Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 20, 2011 18:09:45 GMT -5
Well, all I know is that assuming we get through this relatively unscathed, it must NEVER happen again. Like, next time we decide to move we should probably put more than 15 minutes of thought into it first.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 20, 2011 18:14:31 GMT -5
Ignorance is bliss. They seriously just don't think about it, or what could happen. Remember Dox's thread? Specifically how it seemed like she lived in a separate reality from the rest of us? That's how they cope with it.
I wouldn't mind a little trip to that fantasyland right about now...
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on May 20, 2011 18:15:56 GMT -5
Maybe you should try getting a payday loan to see what it's REALLY like for people on the edge. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) At least you have a deeper appreciation for being financially responsible, so this whole exercise wasn't completely futile. #karma#
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 20, 2011 18:21:00 GMT -5
Aw, thanks for the props AZ. I definitely have an appreciation for financial security. It borders on hero worship, actually.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on May 20, 2011 22:01:43 GMT -5
Flying is out of the question for the 650 mile roundtrip and its one I have to make at least once a month normally. There just aren't any good flights into there, its a smallish town in WV. Maybe 100k people in the whole county. I'm not even sure how many flights it would take me. I try to keep it to once a month and other times the shyt hits the fan and I don't have enough time to put out all the fires while I'm in. i don't know what I'd do without the three day weekends to go in and the Friday off while things are open.
The short story is my grandma turned 80 in January and she's needed a bit more help with things. My dad/uncle are 25 minutes away max but it gets left up to me to help with some things. That's another fight for another time. I guess I'm seen as the expert in financial/insurance/stock matters due to my degrees and job.
For the ~1000 mile roundtrip to Knoxville I seriously considered flying. Knoxville's airport is tiny (12 gates) compared to the international one I fly out of. Our major carrier does not go to Knoxville at this time and that's who all my frequent flier stuff and credits are with. They bought someone out and Knoxville is courting them but its not a done deal. I may return in August for another long weekend and will look at flying mostly bc the traffic on I-81 can be a major beyotch. Coming back took me two hours to go through a 10 mile stretch due to a wreck.
Dark yeah I know its not going to last that long if I keep wracking up 30k/year. That's almost been my exact numbers the first two years. I thought I was going to do better this year but I'm at 15k and a little over halfway through the year.
My roundtrip commute to work is about 23 miles. Living much closer isn't an option due to the quality of the neighborhood my job is in. I am looking for new places now and considering places closer. I still want to be close to shops and stuff like I am now so we will see what I find. Once place I was considering would cut my work commute to about 12 miles roundtrip.
Bottom line is yes, I drive A LOT!
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 14:32:10 GMT -5
Ugh. Had to take out a cash advance on my credit card this morning to cover a payment that WILL get taken out today, since my savings deposit won't arrive until tomorrow.
It's like a payday loan, only not... and I spent the entire morning stressing over this since DF had the credit card... thank heaven he was able to get it to me in time. I wasn't sure when the money would be taken out - we were literally within $50 of having enough to cover it. Luckily, there's plenty now.
Can you die from stress? Oh yeah... it's called a heart attack.
Did I mention I really, REALLY want it to be the end of the month now?
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on May 24, 2011 14:36:34 GMT -5
Ouch. I'm sure that stings. How much was the cash advance fee?
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midjd
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Post by midjd on May 24, 2011 14:42:04 GMT -5
Firebird, I was thinking about this thread this morning - We had terrible storms over the weekend and our power was out for about 48 hours - of course, right after I did the weekly shopping. Nothing like the smell of spoiling food in the summertime ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) We also spent $200 fixing the a/c (right before the power went out - awesome!). This is on top of DH's summer tuition, which puts us right around $3K in the hole for the month of May. The funny thing is that for the first 3 weeks of the month, I was doing SO WELL! So if it's any consolation, you're not alone. But please don't let yourself stress out too much - it's not worth it, for your health or your sanity. I know it's hard, but you are still in great financial shape, especially for someone your age! And June is coming soon ;D
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 14:47:12 GMT -5
Ouch. I'm sure that stings. How much was the cash advance fee?
I don't even want to know. Whatever it is, it's worth it to not have this particular payment bounce (it's our move-in deposit and it's already bounced once because I suck at life and wrote way too many checks this month without keeping track of them).
midwesternjd, thanks. That makes me feel better (although I feel bad for you guys!). It's nice to know I'm not the only person who makes mistakes with money. My mother, i.e. my idol in many aspects of life, admitted to me that she's bounced a check or two in her day. If she can make mistakes even though she is basically perfect, I guess it's okay for me to make some also.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on May 24, 2011 14:49:47 GMT -5
Ouch. I'm sure that stings. How much was the cash advance fee? I don't even want to know. Whatever it is, it's worth it to not have this particular payment bounce (it's our move-in deposit and it's already bounced once because I suck at life and wrote way too many checks this month without keeping track of them). midwesternjd, thanks. That makes me feel better (although I feel bad for you guys!). It's nice to know I'm not the only person who makes mistakes with money. My mother, i.e. my idol in many aspects of life, admitted to me that she's bounced a check or two in her day. If she can make mistakes even though she is basically perfect, I guess it's okay for me to make some also. Overdraft protection not an option? I bounced a couple of checks until I signed up with the CU and got it. It's ~1.00 fee if they have to use it. I think I could opt for a savings account or a CC. ETA: Oddly enough i've only used it one since
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 15:00:55 GMT -5
Overdraft protection not an option? I bounced a couple of checks until I signed up with the CU and got it. It's ~1.00 fee if they have to use it. I think I could opt for a savings account or a CC.
