Living without a bank account?

[acptulsa]

Rather than letting banks take advantage of you, take advantage of them.

I am with the sort of major, ugly big, influence-buying bank I most despise. I don't mind. I have been with them well over a year and have paid no charge and no interest to them in the entire time--not even a transaction fee for hitting the wrong ATM.

Not often you get a chance to take a meganational and screw it properly.

 

[anaconda]

I did it for about 4 years. You'll be buying a few money orders to pay some bills, probably. You will find yourself having to give your fingerprint and pay a fee (like $3 or $5 or something) to cash someone's check. Although my employer's bank cashed my paycheck without this. A credit card will make your "bankless" life easier also.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Personal checks always take a few days to clear- the bank will not let you take out any of the money until they are certain they have it in their hands (although with electronic banking the process should be able to go through much faster). Checks written on accounts from the same bank usually clear faster and there is not normally any hold on paychecks or direct deposit payroll. You should give yourself a little cushion to be sure the checks you write on the account will clear. Sounds like you are trying to cut it a little too close. If you have been hit with $500 in check fees you must do that quite a bit.

If you were to close the account and still try to get payment from your customers you will have a hard time cashing those checks or trying to get them to pay you in cash. Trying to run a business without a bank is nearly impossible. You may be able to do it on a personal level (not having your own bank account) but that will be very inconvenient too and cost you money as well. The easiest and cheapest thing would probably be to keep a bit more money in that account so that the checks you write will clear without penalty.