I went to change Credit unions to one that was closer and they were full of fees. I could get a free checking/savings if I had direct deposit (which I do), but they charged for use of out of network ATMs plus whatever the ATM fees were. Or I could be an "online" customer and not get hit with those, but get a $2 charge per teller visit.

Unless I wanted to keep $5000 in my checking account at all times, then there would be no fees, except the ATM fees.

And there was some other weird fee.

I told them, thanks but no thanks. My current Credit union has free checking if you: check your balance online 1 x a month, read the email w/the link to your statement, have direct deposit, and make 5 online transactions per month (including automatic payments), plus they reimburse out of network fees up to $20/month AND pay you interest on your checking balance.

The guy seemed shocked I wasn't going with their Credit union and was like "We have mobile banking!" cool, my credit union does too.

And the fridge here had to be replaced. The new one was delivered Thursday and becuase it was so cold I was told to wait until tonight to plug it in. Which I did. And it proceeded to make a loud clicking/buzzing sound. I read the manual and it said that might happen for about 5 minutes. It lasted longer than 5 minutes and it's obnoxious. Tomorrow I'm going to turn it back on and run some errands and see if it's still making the noise and hopefully I can get one replaced, but I don't really want to be without a fridge for too long.

All credit unions are not created equal, certainly, but my credit union is made of gold and poos puppies. I highly suggest anyone unhappy with their Big Bank check out the credit unions in their area/field.

I have to say (and nothing against anyone here) I find the chorus of credit union! credit union! kind of off-putting. Again, nothing to do with Zen or David or anyone. Just the fact that pretty much no conversation about banks doesn't end up there sparks my contrariness.

My credit union has something better - free use of anybody's ATMs. They eat the fees.

Mine does that too, for 4 or 5 visits per month. Which is fine for how little I visit ATM's.

Yay, Pix and ND! I can't imagine what a relief this must be for a the both of you.

We met Mom halfway between here and her house for lunch. So, I have my crutches back and had a delicious Italian grinder as a bonus.

We looked long and hard at Credit Unions, but there really weren't any available to us that worked for what I need for the business. However, I feel that the new bank really gives us most of the same advantages. It is a tiny branch, and I've been dealing with the branch manager for everything who is a VP for the overall bank. There are only about half a dozen people that work in the entire branch, so they really know everything. On the business side, the manager sat down with me for over an hour to talk through how my business works and to really try to understand it. For a business like mine this is paramount. It does not fit neatly into any traditional categories so I needed someone who would try to understand what I do and why I'm good at it. This manager did exactly that and then has worked directly to get the underwriters to approve the full line of credit. All in all a really good thing.

Tep, I totally know how that feels, even though I have no spouse to disappoint. Mine is kind of about a dental problem, which despite all logic is bringing feelings that I'm low-rent and dirty or something(even though in some ways I know it could happen to many people who've gone without dental coverage.) I think both school and movies and TV give us the expectation that we can *win* life, so, when things get hard or we're not killing it(Most writers do Occasionally think of deleting their opuses so nobody needs to know, right?) we feel like failures and whatnot. At least that is what I'm going with this week. (Or else February really does have a curse on it.)

ftr, my dentist is totally rude and unsupportive, without the Housian skills it would take to pull that shit off. Also, where's all the Special Treatment folks like me are supposed to get(and shrug off like in this scenario
PROFESSOR I don't want to give you special treatment...
YOUNGER ME
(Too fucking earnestly)

Of course not, sir.

Not gonna lie, would take some special treatment if it were offered today. In the non- Nazi sense, of course

can you see another dentist, erika? I mean damn.

We're looking into it, for sure, but I have this crappy "discount plan" thing and all that.(I have gotten my gums really clean, but while I was deep-cleaning those, my teeth got away from me.) And you know, there's no such thing as a truly accessible dentist, or at least, I'm forty and I've never really been to one, so...