Robert
Irvine,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, February 01, 2012
You don't seem quite comprehend the concept of "PENDING". Pending means you have SPENT the money and it is treated as no longer available. The same thing goes for when you write a check. The second you write the check you have to treat that money as gone. It appears you were trying to "float" funds and have found out that there is really no "float" anymore.
My guess is that you do not use a Written Register and instead rely on On-Line/ATM/Phone banking to tell you how much you have. The problem with that is that the bank does not know what you have spent until they receive it. So if you write checks, or use your Debit Card the bank won't know you spent the money until they receive it from the merchant. This is why you need to use a Written Register. Because as soon as you write the check or use your Debit Card you can write it down and know your current available balance. If you don't know how to use a register then go into your bank and they will be happy to show you.
One other thing, a little over a year ago the regulations changed and the banks were required to have you "opt-in" to Overdraft Protection on your Debit Card. So I would suggest you immediately go to your bank and make sure you Opt-out. Once you opt-out if you do not have enough money currently available when you attempt to use your debit card at a Point of Sale or ATM it will be declined. Now, this does not apply to ACH or Checks as the bank still has the option to pay the check or return it unpaid..but in both cases they will charge you a fee. Which is why a written register is very important.
Oh and while I really don't want to get into what you are spending your money on. In just the sample you provided you have over $200 in Restaurants in a couple of days. Now that is not bad in itself if you can afford it. But it also appears that you are paying only minimum payments on your credit cards and have a Payday loan. So perhaps in addition to start using a register, you may want to think about working on a budget.
Ashley
springfield,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, February 01, 2012
It looks like you need to learn to balance your checkbook.
Let's pick this apart:
" 1/27/2012 PU OUTBACK #1087 ($95.87) "
You quote this as the price you spent at outback. Clearly this is without your tip, which is always added later at a resturant.
" 01/30/2012 CARD OUTBACK 1087 5812 $115.87 "
So there's a 20$ discrepency, you forgot that you tipped. The same thing happened at IHOP:
" IHOP 36 089 ($65.29)"
"IHOP #36-89 5812 $75.29"
So I just found $30 that you forgot you spent. There's also an entry for Shell Gas for $40.01 over the weekend, did you remember getting gas too? I'm already up to $70.01 of the $79.47 you claimed to have left. Now did you notice that you had some bill autoparys come through? HSBC for $30 and a Mycashloan.com for $135.93
By my napkin math you are $156.47 in the hole before overdraft and insufficient funds fees hit you. Now you just show the transactions you made on 1/27. What transactions were made on 1/28 and 1/29? You do realize that banks do not process transactions on saturdays or sundays correct? So any transactions you make on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will all process on monday. Banks also do not process them in the order they come in, they process them from largest to smallest transaction per your contract with them. They do this under the assumption that you want the large transactions to clear first over the small ones.
I don't see anything in this report about where the bank is screwing you, i just see where you cannot balance your checkbook. Never go by an online bank register for your balance, it doesnt always show pending transactions, Always use a paper register and balance your checkbook so that you know your balance.