Definitely signing up for that now. I've never needed it before. Remember, this is the month DF and I combined finances. That caused a bunch of large wrinkles in my normally smooth handling of money. It was not a good idea to try and do that the same month we moved and had a ton of irregular expenses.
But yes, I'll make sure to put at least a $500 buffer in the overdraft account once everything has settled down.
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dividend
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Post by dividend on May 24, 2011 15:02:24 GMT -5
Firebird, I don't understand why, if you have a good chunk in savings, you run so tight in your checking account. I keep an extra $1k (I consider it part of my emergency fund) stashed there, hidden in my spreadsheet. I also don't understand why you run so many things through your checking account directly, instead of through rewards credit cards. That smooths the cashflow SO much. In your situation, I'd charge the expenses I need, dip into that extra $1k if I had to, and have time to transfer money before the credit cards statement was due. And if you and DF shared a CC (paid off in full each month), then his purchases would NOT be able to overdraft the account.
To be clear, I'm not advocating getting into credit card debt - just using them as a cashflow too. Because, maybe I'm missing something in your situation, but it seems like you guys could have managed your cashflow a little better and avoided this situation.
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on May 24, 2011 15:03:41 GMT -5
It's nice to know I'm not the only person who makes mistakes with money.Oh we've all been there before. I remember the first time I had to carry a credit card balance (the water heater broke at my parents' house while I was still living there, and my parents were out of the country), it was a horrible feeling not being able to pay off the bill that month because I was just starting my career and not making a whole lot. I swore not to pay excessive CC interest and fees again, and I'm sure you'll make sure this never happens again either. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on May 24, 2011 15:05:36 GMT -5
dividend, Firebird answered the CC question on post #57. Her DF was supposed to use the credit cards, but failed to. And they're combining their finances, so these things happen. I'm sure it won't be a regular occurrence.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on May 24, 2011 15:08:07 GMT -5
Overdraft protection not an option? I bounced a couple of checks until I signed up with the CU and got it. It's ~1.00 fee if they have to use it. I think I could opt for a savings account or a CC. Definitely signing up for that now. I've never needed it before. Remember, this is the month DF and I combined finances. That caused a bunch of large wrinkles in my normally smooth handling of money. It was not a good idea to try and do that the same month we moved and had a ton of irregular expenses. But yes, I'll make sure to put at least a $500 buffer in the overdraft account once everything has settled down. I wasn't trying to say you were being irresponsible. I just think that overdraft protection is a good thing ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) I think your $500 buffer would be good, since you sound like me and keep enough money to cover the checks in the account. The couple of times i got hit with the fee was because I had transfered $$ from savings, but it hadn't deposited when they drew the check ETA: this was prior to me having my rewards cards ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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ontrack
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Post by ontrack on May 24, 2011 15:15:00 GMT -5
Firebird, I'm definitely feeling your pain. I've had to make a bunch of deposits on wedding stuff this month (photog, caterer, full dress cost) and I'm stressing about my savings dipping. We're also hoping to move to a bigger place right before our wedding in October, and I'm hoping deposits and moving costs don't wipe out what's left in savings.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 15:19:14 GMT -5
I wasn't trying to say you were being irresponsible. I just think that overdraft protection is a good thing
Oh, I didn't take it badly, no worries ;D
And dividend, you're exactly right. I'm actually paying as many of our bills through my credit card as I can, to rack up a lot of reward points before our honeymoon in November. We already have two round-trip flights; if I keep going, I can probably get us a hotel for free also.
And like azphx said, DF was supposed to be using the credit card but he didn't - he had just gotten his paycheck direct deposited into my account and wanted to use that money instead, because he hates spending "my" money. It will take awhile for that joint thing to sink in, I suppose ;D
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 15:22:50 GMT -5
Firebird, I'm definitely feeling your pain. I've had to make a bunch of deposits on wedding stuff this month (photog, caterer, full dress cost) and I'm stressing about my savings dipping. We're also hoping to move to a bigger place right before our wedding in October, and I'm hoping deposits and moving costs don't wipe out what's left in savings.
The funny thing about wedding savings is that we CAN afford this. I started a thread or two about how I was pretty sure I could save $10k before October, and BARRING CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, I definitely could have. The part no one tells you is that you have to start putting down serious deposits right away, so you need to make sure to have plenty of CASH ON HAND at the START of your wedding planning, not the end.
Oops.
My deposits were fairly spaced out so it's been okay so far - or at least, it would have been okay if we hadn't moved. That threw everything off.
