striking posties again (has it really been only 14 years?)

Started by Darren Dirt, June 03, 2011, 08:07:03 AM

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Darren Dirt

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/no-snail-mail-who-cares/article2045841/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/no-snail-mail-who-cares/article2045841/comments/
Quote
One less bill, one less flyer: A postal strike is hardly the crippling scenario it was 14 years ago, the last time Canada Post workers hit the picket lines.

Canadians can still e-mail, text, chat, and Skype at will, send Facebook invites and pay those bills online, and so many are thumbing their noses at the snail mail strike.



times sure have changed in so short a time... ah, the memories:
http://edocs.lib.sfu.ca/cgi-bin/Cartoons?SubjectID=200

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Thorin

Prayin' for a 20!

gcc thorin.c -pedantic -o Thorin
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Darren Dirt

#2
growing up in the mid-70s thru mid-80s I remember Edd Uluschak, the Edmonton Journal editorial cartoonist -- almost every day I would read the Journal, and didn't really "get" many of the cartoons, but my mom or dad actually bought a book of them!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006YM8SW/

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Mr. Analog

Oh no, no Canada Post!

My mailbox won't have junk mail for a few days...
By Grabthar's Hammer

Darren Dirt

I mailed off a cheque to some company in Vancouver for a parking ticket on Friday May 27th (around 630pm, so the pickup was likely Monday May 30th) , and here it is 4 business days later and according to my online banking the cheque has not yet cleared. I don't know if it got there before the strike started or not, maybe it's on somebody's desk and it'll be deposited on Monday, or maybe not and it'll be in like July or August -- IF I HAD KNOWN the strike was "possible" (media said it would definitely NOT happen this week!!!) then I woulda waited on mailing the cheque -- that's like 50 bucks I coulda spent on myself, now I can't risk spending it cuz Murphy's Law tells me it'll bounce as soon as I touch that money, grumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumble


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Tom

The strike is not a complete strike afaik. They are doing rolling walkouts. Basically not all of the Canada post distribution centres will be out at the same time. So some mail might be a little delayed. I sent a package yesterday to Nevada, the lady at the counter said it'd likely get out of the country before Alberta, and the nearest distro walks out.
<Zapata Prime> I smell Stanley... And he smells good!!!

Darren Dirt

feeling old and remembering my youth (what with the memories of the Edd Ulushak political cartoons, and the times they took place) I gotta link to this YT channel I just found...

http://www.youtube.com/user/bobtwcatlanta

you think Tropes is bad for a timesink? How about dozens of collections of 1980s TV show intros?
omg so many were lolbad, but some were epic awesomeness...
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Thorin

Quote from: Darren Dirt on June 03, 2011, 09:52:28 PM
I mailed off a cheque to some company in Vancouver for a parking ticket on Friday May 27th (around 630pm, so the pickup was likely Monday May 30th) , and here it is 4 business days later and according to my online banking the cheque has not yet cleared. I don't know if it got there before the strike started or not, maybe it's on somebody's desk and it'll be deposited on Monday, or maybe not and it'll be in like July or August -- IF I HAD KNOWN the strike was "possible" (media said it would definitely NOT happen this week!!!) then I woulda waited on mailing the cheque -- that's like 50 bucks I coulda spent on myself, now I can't risk spending it cuz Murphy's Law tells me it'll bounce as soon as I touch that money, grumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumblegrumble

Once you write a cheque, mark that money off as spent from your account.  If you spend money that you know is actually supposed to cover a cheque, you're committing cheque fraud.  Even though most banks don't pursue people who occasionally play the float.
Prayin' for a 20!

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Lazybones

Quote from: Thorin on June 06, 2011, 10:24:04 AM
Once you write a cheque, mark that money off as spent from your account.  If you spend money that you know is actually supposed to cover a cheque, you're committing cheque fraud.  Even though most banks don't pursue people who occasionally play the float.

When 99% of your transactions are electronically documented, and happen instantly, next day or within about 3 business days... It becomes increasingly difficult to deal with 1 manual transaction that happened weeks ago. Not saying you can't do it but it really doesn't fit.

The only cheques I have written in about a year are VOID ones to initiate automatic debit or deposit. I have switched to cash for nearly every personal transaction that I would previously have used cheque where accepted.

Thorin

I've still had to write (mostly post-dated) cheques for preschools and sports team fees and dance fees and stuff like that in the last several years.  The mainstream sports/activities are accepting credit cards for registration costs, but the extra team fees / participation fees you also have to pay still get done by cheque.
Prayin' for a 20!

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Darren Dirt

#10
Thorin, in the old days before Interac and electronic bill paying, I would agree with you. But as Lazy points out, writing PAPER cheques is such a rare thing, and mailing that cheque out and being unsure when(if?) the damn thing got to your destination = cause of headaches, on that rare occasion when you have to do it. The old idea of "balancing your chequebook" is a completely alien concept to most people our generation, let alone the next one!


