Great story, I have been doing this for years. I used to work for MasterCard. It is illegal for a merchant to put a dollar amount on how much a customer could spend using their credit or debit card.

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This article gives really good advice on getting cash without a charge - so many people simply forget about the cash back option, or assume it comes with a fee.

I work for PerkStreet Financial. In addition to being able to get cash back at the register, our customers can access thousands of ATMs at places like CVS, 7-Eleven, Walgreen's, Target and more without a charge.

www.perkstreet.com

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Cash from bank once a month, one month ahead of payroll. Keep it all in the vault at home. Secure vault with weapons and security.

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This is the only reason I don't have my checking with Credit Unions. Overall, I like how credit unions do business, but when their only ATM is 30 miles across town at their one and only branch, I honestly don't feel like paying the ATM fees.

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I've been using this trick for years =)
its best if you do it at a groceery store or walmart so your mate isnt guessing ... you can write it off as getting grocerys ... $50.76... pack of gum and $50 cash =)
wooohooo
this is actually a reallly good idea im suprised more people dont use it.

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Hugh, No tinfoil here. in the late 70's there was no ATM, No Internet and no Debit. Only pure credit cards. In those days you had cash, all of it and maybe checking accounts to write actual checks.

If you had a card they would pull out a small book with lots of names, you did not want to be in that book as you would lose your credit card for not paying your bills.

I disagree with the tinfoil statement. Crimes against ATM's are up in my area. Crimes that involved counterfeit money is in the increase. Crimes involving skimming of credit or debit cards by wait staff or other means is most certainly a threat.

I find the United States Dollar in sufficient quanity to go a whole month for everything very secure. No information is given out, nothing to steal except the cash itself. And nothing to skim, hijack or make fraud or identity theft. No worries.

In fact my banking is online out of state. One phone call can take care of any problems that are discovered. My credit cards stay in this vault at home. I know and account for it all, twice a day. I balance checking on sight down to the penny twice a day. It is easy to do when you only pay the month necessary bills ahead. For example I pay 500 dollars annually to pay the water bill in full all year. I dont get any bills due and payable until late in the year when the credit runs out.

FDIC is failed, finished and kaput. Moving to a Credit Union removed any consideration for FDIC and their failing banks. We don't worry about being caught in a bank run, bank failure or any problems like that.

Life with cash is simple, easy to manage and very good. All these fancy debit, credit or card cards is all fallible and fraught with problems and danger in form of theft, fraud or other issues.

Cash only requires a conceal carry permit at times when to and from the bank. Consideration is time of the day, time of the week for lowest threat, traffic etc.

Maybe someday there will be a breakdown in society (*Tinfoil hat time) and we dont care. All bills paid online, plenty of cash at home along with supplies etc.

Peace is here knowing that we are sufficient able to live without change in our situation for a very long time, at least a few months.

We dont need to go run out buy a pack of gum in order to get 50 dollars to fill car with gasoline. None of that.

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Or, you could just go to the bank. If you can't get to one after work then switch to a bank near your work so you can go on your lunch break, or get up early on Saturdays to go.

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J, we buried our septic system and upgraded to city water this year. 5000 dollars cold hard cash all done and three days work.

No loans, no collateral no nothing. The house is over 30 years old and is in good shape. Free and paid for outright.

That alone really adds to your resources and gives peace of mind.

With our system, we don't need to go to the bank any more than once per month to collect payroll. There is no stress or time deadline issues. You can work whatever you wish without worry about that friday afternoon rush to the bank wondering if your whole weekend would be without vices such as beer and smokes.

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What kind of idiot buys crap they don't need to save on ATM fees. Ever heard of a BUDGET?

On or about the first of each month I take out enough to equal $500, and stick it in a $29.95 Staples safe I bolted to the bottom shelf of the linen closet and cover with towels/blankets. When I go out, I carry only $30-40 unless I know I'll need more.

A little forethought and planning, and you can save your ATM fees AND the money you spend on gum you don't need.

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I agree, that this is a good idea as well. I work at a venue where concerts are held and although i don't recommend purchasing food or drinks there because of the outrageous prices, if you do purchase items like that you should definitely bring cash just so you wont be hit with the ridiculous atm fee. You also avoid having to stand in the line for the atm which can back up pretty often throughout the show.

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I live in Reno, NV and have lived also in Wa, State and in both states I have done what I am about to say....I go into grocery stores and buy something small that I want to eat or drink that day, then get cash back for no fee. The place I go now has a $200 max cash back at one time but you can also do another transaction if you like, as many as you like, I have done this ALOT, and never once have had a problem. So I get the food or drink I need and the cash I want. I bank with Bank Of America. Some people may say "Why not just have a budget or go to the bank"...

Well my response is, I am all about doing what I need to do at that time, and whatever will take less time, and if there is no fee involved then why not. I tend to live for myself than to care what people think or say, that's why I live happy and care free, it work's for me but maybe not for everyone. I noticed on here some are very rude and quick to judge but more than likly they are unhappy in life and puting people down make's them feel better.

Recently I opened up another bank account at US Bank just to put some money in stash for the holiday season. I had to take out money from their cash machine to start the account. Their fee was $3 and my bank charged me $2. I have never and never will again pay fee's like that. It was a last minute decision to open an account and stupid yes to pay those fee's but the incentive to open the account was a free $75 in groceries and it was the last day for the promotion.

Personally I don't care how rich someone is, it's dumb to pay fee's, to get the money that you worked so hard for. I think most people are all about convienence, I know I am but I also like my money to stay mine. So in this particular situation, I still get alot of free stuff to cover the fee's but my total max amount of other cash machine usuage with a fee is generally maybe one time a month if that.

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No Paul, it's not lying! I was raised with the view that we were Irish & never lied, however if someone wasn't quick enough to word the question correctly, you only had to answer what was asked. When I first married, if I planned on doing 5 things on my day off, & got 4 done, my husband would grouse & nag about the 5th thing. To keep him happy (fun for me too) if I didn't have time to go to the post office & he asked, I wouldn't lie, I'd just answer by asking if he had any idea how many people were in line that day at the post office & ask if he'd heard anything about stamp prices going up & he'd go on to something else. This worked for 27 years until he died. Semantics are actually fun to play word games with. I always wrote the grocery checks for over the amt & stashed it away for Xmas. Also always had a $100 error in checkbook balance so we never bounced a check.

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I just paid $771.00 for car repairs at a local Ford Dealer...I couldn't believe when I checked my bank statement....they had charged me $1.00 extra for using my ATM card....that's pretty sleezy of them.

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