Overdrafts and eBay

There are few things worse for me than eagerly awaiting a paycheck, only to find that once it is deposited, my bank account is still practically negative. Between the direct deposit advances and the overdraft fees from those bounced checks, about 80% of last week's paycheck was just eaten up. It's barely past payday and I'm still broke. Ugh. What a miserable feeling.

How could this happen?! Well, after paying for my summer tuition, and a couple of slightly irresponsible money decisions in the past couple months, things were not looking good. As you may or may not have experienced, every once in a blue moon it becomes necessary to bounce a check. It's a calculated bounce, and sometimes that is better than say, going without cable or internet for 2 weeks! Wha-- MY priorities are messed up? Bah!

Anyhoo, I wrote the check and 2 days later as expected it cleared the bank - along with the stupid overdraft fee. And then came a rogue check for an embroidered work shirt I'd written about a month ago, and another one from an out of town dinner, and a gas fill up charge up I'd forgotten about. And unfortunately the list goes on. Eight overdraft fees, EIGHT! At $33 bucks a pop, plus the actual check amount. Yeah, you do the math. Painful.

So I this week I decided to do a little housekeeping. eBay is my friend. I've made lots of great purchases on eBay, but more importantly, about once a year I'll clean out drawers and closets and make a little cash. This particular eBay adventure included a ton of books and DVDs, some exercise equipment, and some jewelry I seldom wear. So far I'm up about $140 bucks, and still have 4 days left on the books. Hooray for eBay and immediate payment through PayPal!