1603 Banking Boo Boos

Mess up. Blame someone else. That's what Felipe and Racheli Vidal do. The USAToday did a story on overdraft fees by banks and picked sort of a bad example. This couple had been charged $926 overdraft fees for spending $1,248 more than they had in their accounts. Slow learners.

I had a $20 overdraft charge once back in the 80s--when I had two checking accounts and had absent mindedly put my paycheck into the wrong account and then went on vacation, thinking I had plenty of resources. I think I was more embarrassed than mad at the bank with which we had a squeaky clean 20 year record. So I linked the checking account to the savings account and closed the second checking account. See how those fees can change behavior--for some of us? Yes, and I had a speeding ticket once, too.

My advice to Felipe and Racheli would be to go cash only for a couple of months and learn to live on what they earn. It will clean up that messy habit of blaming others and give them a closer relationship with their resources.