Fees

Warning to all you bankers. We have been banking with Bank of America for a few years now. As I was doing a routine browse of out statements I noticed a maintanece fee of 9 dollars. It happened again on the previous statement too. I looked it up and it indicated that we have this fee cause we aren't maintaning a certain amount in our accounts. Also we can't waive the fee because our companies don't offer direct deposit. So we go to the bank to talk about our options. Apparently this fee spreads across our other accounts. The amount we need to maintain is higher than we are able to keep in there at one time. The teller didn't seem to understand that our lifestyle is very different than most. She didn't understand that we don't get offered direct deposit and she was at a loss when we said that I get paid in cash everyday. The look on her face made me realize the she wasn't going to help. I was infuriated that we are paying for the bureaucratic, CEO salary for someone to press a button and stare at a screen 9 dollars every month and that people can't see past their regular life and notice a life that isn't the typical 9-5. I immediately called other banks to compare. Although they also suggest direct deposit, they also DID NOT charge maintanence fees. I closed one of my accounts and once that gets here we will close the rest and move our money to a bank that doesn't try to take money for rediculous purposes. What a world this is.

Thoughts

My dog is the cutest thing ever. She had developed this stance of laying alond the back of the couch with her little hind paws stretched out behind her. She also has a biological clock at 1030 every morning, if Jason and I aren't awake, she will take it upon herself to wake us up by stepping on our head or face and licking us. Can be annoying, but you can't help but love her like a human child. We want to get her a friend so she isn't alone when we are working. Jason has a friend that has a dog they want to find a home for. Jason is very impulsive and would have taken the dog in a second. However, he has me the voice of reason that said we can't afford another dog while living in these apartments. I told him to tell the friend to hold off til April unless another owner can be found. I feel bad, but rent on top of dog rent on top of bills and another major issue we are dealing with adds up to money strains.

Christmas was a good one. we bought a 37" flat screen TV for our christmas gift to each other. Its the bomb. In our apartment it looks like a movie screen. We love it. Next is a sick sound system.

Once our lease is up in April we will try to find a place that is less expensive, and more spacious. We just have a few to many things for our little place. Its manageable, but storage is limited. Counter space is ZERO. As I looked online for places I was a little stunned to find that a house for rent is about 200 dollars cheaper than our apartment. I don't really get that. Besides the amenities available here I don't think the price is worth it. So I am excited to get a place with more space, a nice kitchen, storage, and no pet rent.