Can I manage my money without a bank?

Question

I am tired of hearing about banks making money off customer mistakes (overdraft fees). Is it possible to keep my money without having to rely on a banking institution?

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible.  It would cause you tremendous inconvenience, as mentioned, because you'd have to get money orders to pay all your bills and you might get charged a fee to cash your paycheck if you don't have an account anywhere.

Consider this:  most banks have plenty of products to offer so that no one ever has to have an overdraft (or the associated fees).  Most of the time, all it takes is having a savings account linked to the checking account.  If you don't have the money to keep in a savings account, there are lines of credit that can be used as overdraft protection.  Using one of these options would virtually eliminate all overdraft fees.  I think the vast majority complaints you hear are mainly from people who did not manage their money well nor did they have any protection in place.  They didn't balance their accounts to know how much was there to spend.  

To me, keeping track of my checking account balance is much easier than running around cashing paychecks and getting money orders and stamps, never mind the cost of the gas to do all that and all the time it would take.  It is doable though.

Answer 2

It will cost you a ton of money since you will have to purchase money orders to pay all your bills.  Also, you will never have credit since you will have no financial data on which to base a credit score.  That means no car loans, credit cards or mortgages.  You also will earn no interest on your money and you will have to figure out a place to safely keep your money.

Avoiding overdraft fees and late fees is not hard.  It just takes being careful.

Answer 3

I'll impart some additional wisdom on you:

I just had half of my apartment community burn down a few weeks ago. A number of people lost everything. The fire burned right through their safes and destroyed documents in them.

Imagine you were keeping your cash in one of those safes? What if it was stolen or destroyed in a fire. You life savings would be gone. Is that worth the risk? You should carefully put your money in a bank.

Also, since inflation is 3-4% a year, if you don't earn any interest on your money, you're actually LOSING money every year. This may be a lot more than any fees you incur.

Banks are popular with almost all people for a reason. It's a smart idea.

Answer 4

how to manage money?

Read the book:Managing My Money

This program helps individuals understand some of their money management habits and encourages them to take better control of their finances and save for their future.

Topics covered include:

Sources of income

Ideas for budgeting and saving

Tips for successful investing

Tax planning ideas

Review of insurance needs

Estate planning

Selecting financial professionals

Useful websites and resources  

Answer 5

Yes it is possible.  I would recommend investing in a safe of some type to keep your money in though.

Answer 6

you would have to be responsible enough to manage and would you really be sure it would be safe ?