The Cheaper Stamps

[morgana]

Actually, even after you're married, you can keep it a yours/mine split. In some situations, it makes things easier. In my marriage it would have saved a ton in overdraft fees. I could have let Shameless play with the money in his account, and made him give me money when it was time to pay bills. Then he wouldn't have been able to look at the bank balance, see the money that was being held to cover the checks that had been mailed, and spend it like the money-foolish idiot he was.
^-.-^

Andara, when were you married to my ex-husband?

This was one of his most common tricks. Then he'd blame me when something bounced . . .

IF I ever get married again, we're doing the separate-accounts thing.

Morgana

[Andara Bledin]

Andara, when were you married to my ex-husband?

This was one of his most common tricks. Then he'd blame me when something bounced . . .

IF I ever get married again, we're doing the separate-accounts thing.

Morgana

Heh. Shameless couldn't have been your ex. He would act appropriately chastised when I brought up the charges with him. It didn't stop him from doing it again the very next month, however. I actually took away his bank card for a week, once, because of that.

Thankfully, I won't have to deal with that nightmare when Nekojin & I eventually marry. He's much more aware of situations than Shameless ever could hope to be.

^-.-^

[Gurndigarn]

Just don't do the automatic payment thing if you can avoid it. It's not usually an issue, but there's no way to refuse a charge from an automatic payment plan.

Oh, yeah. We ended up having to cancel a card because they wouldn't stop accepting an automatic bill from someone who wasn't providing service, and it wasn't worth disputing a $5 charge every month.

At least I thought it was canceled. We just got a notification of changes in policy a few days ago for something that was supposed to be canceled in January. Bank of America SUCKS!

[XCashier]

I was actually fairly pleased with the new rate hike

I preferred the previous rates, because they were all divisible by 3, so I could easily use old stamps. 1oz = 39¢ (three 13¢ stamps), 2oz = 63¢ (three 21¢ stamps), 3oz = 87¢ (three 29¢ stamps), etc. Now there are all kinds of categories and different charges for mail, which makes selling small items on eBay a bit annoying. Sheesh!

[edible_hat]

All this reading about married couple's money troubles has me kind of scared... my partner and I are moving in together soon, and her attitude towards money is "it's payday! I must spend it all before next payday!" I'm trying to educate her about savings and investments, and I've already decided we're not getting any credit cards.

[Andara Bledin]

All this reading about married couple's money troubles has me kind of scared... my partner and I are moving in together soon, and her attitude towards money is "it's payday! I must spend it all before next payday!" I'm trying to educate her about savings and investments, and I've already decided we're not getting any credit cards.

Ooh. Yeah, getting together with a person where you end up with shared expenses can be scary.

What Nekojin & I do is I have a couple of bills that I pay (rent & cell phones) and he covers all the rest (electricity, land phone, internet, food). They come out to about the same amount, and there's no question of whether or not one or the other has covered their share.

Bank of America SUCKS!

They ALL suck. Every last bank out there sucks in some manner, and whether or not you have to deal with it is almost enitrely dependant upon which branch you visit and what service you need.

I had Wells Fargo, and they would hold my paychecks (illegal in California) and they play hinkie with the order they run deposits and payments (law requires they be run in the order received, but WF takes out the payments largest to smallest first to ensure the maximum overdrafting possible, even when the deposits were made before the payments. My mother and aunt had a business acount with them for a long, long time without a problem.

My mother and aunt had their business account with Bank of America, and nothing was ever right with the account. Only one of them could ever get a bank card, and only the other ever got checks. I have had BofA for over a decade, now, and they have given me nothing but sterling service.

^-.-^

[Jack7957]

There's one thing I won't pay online and that's my water bill. The way the city has it set up, it would cost more because of fees they tack on to pay it online instead of mailing it in. Just about everything else I either have automatic withdrawl or pay online.

[Andara Bledin]

My city bill cost an extra $3 to pay online versus mailing it out.

The peace of mind of knowing precisely when it was paid and being able to print out the confirmation (and not having to mess with a check, the bill, an envelope and a stamp) were all easily worth $3.

^-.-^

[BookstoreEscapee]

All this reading about married couple's money troubles has me kind of scared... my partner and I are moving in together soon, and her attitude towards money is "it's payday! I must spend it all before next payday!" I'm trying to educate her about savings and investments, and I've already decided we're not getting any credit cards.

You might consider getting 3 accounts - yours, mine and ours. Each payday you each transfer some into the "ours" account so you know the bills are covered, and then you don't have to worry about what the other is doing with their money. Also works if you are trying to save up for some big joint expense. Then you can make sure you are each contributing your share and maybe minimize the money fights. Though from your description, maybe you should be the one to control the checkbook on the "ours"...

[Nekojin]

One danger with the "each side contributes an equal amount" setup is that if the couple are making notably different income levels, it can foster resentment if there's a perception that one side has more expendable funds, and is therefore buying more toys and luxuries, especially if the other side is spending most or all of their funds to keep up with their side of the bills. A person is not contributing less to the marriage/partnership just because they have less income.

A marriage is more than a financial arrangement. "Yours, Mine, and Ours," only really works if the income is split three ways - whatever needs to be spent on bills plus long-term savings first, then the rest roughly evenly split between the pair.

[powerboy]

I only pay my cell phone bill online. Everything else, nope.

[edible_hat]

You might consider getting 3 accounts - yours, mine and ours. Each payday you each transfer some into the "ours" account so you know the bills are covered, and then you don't have to worry about what the other is doing with their money. Also works if you are trying to save up for some big joint expense. Then you can make sure you are each contributing your share and maybe minimize the money fights. Though from your description, maybe you should be the one to control the checkbook on the "ours"...

That sounds like a good idea actually. I'll be contributing more since I earn more.

[Ironclad Alibi]

As many of you know, a few months ago, the US Postal Service changed their shipping rates. Something I was not informed of was that the new rates are optional for a select few.

About a week after the rate hike a woman came through my line.
The conversation went something like this:

ME: Hi, welcome to <insert grocery store here> how are you today?
C: Fine thanks, and you?
ME: I'm fine, thank you.

I proceed to ring up the items she has, and, as I reach the end of the order:

C: And I'd like a book of stamps.
ME: Sure thing.

I proceed to enter the code for stamps (we keep them in the till).

C: (Looking at the display screen) No not those stamps, I want the cheaper stamps!
ME: The....cheaper stamps?
C: Yes, the cheaper stamps!
ME: (Assuming she wants the 1 cent stamps the post office sells after every rate hike) I'm afraid we don't sell any cheaper stamps, but there's a post office--
C:It's fine! I guess the government will just have to keep my two cents!!

The above story took place about a week after the rate hike, which happened on May 14. However, the 41¢ forever stamp went on sale a month earlier, April 12. So for a month prior to the rate change, people had a choice of paying 39¢ for a normal stamp or 2¢ more of the forever stamp. Apparently the woman in the OP did not realize the rate change had gone into effect and the 39¢ stamps were no longer available.