The Economy

I'm getting tired of my debit card "not approved" at places I've used it at multiple times.

They send me a text asking if the charge was really me, I say "YES," and then I can use it. That Publix has the most sensitive card readers in existence that can't read my almost-new card most of the time makes it even more complicated.

This week the bank declined a $1.09 fountain soda purchase at WAWA.


I don't mind the occasional security check, such as when I wrote a $4,000 check to the car dealer last week. But this nickel-and-dime shit is a pain.

 

Speaking of Trader Joe's, they believe Coup Deal > New Deal

 

My wife does all the financial gymnastics because that's her thing. She uses her debit card for her first 20 purchases of the month because she gets 4% interest on what's in her checking account at the bank (which she keeps steady at the max they allow, even if that means transferring some in at the end of the month). Then she switches to her primary card for 1.5% on purchases, but she has another one she uses for gas and at CVS because she gets 3% back.
All that's too much hassle for me to keep up with, plus I don't keep much in my checking account (I just transfer it to her after paying off my card each month). I just have the one card and am done with it.

 

If I die first, my wife is going to have a conniption because I understand how the household finances work but she has no idea what goes where.

The mortgage is through Chase, which offers cash back if I pay it from a Chase checking account, as long as I keep a $1,500 balance to remain fee-free. So I have an automatic transfer from my USAA account to cover that. In addition, the Edward Jones mutual fund account pays $2,000 monthly to cover everything that Social Security doesn't. And her dad's IRA needs a yearly minimum distribution that also gets factored into it. Her brother's annuities are all direct-deposit, except for one annoying check every month that I have to have her sign and send to San Antonio.

All the utilities and credit cards are on automatic pay, but I still have two or three local "check only" accounts: Hello, White County News! The homeowner's association FINALLY set up an online payment system last year.

I absolutely hate when one of her friends writes her a check. I need to learn how to direct deposit that crap through the smartphone.

 

Write that down and give it her. It's a mean old world, and no one knows the day and time.

 

I just received my annual rebate from my Citi Visa Costco card: $1,200+.
Paid off every month, never a penny of interest.

 

My fiancée redid her finances years ago with a friend’s help, and it’s a real corn maze. X goes into the vacation account, Y goes into the car account (even when the car is paid off), and Z goes into some other god-forsaken account. I have a checking, a primary savings account and an extra savings account where I put money to cover taxes from freelancing. I thought my system was elaborate.

 

I’m absolutely counting on dying before my wife because I don’t know what we have, what we pay, or how it gets paid.
I ask occasionally if I can retire or if we are broke. As long as the answer to both is “no” then I don’t need any more details.
I didn’t want or need her help the other when I had to put a new latch on the back storm door.
I’m in charge of the physical. She is in charge of the fiscal.

 

When we are apart she likes to call me and go into tedious financial minutiae. I usually put my phone on speaker, toss it aside, and go on about my business while offering up the occasional “Yeah. Ok. Makes sense. Whatever you think. Sounds good.”
I once did that, forgetting we were FaceTiming.
Cold. Busted!