Saturday, August 9, 2008

Making Money on the Web

A friend and I went to a free seminar today on how to make money on the web. We were skeptical, but figured we might glean a few pointers. Actually, it was quite good, and the product is reasonable and useful. We are going to another seminar in a couple of weeks. Both of us could use some extra money and have a good service to offer, so maybe this will be a go. We were both pleasantly surprised at today's seminar. Glad we went.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Voice Your Opinion About Bank Overdraft Fees

Ok, I am a slow learner, but I do learn. I have not gotten any overdraft checking fees in the last two weeks. Hooray for me! (Telling myself to keep it up!)

But apparently, I am not the only one with the problem. As a matter of fact, there is a hearing going on about these deceptive bank practices. Complaints include banks charging you fees for overdrafts before the transactions actually clear (I don't think my bank does this, but some do. I have time to make a deposit the day the transaction will probably clear to avoid overdrafts. My problem is I forget to make the deposits on time. ).

Another problem is that banks will clear the checks from high to law amounts. This is the one that enrages me. For example, if you have $200 in your checking account, and transactions totalling $220 you are going to be screwed. But the way they clear the checks is what really screws you. Say you wrote a big check for $175, and you have a bunch of small purchases making up the other $45. If they all come in at once, you would think they would clear in the order they are presented. So, maybe all your little purchases could clear first, and you would only get one overdraft fee for the $175 purchase.

BUT NO! The bank always presents the largest check first, no matter in what order it came in. I complained about this to my bank once, and they said they "were doing it for the consumer's sake, to make sure they got that big item paid."

Baloney. They present the highest amount transaction first, because then all the smaller items don't clear, and they rake in many more fees.

See how clever this all is?

If you want to complain to the Federal Reserve about it, you have until Monday to do so.

Go to the this link and let your voice be heard!

http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/usr_agrmt.cfm?url=ElectronicCommentForm.cfm?doc_id=R-1314%26doc_ver=1%26name=Regulation%20AA%20-%20Unfair%20or%20Deceptive%20Acts%20or%20Practices%26date=20080502a