Comments on: Get a Bank Card with a Very Large Fee-Free ATM Network (47/365)

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:36:46 +0000

Johanna, completely agree. For me, I keep a Quicken account of the fund, not so much from concern about theft, but just so that I know where it’s going and when I should replenish it.

Bummer to find out people you live with are stealing from you.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:40:44 +0000

If you’re going to keep a large amount of cash (or even a small amount of cash) in your home, make sure you know exactly how much is supposed to be there, and check regularly to see if any is missing.

Do this even if you think your stash is in a safe place that only you can access. Otherwise, if somebody else does find it, they can steal from you bit by bit and you’ll never even know. That has happened to me. Eventually I did notice, but it’s hard to get the police to take you seriously when you can’t tell them how much money was taken or when.

By: tentaculistic

tentaculistic — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:31:00 +0000

I like that Trent brought up the fact that not all tips that worked several years ago still worked for him. I like that honesty and being up-front that things change.

#6 lurker carl – do you really have creeps hanging around ATMs where you are? I guess I only go during daylight hours (not really much of a clubber these days) and I sometimes see other customers but they are mostly moms with kids and the like. I guess I hadn’t really thought of the ATM robbers for awhile, since nothing has tripped my hyper-sensitive fear button at ATMs in awhile.

People mention cash as part of your disaster kit – very good point! A best practice I’ve drifted from and need to go do now: it’s a good idea to have $5 – $10 in your car visor (helps with surprise tolls too if you don’t have EZPass, or for unexpected parking), and another $10 and a subway card (if applicable) in your work ID card holder.

By: Slccom

Slccom — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:09:44 +0000

I do my cash withdrawals at the grocery store. Write a check for over the cost, and use that.

By: lurker carl

lurker carl — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:01:01 +0000

The creeps hanging around ATMs are reason enough for me to continue using a live teller at a financial institution in the daylight.

By: Des

Des — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:53:51 +0000

We used to use ATMs all the time – but exclusively for depositing money. This is probably a unique scenario, but our renter pays in cash every month, so we perpetually have more cash on hand than our monthly expenditures. Now that we use Perkstreet, they let you deposit cash through MoneyGram, so we deposit it whenever we are at the grocery store. If I needed to pull cash out, I would get cash back at the register at the grocery store.

Also, +1 to what AnnJo said. Cash should be part of your disaster kit, along with at least a couple days canned food and clean drinking water.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:50:57 +0000

A few years ago, I noticed I was averaging $47 a month in ATM fees. I switched to a fee free credit union. Love it.

By: Other Jonathan

Other Jonathan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:18:51 +0000

I haven’t been to an ATM in years! Not because I don’t use cash (I do with some frequency), but because my wife is at the bank several times a week for work, and she just withdraws some cash while making a deposit once or twice a month. We do make sure to always plan in advance so we have “free” cash available (as opposed to having to go to an out-of-network ATM) when traveling or making a large purchase.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:09:11 +0000

Another option to a large ATM network is a bank or credit union that reimburses for out-of-network ATM fees. The bank I use (USAA, best bank ever!!!) reimburses up to $15 in out of network fees each month. Actually, they have a decent network anyway and I have never even approached needing the $15 limit, so I’m not sure that’s still the limit.

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:40:33 +0000

Assuming you have the willpower not to spend money just because you have it nearby, it would be wiser to keep a more substantial cushion at home and replenish it two or three times a year.

A local or regional power outage could increase the need for cash while putting ATMs and credit and debit services offline. If you needed to evacuate due to a weather event, earthquake, etc., you should have enough cash on hand to tide you over for at least a week, without relying on access to your bank accounts.

Less likely but still possible would be your bank’s sudden closure or limitation on cash withdrawals, a general bank holiday, or a seizure or freeze of your own accounts, as can happen in some divorces, or problems with tax authorities, or even by mistake.

Obviously, you don’t need to walk around carrying several thousand dollars, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some cash is a safe hiding place at home just in case.