- How to Stick to a Budget
- For a Budget That Works, Get Control of Your Debt
- What Do Average Families Spend?
- Balancing Your Budget in the Big City
- Income Dropped? Expenses Have to Drop, Too
- How to Beat "Frugal Fatigue"
- Fast Ways to Cut Cable, Cell Bills
- What to Do with an Extra $5,000 a Month
- Planning a Family? How to Prepare Financially
- Facing a Layoff? Rule #1: Conserve Cash
- Living Paycheck to Paycheck? Knock It Off
- Why Your Budget Doesn't Work
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Living Paycheck to Paycheck? Knock It Off
Q: Like many Americans, I often must scramble to make ends meet between paychecks. I vigilantly monitor my account online, and when my balance is getting low, I curb my expenses as best I can.
Recently, I have had an overdraft experience that leaves me wondering about ethics and legalities. It was three days from payday, and I had about $45 in my account.
I made four purchases less than $10. Then a $54 automatic payment came through that I could not reschedule. One would think I would then be charged one overdraft fee, as all of the previous purchases made were within my available funds at the time.
I logged in today to find that the bank had cleared the largest transaction first, which threw all other small transactions into overdraft. I was charged five overdraft fees because of this rearrangement of clearance order. I talked to a customer service manager, who said that nothing could be done.
Essentially, it appears that the bank is manipulating transactions to capitalize on overdraft fees. This strikes me as unethical, and I wonder, do I have any rights in this situation? Aside from getting a better job and making more money, what can I do to protect myself?
A: Of course the bank is manipulating your transactions to increase its fees. Most banks do. Lawmakers and regulators have questioned the practice, but so far, it’s not illegal.
What you can do to protect yourself is to stop living paycheck to paycheck. That may sound like a flip answer when you’re on the financial edge, but you’ll never get ahead as long as a $54 overdraft can throw your finances into chaos.
Having just a $500 cushion in the bank can reduce not just bounced-check fees, but also worry, sleeplessness, and lost productivity at work, according to a savings review by Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.
How do you get a cushion? Try a “no spending” month. Limit your purchases to true essentials. Eat out of your cupboards instead of at restaurants. Entertain yourself at home or at the library. Most people can raise at least a couple hundred dollars this way, which you could supplement by having a yard sale and selling unneeded items online.
If you want more ideas, consult one of the many frugal-living Web sites; start with one of the oldest, the Dollar Stretcher, at www.stretcher.com.
You also need to limit the bank’s ability to swamp you with “gotcha” fees.
First, sign up for true overdraft protection. You may be enrolled in an inferior substitute, called “bounce protection” or “courtesy overdraft.” These programs allow the banks to approve overlimit transactions and charge you $30 or more for each one.
True overdraft, by contrast, links your checking account to another of your own accounts, typically a savings account, line of credit, or credit card. If your transaction exceeds your balance, the money is drawn from one of these accounts. You’ll pay an annual fee of around $50 and possibly a fee of $10 per transaction, but the costs for making a mistake will be substantially lower than under bounce protection.
If the bank won’t approve you for true overdraft, tell it to stop approving overlimit transactions.