Bouncing a check sucks, besides the ridiculous not-sufficient-funds fee, banks can cut you loose if you bounce one too many checks. With the spread of information with the advent of the internet and a mysterious black list database, banks could deem you and your account to be more of a liability than an asset and actually close your account. I’ve never heard of this but I’ve never bounced a check and never known anyone to bounce more than a check or two by accident - never done in an attempt to play the float.

If you ever bounce a check and are forced to pay an NSF or any other fee, be sure to kindly ask them to reverse the charges. If it’s your first (or at least the first in a long while), they’ll like it remove it without incident. If they don’t, threaten to take your business elsewhere… and if they let you leave, then leave.

3. Bouncing a couple of checks can cost you your bank account.
Not only can your own bank kick you to the curb, but it can put you in a financial database that acts as a kind of black list, says Rutter. Result: For up to five years, other banks could be leery of giving you an account.

A host of technological advances have exacerbated the problem. Among them: widespread use of debit cards, which don’t necessarily stop working when the account is empty and new financial regulations and processing methods that have cut the “float time” (the period it takes to process a check) that many people build into their bill-paying schedule.

Use online banking or toll-free numbers to keep tabs on your accounts, especially if you’re a debit card addict.

This is part of a series of articles taking a closer look at the tips provided by Bankrate’s Debt Counselors’s 15 tips article.

Source: Bankrate

This is part of a series of articles taking a closer look at the tips provided by Bankrate’s Debt Counselor’s 15 tips article.

1. Freebies are lethal.
Those low introductory offers sound great, but they are designed to get you hooked on the service. The ploy works way too often, says Elaine Rutter, a certified consumer credit counselor with the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Central Pennsylvania.

“I see people with cable, Internet and cell phones paying several hundred dollars a month,” she says. The consumers tried the service at the initial low price and kept it on even after the bill went back up to the normal rate.

Be sure you can afford the extra bill with your current income and budget.

This refers to not only teaser promotional rates for credit cards but all sorts of services. I think it’s crucial for a savvy consumer to check what the rates are after a promotional offer, if they’re the same as what you’re paying now then by all means snatch up the offer.

In many cases, especially with 0% balance transfer offers, you’re just looking to get a 0% respite for a year or six months so that you can catch up or pay off a bigger chunk. I think in those instances it is very important to take the deal if you can because in the end it will help you. This tip is just warning you about seeing a “too good to be true” teaser or promotional rate and then getting suckered in after the rate ends.

This is part of a series of articles taking a closer look at the tips provided by Bankrate’s Debt Counselors’s 15 tips article.
Source: Bankrate

If you have a credit card and a checking account with the same bank, you may be able to link the two and use your credit card as protection against any overdrafts. Overdraft fees getting downright ridiculous lately ($30 a pop or more sometimes) and there are sometimes other options than using your credit card, but it’s something to look into. Apparently Wachovia has been offering this since 1992 and by using your credit card you incur a fee of $10 instead of the usual $2309482034923 fee.

The benefit of having overdraft protection in general is that your check will get cashed no matter what, without it you run the risk of having the check bounced and then you’ll have to face even more headaches down the road. If you’re seriously considering protection by way of credit card, investigate the fees associated with the overdraft protection service.