Each of us lives only now, in this brief instant. The rest has been lived already. So make the most thoughtful choices you can today that will lead to a better future.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Stop drifting and hoping a magic solution will appear. Instead, you can participate in rescuing yourself. Find peace by pursuing facts through trusted advisers and research rather than the blind trust of salespeople trying to sell you something by almost any means necessary.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Make decisions to deal with your debt with logic and facts, not assumptions, and worry about what other people will think. People who judge you will soon be forgotten. Nobody thinks about anyone that much.
Steve's Thought of the Day
The world is nothing but constant change. Your life is only a perception. Choose a way out of debt based on facts, not assumptions. Do what is best for your future because those that judge you will not feed you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Do you have a greater responsibility to repair your financial past or your financial present and future? Make good choices that allow you to tackle your debt and immediately start building your emergency fund and saving for retirement. Tomorrow will be here before you know it. Lost time is a sin.
Steve's Thought of the Day
There is no sense in wasting a perfectly good financial mistake. Instead, learn from it and do better moving forward. The past is gone. Turn and face the future now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Those who judge you for past financial mistakes are not your friends. So don't make choices about your future out of fear of what they may think. Instead, make choices based on truth, fact, and what is best for you moving forward from today.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Don't believe everything you think. Challenge your assumptions about getting out of debt. Do what is best for you, not others.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Is it less moral to file bankruptcy or to not take action that leaves you old, broke, hungry, and dependent on others?
Steve's Thought of the Day
If bankruptcy is so bad, why did our Founding Fathers specifically include it in the U.S. Constitution as protection for financial difficulties?
Stop listening to people that say bankruptcy is a last resort. It is neither first nor last. It is a tool like credit counseling, debt settlement, and others. For the best result, you need to use the right tool for the job.
Steve's Thought of the Day
People that tell you to avoid bankruptcy want to sell you something else are repeating something they heard or do not know what they are talking about. Get the facts and then make your own decision. Don't let an unskilled script-reading commissioned salesperson make life decisions for you.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt problems are like fingerprints. No two are alike. A one-size-fits-all solution will give you a one-size-fits-all result. You deserve better.
Steve's Thought of the Day
You are not your debt. Your value, self-esteem, and existence should not be defined by the money troubles you may be facing right now. Debt problems are solved with proper action, not guilt, self-hatred, and disgust.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Debt is nothing more than math wrapped in emotion. The math is easy, the emotional part leads us to do impulsive things. Not the right thing.
Steve's Thought of the Day
What type of money personality do you have? It is important to know. Take my online test now and discover how you unconsciously deal with money, credit, and debt.
Steve's Thought of the Day
How much retirement savings are you willing to throw away by dealing with your old debt instead of preparing for your financial future? Find how much you will lose by making the wrong choice. Use my online debt repayment calculator now.
Steve's Thought of the Day
Does it make more sense to ask for life-altering debt advice from an unskilled and untrained commissioned salesperson in a call center or an experienced debt coach like Damon Day that provides a customized solution for money troubles?
I am currently incurring $150 worth of bank charges every month, due to unpaid direct debits and going over my overdraft limit. I have phoned the bank and asked for their help, but they say their unable to do anything. My debts are now starting to snowball.
Is there anything that the banks are obliged to do to help stop me going further in to debt?
Dennis”
Dear Dennis,
The bank is in business to make money and it sounds like your situation is making them extra dollars. Unfortunately this situation exists becuase you are overdrawn on your account and you’ve used up your line of credit in your overdraft account as well. Using an overdraft line of credit on a regular basis can be hugely expensive and a costly way to borrow.
Ultimately the only way out of this situation is to pay off your overdraft balance and make sure that more is not coming out of your account than you are putting in.
One option would be to terminate all direct debits and pay for bills with a check or cash until this situation gets better under control. You might also want to close your account and move to another bank and start over again and avoid giving anyone your direct debit information. Of course that will not change your obligation to repay all the money owed to the first bank.
You could always contact the state banking commission in your state to see if there are any local rules or practices that might limit the amount of bank charges you can get hit with.
Sincerely,
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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2 thoughts on “Dennis Gets Slammed With Bank Charges Every Month”
Bank overdraft fees are becoming absolutely ridiculous. On my site, we get 4-5 people a day complaining about being unfairly charged. Bank of America has just agreed to now charges up to 10 overdraft fees per day at $39 a pop. Considering how they re-order transactions to optimize their fees, this is going to seriously hurt even more customers. Its time to stand up against these policies and demand change.
Another good route to take would be joining a credit union! Unlike banks, credit unions are locally owned – members’ money stays local, and gets reinvested in the local community. They also pass on profits to their members, in the form of lower rates and fewer charges.
Credit unions have never asked for – or needed – a bailout and are not part of the current economic problem. Also, as not-for-profit cooperatives with their member-owners’ interests in mind, credit unions hold on to mortgage loans instead of selling them to a secondary market for a quick dollar. Credit unions have always adhered to conservative lending practices, not the risky loan programs and subprime mess that everyone had heard so much about.
Many people don’t realize that the credit union deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the NCUA (National Credit Union Association) just like the FDIC for banks.
I hope you will keep telling your readers these great points!
Bank overdraft fees are becoming absolutely ridiculous. On my site, we get 4-5 people a day complaining about being unfairly charged. Bank of America has just agreed to now charges up to 10 overdraft fees per day at $39 a pop. Considering how they re-order transactions to optimize their fees, this is going to seriously hurt even more customers. Its time to stand up against these policies and demand change.
Hi Steve,
Another good route to take would be joining a credit union! Unlike banks, credit unions are locally owned – members’ money stays local, and gets reinvested in the local community. They also pass on profits to their members, in the form of lower rates and fewer charges.
Credit unions have never asked for – or needed – a bailout and are not part of the current economic problem. Also, as not-for-profit cooperatives with their member-owners’ interests in mind, credit unions hold on to mortgage loans instead of selling them to a secondary market for a quick dollar. Credit unions have always adhered to conservative lending practices, not the risky loan programs and subprime mess that everyone had heard so much about.
Many people don’t realize that the credit union deposits are federally insured to at least $250,000 by the NCUA (National Credit Union Association) just like the FDIC for banks.
I hope you will keep telling your readers these great points!
Thanks,
Kevin in Denver