Basically, this month has just been a clusterfuck. I could have handled moving, combining finances with DF, putting down money for my certification, buying the cat, and extra wedding deposits - but not all five at once without a serious shitstorm. Hence my current situation.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 24, 2011 16:03:40 GMT -5
*hugs* Sometimes we all get a little behind in planning. I paid taxes and a few other high cost items in April (all planned and money in savings for them) but went "hey, I'm getting 3 paychecks this month, I can do this all without pulling money out of savings" And if I stopped my budget planning on April 30, that was true. The problem was that we had a bill due May 4, and no new money coming in until May 6. It served as my reminder that I need to budget 2-3 months out at all times. And this month I am pulling money from savings- not as much as we spent on planned/saved for expenses last month, but I'm having to remind myself that we did save for this and its okay to use the money.
So, deep breaths. You'll get through this.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 24, 2011 18:03:24 GMT -5
Weren't you the one who told me that I was always going to be okay with money because I worried too much?
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 25, 2011 9:54:40 GMT -5
And despite a few hiccups, you are still okay with money. You worry enough, and pay attention enough that what could have resulted in overdraft or additional bounced check fees instead is resulting in a much smaller cash advance fee. And next month, when you're back on track, and you and DF are more used to this combined finance thing, it will get better. There will still be hiccups. There always are when two people use an account, but you'll figure it out.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 25, 2011 9:57:19 GMT -5
If I add DF to my checking account and credit card, does he get his own cards or does he have to use mine? Random question I know...
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midjd
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Post by midjd on May 25, 2011 10:00:19 GMT -5
I think you have the option of ordering a second card... not sure they do it automatically (may depend on the bank). They did automatically put both names on the checks when I reordered them.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 25, 2011 10:12:30 GMT -5
On the checking account, they should automatically give him his own card when he's added. As for credit cards, the only way I know of to add a person to the account is to order them their own card.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2011 10:30:07 GMT -5
Add in the joy of moving along with the expenses that come with it and the next month or so will be brutal especially as like you I have to start studying for level II of the certification exam I'm taking. ME TOO! I convinced myself I could do this but the next four months are going to be seriously brutal. Between studying for the certification exam, planning the wedding, working out like a fiend, and doing my actual job on occasion, I'll be pretty swamped. No time to spend money, I suppose... You'll get through it, I did! I took my coding exam on a Saturday and left for my Vegas wedding 3 days later. Sure the previous 6 months were hectic but I got it all done (and I like to think it prepared me for living life with kids ;D). And I got my first ticket the year after (clean driving record as well). They reduced it to a parking ticket with no points. Cost me $100 bucks though. ![>:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png)
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cael
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Post by cael on May 25, 2011 10:34:58 GMT -5
Firebird it'll look up, happens to all of us! We're paying for wedding stuff, preparing for DF to be laid off in August, and just got hit with a $600 dentist bill and a $280 plumbing bill so I feel your pain ![:-/](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/undecided.png) and my EF is only a grand!!! ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ::hides from YM flames::
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on May 25, 2011 10:37:04 GMT -5
I think you have the option of ordering a second card... not sure they do it automatically (may depend on the bank). They did automatically put both names on the checks when I reordered them. Our bank recently shifted to giving DH and I cards with different pins, so that if one of us loses or has a card stolen the other still works. I'm not sure if the cards have different numbers or not. I'll have to check tonight.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on May 25, 2011 19:06:37 GMT -5
If I add DF to my checking account and credit card, does he get his own cards or does he have to use mine? Random question I know... For your credit card, just log in to your online account and do "Add an authorized user." I added my husband online, just needed his birthday and SSN. Then his card arrived in the mail I think 5-7 business days later.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on May 27, 2011 12:55:34 GMT -5
So after that very stressful morning when I frantically tried to transfer the cash in time for the charge to clear... turned out it was all for nothing. They had already tried to take out the cash - on FRIDAY, when the money wasn't there - resulting in overdraft #2. They didn't bother to let me know until today, a whole week after the fact. That's why I kept looking at my account and not seeing the debit. I'm mad, but also kind of over it. It is what it is. I've spoken to the manager and she knows what's going on, so I'll get a certified check from the bank today and bring it down tomorrow. Then I'll pay the remainder of the balance on Tuesday after I get paid. It's just so incredibly annoying. I'M GOOD WITH MONEY THESE THINGS SHOULDN'T HAPPEN TO ME, POOR ME, VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES BLAHBLAH ![:'(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/cry.png) /sarcasm.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on May 28, 2011 2:31:00 GMT -5
My husband is going to get a ticket for running a red light pretty soon. He treats the yellow as a "speed up" light and gets caught with it turning red lots of times. Pisses me off. ![](http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/images/emoticons/angry_smile.gif) He'd better especially be careful now that the scameras are popping up everywhere- they put those things in, and in almost every case, they shorten the yellow light which generates more revenue, or on the flip side- causes more accidents as drivers are trained over time to slam on the brakes at the first glimmer of yellow.
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