Doing More Surveys

I now have time to get back to trying my hand at making money from surveys. I haven't gotten too far with it, but will have the time now to put into it. I just requested two $30 checks from two survey companies I have worked with in the past. That is my earnings to date with surveys! Not a lot of money, but it is a start. A reader in the past told me she made about $300 a month from surveys, and I would like to get up to that level. Hopefully with a little work and investigation into how to do it better, I will be able to do that.

Making Payment Arrangements

Now that I am out of law school, and the bar exam is behind me, I am trying to get the rest of my life that I have neglected back in order. This of course includes my finances. I have set up payment arrangments with all of my credit card companies. This will lower my payment and lower the interest rate. I can also pay the debt off faster, once I am caught up with my expenses, etc. Only one arrangement is unsure: HSBC tentatively set up a payment arrangement for me, but it has to be approved by someone else there, and I will receive a letter within two weeks telling me whether I was approved or not. This sounds kind of wierd to me, but that is what they told me. The woman on the phone said she didn't think I would have any trouble getting approved. Now I just need to get my house in order. My real house in order.

Now I Can Sleep Relieved

Once again, I made a bank deposit today, only to realize it was about $30 short. I was worried--I have 3 checks hanging out there, plus a string of pending debit charges. Oh whoopie--just the recipe for another onslaught of NSF funds.

I called the management company of our condo association to see if they could hold my fee check until tomorrow. That would solve the problem. Lucky me--they said they only deposit checks on Tuesday! So now I can deposit the other $30 tomorrow, and I will be fine until payday on Wed. Part of the problem is just paying attention, and now that I am out of law school, I can start paying attention to my finances again. Any my housework. Any my weight. And getting back in shape. And finding love.......

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.

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

And again and again

A few more payments have been made to my favorite charity: Regions Bank. I know they love me! A week to go until the bar exam, and then I am determined to get my financial head on straight.

Still Stumbling

I am not paying tuition anymore, but am still making regular payments to my favorite charity: Regions Bank. They are so lucky I am one of their customers. I help make sure they have a roof over their heads and get a lot of plucky benefits! Kidding aside, I am still not paying attention enough. My last two paychecks, I didn't also transfer over enough from my credit union and bounced some checks. Well, not really bounced. You know the drill--they were paid, but I paid a nice little tidy sum to Regions. They must really love me. I will not let this happen again. I repeat--I will not let this happen again.