how much have you spent in nsf fees last year

I have overdraft protection and my bank waives the $34.00 overdraft fee once a year. So I am very careful so far so good not having to use it.

I don't bounce checks or spend more then is in my account. I have not had any NSF fees in the last year.

Other then pdl's doing unauthorized charges, or a like situation, there is really no good reason to overdraw your bank account.

never had them till I took out pdl's

the reason I posted this question was that Amaranth has a post on here where she is being charged 560.00 in overdraft fees in a period of 2 days.

Those bank overdrafts can add up fast! Just say you had 5 checks bounce or returned at $35 a pop, that comes to $175, so the more checks that this happens to.... bad part is, once a couple of those fees hit, it lowers the amount in your account and until you get the notice, you may not be aware of it and then more checks hit and the cycle continues. It can get to be a big mess! Been there done that

Zero for me!

yeah they say it is overdraft "protection" however, it actually ends up being a bad thing. That and PDLs are the ENEMY

I have had $0 in overdraft fees in the last year, because I ceased using a checking account after the PDL fiasco nearly 2 years ago. I've managed to get by just fine without one, by paying my bills online with a prepaid debit card and having my payroll direct deposited either to the debit card or to my savings account.

No monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and no having to balance the account.

I carried over draft protection at one time linked to a unsecured line of credit.It costs me nothing to link and only 9.9% interest if I wanted to revolve a balance.It is all in how you sit down & chew the fat with a banker. :lol:

exactly cajun!
if anyone owes pdl's they should close account
when you have new account don't spend more than you have in there and overdraft fees will not occur..
most people with low credit score only have a $1,000 overdraft fee
after that ....everything bounces

I had one this year and it was because that DARN
ATM let me take out more money then what was in the account.
What happened to the days when the ATM would tell you to choose a different amount?

I'll fess up here and say, yes, I have overdrawn. Even though I DO have overdraft protection, I still receive NSF charges. And yes, there was a VERY good reason for it. It happens to the best of us at times, and there is no shame in it, unless you are purposely overdrawing your account for frivolous reasons. :wink:

Hey, how would a person get a prepaid debit card???

lmale - go to any WalMart, RiteAid or Walgreens - they all sell them. It's called Green Dot Network, and you can load pretty much any amount on them.

It's around $10 purchase the card, I think (might be more now, it's been 2 years since I bought one, need to get another since mine is expiring this month), and then it's $4.95 for each time you load money onto it. However, you can have your payroll direct deposited to the card at no charge. There is a small monthly fee for using the card as well. The way I see it, those fees are minor compared to the $25 to $35 a bank charges for EVERY overdraft...and some banks have a daily fee for every day you are overdrafted, in addition to the overdraft fee itself! (My old bank was $5 per day, plus the overdraft fee of $25 per check.)

The cards are good for 2 years, and are accepted anywhere Mastercard or Visa are accepted (depending on which card you get). I use mine for grocery shopping, online bill paying, etc. It can be used the same way any debit or credit card can be.

Can you set up automatic drafts monthly like for car insurance or that type of bill?

I have had 0 I try to keep my check book updated everytime any money goes out so that I don't have to worry about overdraft fees. I'm honestly not even sure what my bank charges but I'm sure it's a lot and I don't want to have to find out.


Johnita

lmale - yes, you can use a prepaid debit card for montly recurring payments like insurance, but you need to be very careful that the money is on the card when it's time for the payment to come out - or your insurance could get cancelled.

I use mine for everything from paying bills to buying groceries.

I haven't had an NSF since 2003 ... and that was because I forgot about an electronic payment going through and I ended up bouncing my rent check. It was embarassing too because my landlord was also my boss. :oops:

Sue- I think you've got a good plan there --- but the only reservation I have is that in the case of unauthorized transactions, your money is gone until Green Dot performs an investigation and puts the money back on your card, which could be 14-30 days later (that could be a long time to wait if you need the money yesterday). With credit cards at least, if there is an unauthroized transaction, you simply dispute it and don't pay it -- ie your money is not actually tied up anywhere and you're not waiting to get it back.

For the last couple years or so I have been making almost all my purchases on my credit card -- then every month I pay the credit card off (no interest). The other thing I like about my Citi credit card, is that they have virtual (one-time use) credit card numbers ... Suppose I want to buy something online -- I go to the Citi website, generate a virtual card number, then pay whoever using the virtual number. That virtual number only works once, and so if the merchant ever tries to bill again or if it falls into the wrong hands, it will get declined the next time someone tries to use it.

Sue here's another idea for you ... I look at the fees that you say Green Dot charges and I'm the kind of person that tries to pay NO fees at all ... so how would I get around that?? Well, my bank (TCF) will do FREE Visa Gift Cards. They take $X.xx out of your bank account, and put it on a Visa card, and that card works until there's no money left on it (it's not a debit card associated with your checking account, so you can't spend what's not on it). Best of all, it's FREE.

Maybe you could open just a savings account at a bank that gives free Gift cards, have your payroll direct deposited into the savings, then load up the gift card every so often ... and then you wouldn't have to pay any fees at all.

Back to the actual question...

Certain loans we do (like home equity), we require the customer to have a certain amount of funds in their bank account. We require a copy of a bank statement to verify the funds....

In all the bank statements I see from various customers, I will say that 85% have at least one NSF charge. Probably 33% have at least 4 NSF/Overdrafts on it. A couple weeks ago a lady came in who had over $650 in NSF charges just for one month. My jaw dropped when I seen that ... that is almost a whole paycheck in itself!

Good ideas there, DebtCruncher, thanks!

I never had any really until recently. I had two checks bounce but it was for a good reason that i had no control over. other than that, i had problems a couple of years ago with NSF and payday loans. My account was negative $300 or so and it was horrible. (my stomach is in knots right now because i'm scared this will happen again and there is nothing i can do about it..)

I haven't had any recently but 2 years ago a postdated check got through before I thought it would, and I had used my debit card 17 times over the weekend. They were all smaller charges (from under a dollar to about $15) and I got hit with $34.00 for EACH ONE ... to say I was upset would be an understatement!

Lesson Learned: Do not EVER write a check unless the money is in the account, even if you post date it!

i love all