot of.

Last night started off kind of blah – they were bitchy about letting us go early, and I’m glad I didn’t have to take the bus cos I would’ve missed it. Somehow it doesn’t matter if they want to leave early, but if I’m running out the door cos I have somewhere to be, well, too bad. Need a new job need a new job need a new job. I’ve been looking and applying, but no bites yet.

Anyway, I was in a lousy mood when I got home, so Shawn met me at Kopi for a while. We were there about two hours, and somehow that was enough to really lift my spirits. One of Shawn’s fellow grads was there and teased us about just bringing our books as an excuse to sit at a table together – it sort of is, but we did sit there and read and do the crossword puzzle and write letters. Being together doesn’t always mean leaning on the table and staring into each other’s eyes. I got home around 10, did some dishes, and baked a blueberry crumb cake, the recipe for which I have been drooling over for a couple of weeks. It is light and airy and soo tasty. Bummed around online for a while, talked to a few people, then took a bath and crashed with Gambit, who was v nice and slept on my side for a couple of hours.

I’m rereading The Broke Diaries and feeling a little bit better about my own brokedness. Sure, I only have $6-and-change to last me until I get paid on Thursday, but I do have a job that pays me enough to pay my bills, food in my kitchen, and gas in my car. I’m not up to my eyes in debt. I did have a fun broke moment last night – I cleaned out my fridge and rearranged it so it looked really empty. For some reason that really amused me. I’m broke, but I won’t always be. I was thinking back to past financial periods and wondering how in the world I was always broke when I was living with my ex – I was making almost twice as much as I make now – PLUS his income – and yet we were still broke every week. We were paying less in rent than I pay now – our utilities were comparable, with the exception of the phone (MUCH cheaper now). I go out more now – maybe the difference is that I’m only paying for me, or only paying half the time? Or maybe I’m just used to this income level and while it’s a struggle and I need help somewhat regularly, I’m not digging myself out of as much of a hole as before. That is a BIG consolation.

good news bad news

Good news: My tax returns are done, and I’m getting $86 back from the state.
Bad news: I really do owe $1052.
Solution: Talk to my parents. My dad promised they wouldn’t leave me destitute on the street. I emailed them when I first suspected I would owe in, and now I’ve emailed them to see if they will loan me the money, to be repaid to them. I have a feeling they’ll be nicer creditors than the IRS.

Good news: I have a printer.
Bad news: I don’t have the cable that attaches the printer to the computer.
Solution: Trip to Best Buy just as soon as I finish my soup.

Good news: I got the paperwork from Nate.
Bad news: That means I have to pay the legal bills soon.
Solution: Sell my wedding rings. I was going to do this anyway, I placed the ad in the paper a couple of weeks ago, and today I’m seeing at least one person about them.

Bad news: I have bills due that I don’t have the money for, and I need groceries.
Good news: Mom sent me some money for Valentine’s Day to help with some bills and my car insurance. Breathing easy.
Double good news: Two proofreading/editing jobs in one weekend means $80 or so that I didn’t have before.

So things seem to be balancing themselves out. Something will go wrong, and then a solution will present itself. My money situation gets really tight, and proofreading work comes my way. I start stressing my relationship, and all sorts of lovely assurances come along. I am so, so blessed.