A $3.50 service charge for ATM
I knew this would happen when my wife told me she took cash out of another bank’s ATM. Not only did she get that $1.50 charge for doing the transaction at their bank, our bank charged us $2 for using another bank’s ATM. So the total for this cash transaction is $3.50. I really hate bank fees and go out of my way to avoid them. Convenience or just being lazy seems to be the only reason she accepted these fees in order to get money out.
I’m not sure whether I should be mad about this or disappointed. She knows that I really don’t like paying fees or fines because that is money, for lack of a better word, wasted. At the beginning of the month I did not think $3.50 of our money will not have a purpose. Money is like sand in a way that it will slip through your hands if you let it and once it’s gone, you have to wait for more sand to fill your hands again.
This blog is turning a direction I did not intend for it to go. The blog is about paying off my debt and how I’m making progress to do it. I love my wife but we do not see eye to eye on handling money. Don’t get me wrong though, I like to spend money too, that total on the right is all me. I am now trying to do my best to get us both on track and at the same time pay off our debt. The concept of not buying something we want when we don’t have the money for it is no more because with credit, we can have, or appear to have, anything we want right now. I’m trying to destroy this idea and only use our money to own things and get out of debt. Thank you to my readers for the advice lately.
So what are you going to do about this difference in handling money?
Getting mad at her probably wont help at this point. She’s probably a little bit flustered at this “new” you and she sounds like she hasnt exactly bought into this paying down debt thing yet. It takes time and alot of patience to get on the same page.
Remember, you didnt get into debt overnight and you wont get out overnight.
Keep working on it though! Dont give up!
One of the books that helped me alot as a woman with cash is called “Money, a memoir- Women, emotions and cash.” Your wife might enjoy it and it might help her get on the same page in regards to money.
It’s by Liz Perle.
Once again Maria provides invaluable insight! Thinking back, my wife thought I was completely nuts building all of my financial management plans, my 10 page “Financial Report” and various savings/readjustments/diversifications. She didn’t see the point. When I finally figured out what I was doing and managed to have something to show for it, and could actually show her how our money would improve with some simple management tools, she turned around like night and day!
Thanks Chris! Sometimes it helps to hear it from a “female personal finance blogger’s” perspective.
If it helps at all… In Australia, Citibank have an account where, if you get your salary paid into it, you don’t pay any fees on the account and you don’t get charged for using other banks ATMs.
Perhaps there’s one like this where you live?