Stupid Tax: Overdraft Fees Redux
I am about to pay some more stupid tax. It was less than two months ago I paid overdraft fees, and swore I would do better. So much for good intentions - my account went negative Friday afternoon.
It took me a while to figure out how this happened this time around. I finally worked the math with a calculator and discovered my balance and what I thought was my balance are almost exactly $100 off each other, so this means I made a simple math error in the hundreds column. Yes, I typically do the math in my head from habit and the desire to keep what few brain cells I have left well exercised.
This is downright embarassing. I’ve been doing simple math in my head for a couple decades at least, and for some reason when I make a bank-related math error it always shows up in the hundreds column. Why couldn’t I make a mistake on the RIGHT side of the decimal place? Maybe I am getting old and need to start using a calculator.
Since it has only been two months since my last “oopsie” I don’t think I will be able to beg for mercy at the bank again. There is also the pride factor, and my pride is now officially damaged with this latest mistake.
There is a very good reason this kind of mistake is called “stupid tax.” I truly feel stupid and incompetent here. I’m a grown woman, in college even, and have just overdrawn my account for the second time this year. UGH! It hurts even more to know I went from a balance of over $1400 to a negative $90 in one day.
Hubby hasn’t been nearly as hard on me as I am being on myself. He simply suggested waiting for the dust to settle in the beginning of the month before I start moving money around. Just about all the bills for this account come out in the first week of the month, so he thinks I should just sit back and let the deductions go through before doing anything else. I think hubby has a very wise suggestion here … along with his comment that I am still human and still doing a “good job” managing the household money.
I still feel incredibly stupid right now.
I also am not sure just how much this will cost me. The account went negative Friday afternoon, after they were done posting deposits, not that it would have saved me since I didn’t discover it until yesterday afternoon as hubby and I sat down to go over the monthly budget and money and goals. I dropped off my hourly check in the night deposit box, but it’s common practice for banks to run the deductions before running deposits … and Friday I filled the Pizza Taxi before work then yesterday we had the oil changed in both vehicles since I honestly thought I still had enough in the account to cover that. This could get ugly … but I won’t know until tomorrow.
