Anyone else living without a bank acct?

[an_aurora]

Long story, but we wrote 2 checks in March on a Friday, expecting to be paid Friday afternoon but DH's ex-boss never paid him, so we had an bank account closed due to $330 in overdraft/NSF fees. We paid off the balance as soon as we could, but we now have a closed account on the CHEXsystems thingy. We tried twice to get a checking account with different banks, but both times were turned down due to the closed account. We don't really care, since we're doing just fine living with cash only. We were thinking about getting a prepaid Visa for shopping online or getting gas at the pump, etc. Anyone else living without banks? Any tips/tricks we should know about?

[superstella]

I'm not any more, but did for about 3 years due to a similar situation as you guys. I was finally able to open a new acct when I went to another state for graduate school, and as a student of the university there qualified for an acct at the student credit union . I still showed in the chex system, and they told me that if I bounced anything within the first 90 days of opening my acct they would close it, and I wasn't allowed a debit card for 90 days, but it did get me back "in." Oh, and dh had started working at a place that "required" direct deposit, so I really needed a bank acct at that point.

I can't say that I really missed having a bank! You learn to live on cash, and I still do for the most part. My checking acct usually has about $5 in it after paying the bills. I used check cashing places for big checks (income tax refund or whatever), the grocery store for smaller checks, worked out fine! Paid most of my bills in person, in cash, or went to the PO for a money order.

The prepaid visa doesn't work too terribly well for gas at the pump, unless it's a large prepaid visa. I tend to buy in $50 increments, and the gas stations (around here anyway) pre-auth the card for $50, so if you've used it at all then it's going to be declined and you won't be able to get your gas. Even though you *know* it has $45 on it and you only want $20 worth of gas. But they are good for online shopping, and you can walk inside and pay for $20 worth of gas if you have to but that kind of defeats the purpose of pay at the pump doesn't it?

[Daisie125]

We were cash only for a few years due to a similar situation. No real issues to speak of. We cashed DH's checks at the bank they were drawn on, and paid everything with money orders. We have a bank account now. We got it through a credit union because they don't use chexsystems and DH has decent credit. I'd try that route if you are really wanting a bank account.

[heartmama]

How would you cash a personal check from someone else? Is there any way to do that without a bank account? (Checks written from the personal account of another individual, not a paycheck from a company).

[Leta]

You would have to go to the bank that the check was written off (go inside, not thru drive thru), give photo ID and a thumbprint, and, depending upon the bank, pay a fee of around $5.

[an_aurora]

Thanks for the suggestions! We have been cashing DH's checks at the bank they are written on, and getting money orders for rent and some bills. We can pay our utilities at the grocery store for free, which is great so I don't have to pay for a money order. For personal checks, DH has gone to a check cashing place. They charge I think 3% but the grocery store won't cash a handwritten check, so that is our only option.

Daisie, we actually tried both a small local bank and a credit union, and they both said we couldn't get an account. The credit union said we could open a savings account, and as long as we maintained a "positive relationship" we could ask to be re-evaluated every 90 days. We are going to go that route since we would like to have a savings acct anyway, but we're actually pretty happy without a checking account. I think it's a good opportunity to make sure we're more responsible with our money-- in the 4 years we had our old acct, I think we've had a negative balance more than we had a positive one.

[WeasleyMum]

You should be able to open a new account with your old bank, because they are able to see that you have paid off that old balance. At least that's how it works at the bank I work at; if someone's Chexsystem problem is an old account of ours, we can look it up. But if the issue stems from another bank, we can't see anything about it and can't open the acct.

Have you tried the same bank that closed your first acct? Because they might be the ones to help you. Of course having an account isn't entirely necessary, but it can get expensive to cash all those checks and buy all the money orders...

[sunnymw]

We are currently w/o an acct because of the same issues... we were also a negative-more-than-positive couple

I find living with cash much easier, actually. And so much less stressful!!

[ShaggyDaddy]

we have been "Check free" for about 7 years and were bank account-less for about 3 years, but now we have a bunch of bank accounts. Always go to the bank the check was drafted on to cash it, and always make a huge fuss about the stupid fees... "I have a contract with this individual, and you have agreed to be a 3rd party. Nowhere on this check does it mention that you will take a $5 cut of the agreement, you are not legally allowed to steal $5 from our transaction without my consent." or "No I do not agree to the $5 fee, please cash this check, which you are legally obligated to do." I would say 60% of the time, they waive the fee if you are loud and disruptive enough. Towards the end I would follow their script perfectly:

"Do you have an account with us?"
"No"
"Would you like to open one to avoid the $5 fee"
"Why would I open an account with a company who tries to steal $5 from me every week? Why would I open an account if it means everybody I write a check to would be subject to the same treatment? I don't like to treat my friends, employees, and people I make purchases from with the kind of disrespect that this bank treats me."

Or sometimes just the short version:
"Would you give someone all of your money in order to avoid them stealing $5 from you?"

FYI Wachovia will take the $5 out of the account the check was written on! I can't believe banks steal money from people checks are written on, and I REALLY can't believe they openly steal from their own customers!

As for living with no checking account... it sucks, but you really can't spend what you don't physically have... that is how we stayed out fo trouble for 3+ years.