Banks Suck... especially Chase

We're in the middle of moving our accounts over to another bank and are winding down the Chase (formerly WAMU) account. Did a miscalculation and overdrew the account. Brought in money the next day to cover it and close the account assuming a $22 overdraft fee that WAMU used to charge. Big shocker today! Chase charged us $102 in overdraft fees using shell game tactics. Here's how it works:

You overdraft, which is your fault. That last large purchase...
Chase takes your overdraft and can reverse the order your purchases come in so instead of being charged one fee on the last big purchase, they process the big ones first so all the little purchases are overdrawn. Instead of 1 overdraft fee, they're now able to charge several.
On top of that, the money we put in to cover the overdraft and assumed single fee no longer covers all the multiple fees and we get an overdraft fee for the fees!

What a racket! This is why I like to keep about a $1000 buffer in the account in case I don't do my math right. Definitely exploring alternative ways to keep my hard earned money besides in banks which have recently demonstrated that they are less responsible than teenagers with your money.

Blog Redux

I've moved my work related blog to my main site, mindfury in order to make room for my "family" blog. The reality is I will probably be the only poster since my lovely wife is more or less technologically ambivalent and can't be bothered with blogging and other "nonsense." Postings will most likely be sporadic between a two-year-old, sports, work and the endless upgrading of our house; but, it provides a place for family, social, and miscellaneous musings which don't belong on my career oriented site. Besides, my family is awesome and deserve a blog of their own!

Enjoy!