Bank cashed post-dated check early! - Page 2

[Smithie]

This is why I keep a portion of my savings in my checking account. It's NOT spendable money for anything less than the water heater bursting (which is what happened in September, yay fun) or other similar things for which savings are typically used. But the "cushion" keeps me from worrying about the timing on checks, and worrying about the timing on checks makes me physically ill. If I look at income/expenditure record at the end of the month and it's net-positive, then I don't fret about the couple of days where the account dipped into the "savings" portion.

OP, it sounds like your bare-minimum checking account is a budgeting strategy rather than a case of being flat broke with no savings. Maybe you should transfer a little money back into checking and see if that works for you. Remember to tell your husband that 1k (or whatever) is the "new zero." Mine didn't realize that for a few months, but he totally got it when I finally told him what I'd done.

[CherryBomb]

You're not an idiot! I think this is something that MANY people do not know.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Originally Posted by Smithie

OP, it sounds like your bare-minimum checking account is a budgeting strategy rather than a case of being flat broke with no savings. Maybe you should transfer a little money back into checking and see if that works for you. Remember to tell your husband that 1k (or whatever) is the "new zero." Mine didn't realize that for a few months, but he totally got it when I finally told him what I'd done.

Yeah, keeping the checking account low is a budgeting thing. I'm not yet disciplined enough to not spend when there's extra in there, I don't think though. Whenever it looks liek there will be some "extra" money, I hurry up and transfer it into savings so it doesn't accidentally get spent. I can always transfer it back over in case we need it, but this way I don't figure it into our "spendable" money. Or maybe I should open a separate savings account for long-term vs short-term savings... Hmmm.

[Smithie]

I do my serious saving in an ING account, which is a royal pain to transfer from, and then there's the cushion savings in the checking account. You know yourself best, but at some point you'll be ready to try and trust yourself with a cushion. If it's not time yet, it's not time yet.

[surrogate]

Originally Posted by lyterae

I was told the same thing when I worked as a teller.

I worked in the proof dept at a local bank and was told the same thing. If someone writes a check, it is their responsibility to have the money in the bank. Postdated or no.