Well…, we have been in Nassau for a week or so now and it is time to move on. The Exumas are a spot I missed for the most part on my last trip through the Bahamas. Many say they are the most beautiful cruising grounds around, we’ll see. I will be able to start fishing on a daily basis and Guinevere will start her long awaited snorkeling campaign. We will be a bit more out of touch from the world :)I will be doing short updates from the Orbcomm system, but we will not have internet,phone, or access to the bigger shops for a few weeks. We need to be in George town by the end of the month as Sam’s Mum is coming for a visit. Dont forget to check out the “Current Position” page and check the satellite photos of where we are.
On a side note, I need to vent a bit. If anyone has a suggestion on a bank please let me know. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I”M SO FRUSTRATED WITH HSBC! I’m so careful with the little money i have, but my bank feels the need to steal money from me in the form of over draft charges. They will not give me over draft protection because my lack of credit, nor will they decline a transaction for insufficient funds, sounds like robbery to me? I don’t believe in credit or find the need to owe anyone anything and as a result I’m not worthy of overdraft protection, how does that work? Am I being penalized for being responsible with money? I always make sure to only spend once it has posted to my account and they still seem to find a way to hit me with the OD charges ($35.00) each. If anyone knows of a reasonable bank, no matter how small, please let me know.
Anyway, I’m going back to the peace of the island mon.
Cheers everyone.
Sail far and live slowly.
– Alex
Published in Alex Dorsey
Have you looked into ING I’v heard they are ok
I use ING (www.ingdirect.com) as my secondary bank and have never had a problem (my primary bank is a local credit union, which is probably not a good option for worldwide travel, but they’re great too). At ING I have checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, and stocks (through Sharebuilder). It’s one stop shopping. Plus if you can get friends to join, they’ll give you a little kick back (like $25 bucks or so).
I use HSBC and I am very happy with them. My savings account gets higher interest rates than most peoples CD’s. I also don’t have any credit (because my credit sucks and they won’t grant me any) so I understand. It sucks that they charge so much for NSF. but I believe because its an electronic transaction (even though they all are these days) and they cannot decline them. I am not sure that anybody can. My debit/check card gets declined (and not charged) no problem if I don’t have the money, but if you have automatic payments setup or something similar, and you don’t have the money, it will still go through. I believe all banks are the same way.
HSBC still has no fee’s, better interest rates, and being an international company, does not suffer from the same economic issues as alot of american banks have lately.
All I can say is, keep hsbc, but don’t use automatic payments, just gotta be diligent about paying bills each month (which is why I am doing my best to have no more bills :P ). Also, if you are using services like paypal, the transaction should go through your debit card, not as a wire transfer or direct-from-checking transaction.
Not to nit pick but HSBC suffered from exactly the same issues as a lot of American banks. IInfact, it was the second largest issuer subprime loans in america.
Over draft protectin is credit. The bank lends you the money to cover your checks in turn for your promise to pay it back with interest.
To the same end, if it is just a cash flow issue, then a CC or Amex Card might work as long as you pay it off in full by the end of the month. Or, get a prepaid CC that has a balance. By establishing some history your current or future bank would probably be more willing to offer over draft protection.
Now back to looking out my office window at the snow.
Last up date on current Position was Feb. 4th. Its now March 5th? Have you not moved since then?
Sorry I didn’t hit the 2…… for the 24th of Feb.
marinaman,
We will have the spot going when we leave 2morrow. I dont run it when we are at anchor.
Mark, I’m not so interested in building any credit, good point though overdraft is certainly credit. I miss the old days when they just would not honer a transaction if there was no money in the account. If you log into HSBC personal banking they have 3 differant balances at the top. It makes it all confusing.
Thanks for all the input.
Alex
I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy named Guido. He’s honest and easy to deal with. Just be sure your payments are on time. Oh but wait, you like swimming with the fishes. If you can stay away from ALL banks you’ll be better off. They are all a bunch of thieves. Check out PayPals money market account. It seems to work well………..m
Some banks like my old one (Washington Mutual) would allow you to tie a savings account to the checking account and give you the overdraft protection that way.
Another way to do it is to open a ‘passbook savings account’. You then open a line of credit with the bank using the money in your passbook savings account.
//$0.02
with my bank, USAA, I have overdraft protection through my credit card. When I write a check with no money in my checking account, which happens a lot, they automatically charge my card for the bill with no fees. I’d be broke today if I didn’t have this coverage.
Alex I have the Exuma cruising guide by Stephen Pavlidas. I’ll be following you on Spot and also reading in detail about the various anchorages that you visit in the guide. I’m with you there in spirit and hope to be following in you in body some day.
Alex,
Use Microsoft Money to keep track of what you have and you will find fewer problems.
As far as banks go Charles Scwab Bank is what you are looking for. They are the best! You will have to open a brokerage account as well as the checking but you won’t have to use the brokerage account. They will mail out pre paid envelopes for deposits. My deposits go to Florida. I know you don’t have credit but for others reading this Schwab has a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees and puts 1% into your brokeage account at the end of each month. The ATM card is fee free. They pay you back at the end of the month any fees other banks have charged anywhere in the world.
I have and HSBC vacation account that I fund with about $300. when I’m going out of the county just in case my Schwab card doesn’t work. Some ATM machine only take Visa logo or Mastercard logo cards for example. I ran into that on Utila island.
yes, with HSBC you have to be able to add & subtract.. ( spelling ? ,, not so much).
The 3 totals are; current balance, one with balance and overdraft available and the far left shows if you have a pending credit/debit and can be used as a check for the other two.
Apparently you DO have overdraft protection because the bank is covering your mistakes therefore saving you the embarrassment of bouncing checks/card with each individual you have not had the money to cover.
Yes they do charge a fee for each one but it beats the alternative of going around and clearing up each one.
How can you rationalize being overdrawn and being responsible with money?
So , how much donated money have you wasted on overdraft fees? (btw, I used to donate until 1- You were living better than me. And 2- Mainly the whole project is entirely different. A solo circum. to poor mans Martha Stewart. You have separated Guin too far from her family. At four she is way too young to know what she’s losing. Your want of a companion has been chronicled it’s that this involves more.Remember, only a few years ago Samantha was employing a set of values someplace else with different promises. Will they change again?
I’ve tolerated your arrogance thru 6 years and needed to vent myself.
One last constructive criticusm…..quit sucking your teeth every few moments.
Tighten up & go to sea!
I have nothing against raising a child on the move and don’t deny she will have so much broader sociological background but has nothing with your “project” or your genes.Will you make it around the globe now ?
keep pushing those charters mon.
Do be safe.
This can be constructive criticism or hate mail. Feeling positive today? haha I realize this is coming at you out of left field but I’ve thought of you for years. Kind of a one way looking glass.
Make a wish?
Doctors ….
For anyone struggling with overdraft fees. Please watch the show “The Card Game”. It’s available here for free: video.pbs.org/video/1342007771/
Overdraft fees amount to small loans which account for 1000’s of percentage points in interest.