Money and Finance

[batmom]

Miss Marple, to avoid future glitches like this, have you considered online banking? Then you can transfer the money over without worrying about the efficiency of the post office.

[sleepy]

I was just about to post exactly that. Online banking rocks, and it's much faster and easier than writing out checks by hand. Most banks offer it for free. Some do charge, but not a lot.

Another option is to pay on the credit card's website or over the phone. I've done that when <ahem> someone <ahem> forgets to pay his bills.

[Deleted]

I'm back again.

Well, this morning I decided to call Mastercard. I told my story to the Customer Service Agent (I never get angry with them - the problem is not their fault, after all) and to make a long story short, she removed the late charge and the finance charges. She pulled up a copy of my check and could see the date of it to see that I was telling the truth. She told me, though, that they didn't receive it until 12 days afterward. I'm glad the charges are gone, but still can't believe it took 12 DAYS!

Thanks to those who suggested various forms of online banking. I have considered them. However, as someone who has years experience working with computers, I know too much of the problems that can happen.

I remember years ago at work when as I was having my check directly deposited into my bank account, there was a glitch in the system. Believe it or not, the system deposited everyone's check TWICE. On the surface, that sounds great. The error was discovered right away, though and the second deposit was removed.

It was then that I realized that by giving them the right to put money into my account, they then had the right to take money OUT of my account too. I found it unnerving.

I suppose at some point I will give up and use online banking, but when I do I will have a single specific account used for bill paying only. It will NOT contain any other money at all.

Having worked with software and seen all the mistakes that software contains, not to mention the carelessness of many software developers, well... let's just say that I'm pretty careful.

Splendagirl Yes, I admit I am organized. In fact, I'm more organized than the credit card companies, sometimes. On at least 2 occasions, I had receipts for items I purchased that they never billed me for! Not only that, (I don't want to shock you...) but I keep cash receipts too. I use those small white envelopes (very cheap) - one for each month and put my cash receipts in them. It's a cheap way to organize and store receipts and if I have to return something, even weeks later, I'm ready.

[topher]

I have been burned by online banking a couple of times. For some reason, Chase wouldn't release my money and made me miss my due date by 24 hours.

[celebrityfly]

missmarple said:

I just do NOT believe that it took this long for the payment to be processed.

Has anyone else had a simliar experience?

Oh yes, I live in the New Orleans area. Half our bills still don't arrive every month so we have to look them up online to find out what we owe. We now send everything electronically because there is no guarantee that the mail is going to get it there. It's pathetically slow here and neither we nor our office flooded.

Now here is a strange case, I called to remove caller ID from our phone. They told me it would be a charge of 9.95 to remove the feature! Then they said since I have the 3 in one bundle for cable/internet/phone that by removing the 10.00 caller ID charge that my cable bill would go up by 12.00 as a result of the bundle changes. In the end we got rid of the phone altogether. Even thought the basic line was under 10.00 all the charges and fees brought the bill up to 30.00 every month.

[laconicchick]

celebrityfly just reminded me how much I love Shaw Phone. I will never go back to Telus again! Unless I have to move and have no choice. So many fees! They charged me $100 to hook up a phone line in a dorm room that was 10 years old. They said no one had ever had a phone there before. Right.

[hamhock]

can anyone recommend a decent bank? I've heard good things about Washington Mutual....

[bklynred]

I've heard good things about WashMu too, hamhock. I'm with Chase, but only out of laziness. It's average service at best, and they barrage me with credit card offers constantly--borderline harrassment.

Is it true that you shouldn't do those online mortgage pre-approval applications--that every time you submit one it's reflected on your credit report?

[mrpancake]

I used to have an account at WAMU, and the only reason I switched to BofA is because I don't have a WAMU within 50 miles at college. I absolutely loathe Bank of America and I loved WAMU, for whatever that's worth.

[starskin]

This is education related. So far I've been very lucky where debt is concerned *knock on wood*. I escaped my $38k a year college with only $10k in debt. I don't have credit card debt or the like *knocks on wood again*. I'm going to have to finance my Masters with loans, since apparently they don't like to give money to US students who go overseas. Anyway, that'll put me up to a total of $25k in debt which STILL isn't bad for a Masters (though it is still a scary thought).

The only problem is that I have to move to the UK, which has very strict rules about non-EU residents living there. Basically, in order for them to let me into the country and give me a job, I have to prove that I don't need a job. In other words, I have to have a year's worth of money before they'll let me in. Now, with my loan coming in and the money I'm making for work, I'll have a little over half that, but my visa application process is coming up really soon. And my family aren't going to help me because well----a lot of them are unemployed or under employed, and those with money don't support this endevour of mine.

What I'm wondering is if I should take out a personal loan of a few thousand dollars so that when the UK embassy looks at my finances, they'll find them to be satisfactory, and then once I have a job, pay back the bank for my personal loan.

Is this a good idea or not? I'm the fartherst thing from a financial wonder, so I'm confused. I just want everything to go smoothly with this, because I have been wanting to do it for so long.

Anyway. That's my sob story, folks.