I received a financial shock this morning. I've been the primary money-handler for quite a while now and thus far, my wife and I have been on solid ground without need of fear or anxiety in terms of what we spend and where. Confident in my bookkeeping, I checked our account online today to verify we were in good financial standing. Turns out we weren't.
We switched banks recently and as it happens, many of our bills come out earlier in the month than they used to. Also IPL double-charged us since the changeover withheld August for some reason. Also our insurance premiums went up in the grand tradition of insurance premiums the world over. Also I purchased a new camera lens for my wife. The list of "also's" goes on for a long time and I needn't bore anyone with the details. Suffice to say, we'd allowed the new financial institution situation combined with runaway spending to place us in jeopardy. Again, no details to be shared, but the dollar figure in our checking account was far lower than I am comfortable with.
That being said, changes are now necessary to prevent further trouble. Speaking to my wife, we have resolved on the following:
* Eliminate unnecessary spending. Games, movies, other entertainment are all on hold until later. Halloween this year is also on the chopping block, though we might be out of hoc by then.
* Eliminate unnecessary driving. If we don't absolutely need to go somewhere, we won't. Fuel is too expensive.
* No eating out. Again, too expensive.
In short, Depression-era living. This happens to even the best of us from time to time, or so I've been told, and because that is true I am not worried. I do, however, feel guilt.
You see, I've poked, prodded, pushed, begged, pleaded, cried, and generally made a supplicant spectacle out of myself with my friend Josh for months in an effort to get him to play City of Heroes with me. He finally bent and spent the money. Now I am being forced to shut my service down, effectively screwing him out of about $40. Josh, I am so sorry. I'll get back in the game as soon as I can, or I'll pay you back somehow. My account doesn't officially close until later, though; we can still play for as long as we both are paid up. I'll happily enjoy the time left with you if you wish.
(I don't know if you even read this thing anymore, but I know your wife does. Randi, be a doll and pass the word if he hasn't gotten it yet, would you?)
Anyway... here's to lean living. Wish us luck; we're going to need it.
5 comments:
I wouldn't feel too bad. We're in a transition period. Switching banks and going totally paperless was a big move.
I figured a few bills would double and I knew for sure our schedule would change.
Thankfully, I'm all for finding cheap/free entertainment. We both have a backlog of console games to catch up on. And eating out just makes us both sick.
So now let's add a student loan, yeah? XD
I know this stuff really isn't up for debate, that's not what I'm looking for.
I'm confused though, on a few points. How did switching banks and going paperless cause a set back now? How do your bills come our earlier than they used to?
I ask because we are thinking of possibly moving away from our brick and mortar bank for our primary banking, and wondering what to plan for. Most of our finances are with online banks already, but our primary bill paying is with a bank down the street. Most of that is online as well, but I still have to write a check or two a month.
Well, the light bill didn't "take" right away, so they double charged us. That's because we went paperless.
My point is, I expected at least one company to screw up something administrative. In this case, it was due to going paperless with IPL. They were our last "paper" bill. Because we went paperless, our due date changed too, I believe.
Secondly, it was a matter of our two particular banks. Chase electronically submitted automatic payments from our account (like the cars, etc.). E*TRADE mails a physical check. Because that takes longer, we had to push our payments to earlier in the month.
I expected the next few months to be rough until we can figure out the flow of our income. It's no biggie, but it's a little scary. :)
For clarity, Chase was able to do electronic transfer to other banks because they are set up for that. eTrade banking seems to be migrating to that way of doing business, but of course they are not as well connected as a huge chain like Chase.
I'm not sure what all is involved, I just know that whenever we move money between banks it takes longer with eTrade.
So, are they then taking the money out when they send out payment? That sounds a little fishy to me if they are.
Our bank does both sending out checks and electronic payments. I did a few of the electronic checks, but it takes 10 days to deliver. During those times, the money never came out before the specified payment date. Now I just mail the check because it takes only 2 days to get there.
We've gone paperless on almost all of our bills and never had the payment date change. How weird. Guess I'm glad that we're not using IPL?
Good Luck
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