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The importance of bankers
Aug. 3rd, 2004 05:15 pmToday, I borrowed my brother's car, left Little Bit with him for forty-five minutes (they had lunch, mostly cheese and yogurt, and they played bumper strollers with her toy stroller and the real one), and went to the bank. The goal was to get back the car insurance payment which came out last week. The problem was that the insurance company took out two identical payments on the same day. Now, our budget in August is always squeaky tight. At the moment it resembles a one-inch elastic band, encircling a refrigerator. So I went to the bank to get our money back.
In the process, I:
1) found out that the bank will not let me skip a mortgage payment yet, because I still owe too much. By the time that option actually becomes an option, I'll no longer need it.
2) increased the mortgage payments by $30 per month, starting in September.
3) increased our overdraft protection to cover the mortgage payment we're not allowed to skip.
4) asked my banker if he knew of any reason why switching to a biweekly, year-long pay schedule would cost the Board of Education a prohibitive amount, such that it would affect benefits. (That was the line the Board gave the Union when we asked them to change this very silly arrangement. My banker thought that any bank trying to keep that large a client would find ways to make the change happen, cheaply, if the client really wanted it. That, of course, is the crunch: the Board simply doesn't care enough to change this.)
All in all, a valuable trip. The best part is, the extra cheque in September will cover the overdraft, so basically, it's like getting that cheque a month early. Which is exactly what I wanted anyway.
In the process, I:
1) found out that the bank will not let me skip a mortgage payment yet, because I still owe too much. By the time that option actually becomes an option, I'll no longer need it.
2) increased the mortgage payments by $30 per month, starting in September.
3) increased our overdraft protection to cover the mortgage payment we're not allowed to skip.
4) asked my banker if he knew of any reason why switching to a biweekly, year-long pay schedule would cost the Board of Education a prohibitive amount, such that it would affect benefits. (That was the line the Board gave the Union when we asked them to change this very silly arrangement. My banker thought that any bank trying to keep that large a client would find ways to make the change happen, cheaply, if the client really wanted it. That, of course, is the crunch: the Board simply doesn't care enough to change this.)
All in all, a valuable trip. The best part is, the extra cheque in September will cover the overdraft, so basically, it's like getting that cheque a month early. Which is exactly what I wanted anyway.