Well the wife has ended up with $250 in overdraft fees because a check she deposited bounced and she didn't know until today. Right after she deposited the $70 check she went out and bought stuff, and every check or charge she made, she was charged a $30 overdraft fee. Some charges she made were as little as $2, but the bank charged her $30 anyway.

The guy agreed to repay her the original $70, and told her to send him the overdraft charges, but I doubt he would pay them as well. Is he even responsible for the overdraft fees?

We have seperate bank accounts. And I could easily pay the $250 in penalties for her. But would you? I have told her many times in the past don't spend money that is not there yet.

I may eventually end up having to pay the money anyway, but should I go ahead and pay the $250 or wait to see if this guy pays her for the overdraft charges. the bank said she has to repay that money in 40 days.

 

Well, it's actually illegal to right bad checks. Look up the penalties for your state. Then let him know and see if he will buck up for the charges.

 

........ you should... have her invest in a credit card???

 

i would talk to the bank maybe they can do something to the guy...otherwise if this is her first overdraft she might be able to get them refunded.

 

i dont know, i mean if she spent the money, and was just being careless and wasnt paying attention to her balance, thats one thing.

But if she was under the impression she had money.. thats different

my bank will automatically put the money in your account before you leave and show you the balance.. now i go out and spend money and later the check bounces, well fuck im screwed.

 

1. go into bank
2. walk to teller/attendent
3. find out information for overdraft protection service
4. find pen
6. enroll wife.

 

Are you fucking retarded...she can't keep track of her funds now...so give her a line of credit?

Thats a great idea, I'll file that with right along with humping the insides of an iron maiden...

 

Actually...Thinking you have the money goes hand in hand with not paying attention to your balance...

 

And yeah...get her overdraft protection...but make sure she knows how to balance her fucking checkbook.

 

And if the dudes check bounced..which is what it sounds like, because a $70 check should have cleared instantly...assuming she has been banking with that branch for awhile...So, if the check bounced...I'd hold him responsible for all fees.

 

hold him responsible for the fees, and smack her for writing a check for $2.

 

and...how the hell can she not cover $2? Maybe you should tell her to get a job first.

 

Well.

If the check bounced it did so AFTER she was told her balance. Im assuming the teller didnt put a hold on the check so she had the funds to play around. So she COULDNT have known.

That being said.

If I have $0 in my account...deposit a PERSONAL check for $300 in my account. You better believe Im waiting at least a week before going on a spending spree with it. Especially with no backup money in Savings.

Id pay it for her, school her on the art of getting checks from weirdos cashed at their banks, then have her open a line of credit with the bank (usually only $500) of overdraft protection.

 

that's another story!

 

hah I ment that sarcastically, no need to be a dick about it.

 

Then, type it in red...red = sarcasm...

Asking me not to be a dick about things, is like asking a stripper not to take her clothes off...

 

What bank do u use?

 

who still writes checks?

 

Come on!! it's The Sarlacc, sarcasm is expected.


"It's like calling double dribble on a retarded kid, you just gotta let some shit slide"

-Chris Rock

 

Actually the credit card might not be so bad of an idea. Just find one with a very low limit, say $200...

 

Thanks for all of your suggestions! Maybe this will teach her not to spend money on a check that hasn't cleared yet. The good news is that the guy agreed to pay all of her overdraft charges, as well as the original check of his that bounced. Hopefully this time she'll wait till it clears first!

 

she better, or i would pull out the pimp smack

 

Why was she out writing checks right after a deposit like that anyway? Even if I just deposited CASH I always make sure that everything went through and my online statement refelcts the deposit before I start making purchase. The story might be different if we were talking about a $30,000 check from a bank, but I can't imagine anything that she would need to buy that couldn't wait until she made sure a $70 check cleared and went through. That isn't to say that the guy isn't at fault for writing a bad check to begin with, but IMHO people should take it upon themselves to go the extra mile

 

the guy should pay her the bounced check charge ($10 or $20) since that is the damage he caused her.

the guy should not be responsible for the overdraft charges, since those are your wifes fault. Its not the guy's fault that your wife is either uneducated about the check clearing process or choose not to wait for it to clear before spending the money.

lesson learned: don't spend money unless you're sure you have it.
Try to talk the bank out of most/all of the charges, but if they don't have your wife pay up. whether you pay for her or not is inconsequential, the important thing would be to make sure she learns a lesson in keeping good financial habits.

 

as I see it, first go into the Bank and speak with the Bank Manager. Then your other alternative is small claims court.

 

her problem wasn't balancing her checkbook??

 

Read what wrote again...if she doesnt know how to balance her account (and I'll bet money the word reconcile account makes her go "huh") then having over draft is just a pointless safety net.

So go that.

 

I recently had to deal with someone writing me a pretty big check that bounced. I trusted this person as she had written me checks in the past with no problems. I've been banking with Citibank for years now and every time I deposit a check it's available right away.

