Overdrafting whiners

I was halfway through leaving a comment on Living Almost Large's post, "Overspending cash?" when I realized I had to blog about it.


The post is about recent "Woe is me" attitude of people toward overdraft fees. By and large, they act as though they had no part in getting into this situation. Given the title of this post, I probably don't have to state my feelings about this. But for the record: Puh-leez!


The bank doesn't make you spend more money than you have. And you knew when you signed up for an account (and when you made purchases without keeping careful tally) that overdraft fees were a possibility. So what gives you the right to complain now about the rules?


It's also just maddening when people make themselves out to be the victims. You weren’t duped. You were careless. The bank isn’t playing three-card monte or a shell game. It’s telling you: If you take out more than you put in, you are penalized.


That’s it.


You just have to be able to keep track of your spending. You know how much you put into your account and you can know -- if you bother to do the math -- how much you're taking out.


Before we go any further, let me staunch a few indignant comments in advance. I have overdrafted. At some points in my life, I've done it quite a lot. And while it's gotten better in the last couple of years, I still slip up from time to time. In fact, this June I dialed in to the automated system and found out I had been charged 6 overdraft fees: $210. (Tim convinced the bank to get rid of 3, saving us $105. Proving once again that you should always ask.)


So I’m not speaking from some high pedestal. I’ve been there, done that. I realize most people will make the mistake at some point. But here's the key: I don't think we should get to blame the bank for our money mistakes.


Because, really, that’s what overdraft fees are: mistakes. We make a mistake in math and think we have more money in our account, or we make the mistake of not checking our account often enough. Either way, these are things that we do, not the bank, not the retailer. Just us.


And, for most of us, the solution is really quite simple: Cut back on spending and keep track of expenditures. If you know how much you've spent at all times, you don't have to worry about confusion about "pending" transactions or other bank mysteries.


But there are some people for whom this rule isn't enough. Tim, for example, has tried and tried to keep focused on his spending, avoid impulse purchases and keep track of his account balance. It doesn’t end up working. Not because he’s lazy, but because he has ADD.


Turns out, the condition has a major impact on financial skills – something none of his counselors ever mentioned when they were teaching him coping skills for focus and concentration. (Incidentally, I will be doing a post soon about ADD & finances because it's an interesting phenomenon.)


For the first year or so we were together, Tim was regularly overdrafting. And I was regularly livid.


As I said, a lot of this was that he couldn’t be consistent in his attention. But there were other factors, too. I was even one. I tended to ask him to cover a bill or some groceries, since he had money in his account. Except that those requests took care of that. (Nowadays, he speaks up when I pull this.)


At the time, though, the fees kept rolling in. I was at my wit's end. We had mounting debt and at least $100 a month was going to the bank!


Finally, we hit on a solution. It works great. I bet you’re wondering what it is. And why I’m not telling you. In particular, why I’m stalling.


Okay, here’s the deal: This works for us. But I still hate to admit to it. I’m a frugal/debt-reduction blogger for crying out loud! And the way we get around overdraft fees goes against every grain of my financial common sense.


But I can’t stall forever. So. I’ll just take a deep breath and say…


We... put all possible expenses on a credit card.


I know, I know. It sounds like the worst financial idea you’ve ever read. You’re probably rethinking any advice I’ve given.


But you know what? It works. And we still pay less in interest than we did on our overdraft fees.


Obviously, this isn’t ideal. It definitely isn’t something I want to keep doing forever. But so far, it’s the only thing we’ve found that keeps us from overdrafting. And, as I’m so fond of saying, sometimes personal finance is about what works best for you.


Please understand, I’m not advocating this system. I don’t think most people should do this. I’m not even thrilled that I’m doing it. But I’m slowly learning that not everything has to be perfect. It just has to work while you figure something else out.


Also, don’t think that Tim gets to use ADD as a crutch. It’s not an excuse, it’s a mitigating factor. The same way that sometimes I can’t wash the dishes in a timely fashion. The need doesn’t go away, but we have to allow each other some room to be human.


The fact is that he can’t get rid of his ADD. He can only try and figure out how to deal with the symptoms.


I hope that one day we’ll be in a situation where we have enough in our accounts to avoid worries like overdrafting.


But that’s the future. Here, in the present, we have something that keeps overdraft fees at bay. For now, that may be the best we can do.


Do you think we're making some horrible mistake? Should we have just tried to be more careful about overdrafts? Is there another solution that we've missed? Am I the most hypocritical debt-reduction/frugal blogger ever? (And if so, is there some kind of award I can get?)