Generally I budget all my bills of each each separate paycheque, with a reasonable amount left over for food and "extras" (having 3 kids there's often an unplanned "extra", as you well know ;) ) and rarely do I have to "re-budget" because I am pretty good at staying within the limits I set out for myself.

But on occasion I've gotten burned (or burned myself?) when I *thought* a payment/cheque went through because so much time has passed since the mailed date (or the monthly day it usually goes through) and so when I glanced at my balance and knew I have paid all my bills I would think that the remaining amount is my food/extra $.


So my post ITT re. the cheque I mailed is really just a way of venting because this is one of those cases -- if I didn't first check my online banking I woulda presumed that 10 days after mailing it it's cleared and gone. Getting burned a few times, now I check my online banking regularly just to be sure what's still pending, before I assume what's left is "mine". :P



Also, imo the idea of a cheque bouncing being "fraud" is laughable, since in this day and age the average cheque-bouncing is rarely intential and often unavoidable/unexpected. Most of us can relate to when there's some automatic debit that goes through at a time you didn't expect, heck even sometimes extra banking fees are charged and that can bring your balance down below what you honestly expected it to be. IIRC "fraud" usually requires some kind of "damages" to the victim as well as a demonstrable intent by the fraud-er to defraud the fraud-ee of something of value. In the case of a cheque bouncing, I doubt both can be proven for the Average Joe/Jane, unless it's happening enough times to be an obvious scam artist ... and that's why NSF fees are so insanely high imo. And another reason many of us avoid writing cheques if we can at all help it!
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Mr. Analog

I dunno guys, I still use paper cheques for a lot of stuff and I find that I have to fill in the balance sheet and keep track of it myself or I forget. Also I try to keep only what needs to be in the chequeing account (plus a small float, as well I paid extra to get a $200 overdraft) until it is cashed, the rest goes into my savings account. This way I take advantage of the interest bonus I get on my savings account if I hold more than 5k in there.

I only ever had one cheque bounce and it was most certainly my fault. Thankfully it was a decade ago when I was young and stupid.
By Grabthar's Hammer

Thorin

Yeah, I still keep track of what's cleared and what's still outstanding.  I don't hope that I'll have enough money in the account when a cheque gets put through or an automatic debit happens, I know when those cheques were written and when those auto-deductions are going to happen.  All it takes is a list, be it on paper or on a computer, of what's due to come out when.

Any financial planner worth their fee would tell you the same - track your expenses so you never get burned.  Know when the auto-payments happen, and make sure there's money in the account the day before.  Know what cheques you've written, and make sure there's money in the account the day before.  In both cases, leave the money in the account, don't spend it.

Some people accomplish this with two accounts - all monies are deposited into account A, enough money is left in account A to cover all auto-deductions and cheques and manual bill payments, the rest is transferred to account B.  You can then spend all money in account B until it's empty without ever fearing a bounced payment and charges incurred for such.  The way you say you handle your money, this might be a really nice straightforward solution for you.

My family goes the other way, we take out our budgeted amount of expense money every week as cash.  X amount for food, Y amount for gas, Z amount for entertainment, N amount for clothing, Q amount for restaurants, S amount for allowances, etc.  When the cash is gone, we have to wait until the following week.  Doing this every two weeks was harder, because if you spent the money early you had to wait longer for a new infusion of cash.  Anyway, I know when all my bills are due and make sure that my main account can cover all bills.  I also forecast into the future, so I know if I'll ever not be able to take out my budgeted weekly cash.

What you suggested in your post was spending that money now if only you knew the cheque wouldn't get cashed for a month or two.  At that point, you're not honestly expecting to have the funds available in your account for them to withdraw whenever they cash the check.  You are expecting to cover the funds later - that's an example of cheque kiting, rather than bouncing.  This used to be a very common practice, but as Lazy pointed out with advances in technology has become almost impossible to do.  Except, of course, if a mail strike causes a cheque to be in limbo for a week or more.
Prayin' for a 20!

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Lazybones

FYI even in a fully automated system I check up on the transaction history at the end of the month to see if the balance is expected and if there where any unexpected charges..

Cheques become a problem when you write one and the person cashes it MONTHS later.

Also cheque authorization is a joke now... It has been shown a few times that the signatures are basically not verified unless there is a dispute, and in the US they now accept deposits via scanning/photo!

Mr. Analog

So, and not to nitpick, at the end of each month you check your transaction history against your balance right? Do you follow up with outstanding cheques?

I mean, if it DOES get lost in the post or falls behind a fridge or something you want to make sure to cancel it right?
By Grabthar's Hammer