I bought a few things relying on this check and found that I was charged about the same amount in overdraft fees. The lady who wrote me the check apologized and we fixed the issue. But, I later signed up for overdraft protection because those fees got crazy.

I'll never rely on a check again without it clearing. If it's over my overdraft protection amount, sorry, I'm waiting.

 

Or if the bank is in town, go to the bank with a photo id and come out with cash.

I did that with a $6,000 check and had no problems with BOA. Paid some ridiculous amount of money for a money order, though. I wasnt walking around with 6 grand in my pocket.

Then you have no worries about anything bouncing.

 

Well it appears that this is not over. Eventhough the guy agreed to pay her the original $70 and the $280 in overdraft charges. It appears that she had even MORE things she bought that she just found out today. It would be wrong of her to ask the guy to pay for that too, as he was already more than gracious to pay for her overdraft on the other stuff. Now it appears I still am going to have to pay for the overdraft charges the guy didn't cover. I also have to pay some of her bills for a while.

All this because she didn't WAIT for the check to clear before she started buying shit. WTF? Time for her to get a JOB I think.

 

Over $400 in overdraft charges! She said the sheet she faxed to the guy didn't have all of her overdraft items on there. WHY DIDN"T SHE CHECK IT BEFORE SHE FAXED IT?!! She always gets on me for double checking every thing I do when it comes to money and other important things; telling me its unnessacary and I am just being difficult. Now she sees why I do it. Its just too bad I am stuck with the bill now!

 

Your woman sounds like a real winner...

If she planned on spending $70 instantly, she should have just cashed the check anyway.

She sounds like she has no conecpt of money or common sense. Time to whip into shape or dump her.

Hate to say...but I know a lot of guys whose woman were HORRENDOUS with money...ruined the marriage and left them in debt...not a good thing.

 

Why are your accounts not JOINT, in the first place?
I'm asking that seriously.

You guys should get on the same page with your finances, working AS A COUPLE, to aoivd just these types of situations. What good does it do either of you to have $300 in overdraft fees on HER account, when YOUR account likely had enough funds to cover her purchases, even taking into account the bounced $70 check? MY br and his wife separate their money, and I always say: "It's not as if the electric company will cut off HALF the power to your house if one of you doesn't pay their share." It doesn't make sense, as demonstrated here, to have separate finances.

Maybe you could have separate checking accounts LINKED to a joint savings account as overdraft protection, but if I were the guy I would only pay the original $70 + the single over draft. NO way would I pay the charges for the things she bought...that one's on her!

 

Sounds simple enough to me....she would have had him in the poor house by now.

Until she can get mature and responsible for her own finances...fuck the risk of having a joint acct. That would almost be as bad as handing her a credit card.

 

You are right, I am still up in the air if I will pay the overdraft charges. She needs to learn the consenquences of her actions. I am always the one bailing her out of crap. She doesnt work, and what ever little money she does get, she spends it right away. One reason we don't have joint accounts is because she would end up spending my money too. ummm not happening. (Sarlacc, you hit the nail right on the head).

I pay ALL the bills anyway (mortgage, electric, gas, cable, phone, car note, water, cell phone, gym, everything) no need to have a joint account if I'm the one doing all the work.

The only bills she pays are HER credit card bills (minimum due of course).

Her charging credit cards with no job, is another story.

 

How long have you been married?

Why doesn't she work?

You need to get her set straight on spending money and savings and the like. Like take her CC away.

I'm sorry to say dude...no matter much you love her...if she can't cure this...it won't be healthy for the future.

 

married 5 years. don't even get me started on why she doesnt work. Its always an excuse. She says she's looking but noone is hiring. She doesn't like the hours she's offered. One time she quit a job her first day just because the boss wasn't happy with her work and asked her to do it again. Another time she quit because she didn't like the job. Another time she got fired because people complained about her. I have been working since I was 16, and she hasn't held a job more than a year and she's 26. And her last job she held longer than 2 weeks was over 4 years ago.

I have no control over her credit cards, if she wants to jack up her credit thats on her. Everything including the house is in my name only. I have her as an authorized user on two of my credit cards (AMEX and Mastercard), The Mastercard is used mainley for emergencies and the AMEX is for groceries. She tried to charge up my cards at first, but I stopped that before it got out of hand. I question every charge that she makes outside of the groceries and gas, and she doesn't like that so she keeps that to a minimum.

She doesn't believe in saving money, which is a big problem as well.

 

Hate to say it dude, cause I know it aint easy...but that needs to get nipped in the ass or your marriage wont survive the long haul.

Your chick sounds lazy as hell.

 

its funny you use the word "lazy" that is the exact word I used when I tried to ask her why she doesn't do anything or have a job.

 

I'm just surprised you haven't grown to resent her yet.