Bank Card Fees

If you are someone who constantly overdraws their checking account and has to pay these fees then maybe it isn't practical for you to have an account like this.

One alternative is to have a home safe and keep everything in cash there. If you have to pay a bill or bills you go to the post office or bank and buy a money order or bank draft for the amount. I know this is inconvenient but would you rather be charged 36 dollars or more each time you bounce something?

One lesson about those people who become wealthy and stay wealthy. They don't bounce checks or checking accounts(at least those who make the money as opposed to those who spend it). They always pay off their American Express cards monthly to avoid (ANY interest payments at all on anything). And if they are paying interest it is in buying and expensive car or house or other property and almost never for anything else. If you have money you don't keep it paying interest unless there IS no other choice and usually there are many choices, people just don't usually look for them unless they are middle class or above in wealth.

In the 1980s I looked at my parents having to borrow money so they could retire. I thought that was awful in 1980 when my Dad and Mom retired. My Dad made good money and we always had everything we needed because Mom believed she could have anything for $% or 10 dollars a month. I remember my mother after Dad was gone leasing a gold Honda Accord. I had just bought her another new Honda but she traded it in on a lease. They took her coming and going. Then when the lease was done she bought the gold Honda. So Basically, at this point she had paid for it three times over. I told her not to do it but she never listened to me about money. (She really didn't listen to Dad about money either).

All these occurrences made me decide to not have any credit cards, except one for emergency. That one for emergency we used once for $500 dollars. We then made minimum payments for one year. We still owed over 500 dollars. At that point I realized just how evil credit cards are and cut my last one up and paid it off and didn't get another credit card for about 10 years until I was going through a divorce.

Just remember there are many alternatives to being gouged by bounced check fees by your local bank. One of them is giving up your checking account and buying your own home safe. If you can keep your spending under your limit you could keep your credit cards but these days if you spend cash and your safe is empty, it is realistic to know when you are out of money. If you spend someone else's money through credit you are paying through the nose.

The number one thing that keeps people from moving forward in their lives financially is credit card debt and interest debt. A house is only an asset if it's paid for otherwise it is a liability. Just look at the last two years.