[at-l] Questions on financing the trail

[JL]

I shy away from debit cards.  They're a racket.  If you make a mistake with your account and forget how much is in there, the bank may clear your debit charge, but they will treat it like an overdrawn check.  Each charge, no matter how small will get socked with the fee, which is $35 or more, depending on where you bank.  If you are in town and run up a bunch of little charges for sandwiches, groceries, ice cream etc. you can get in a big hole before you know it.


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Doug Mathews 
  To: gamountainwoman at yahoo.com ; at-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 1:30 PM
  Subject: Re: [at-l] Questions on financing the trail


  Yea, the economy is in a very poor state, but I've had at least 2 banks fail and access to whatever funds I have were totally unaffected. One of the lessons learned in the depression of 1929 was there would not have been the run on the banks had there been something in place like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). I never stash cash anywhere other than a FDIC insured institution.  If you have "mattress" money and we switched from dollars to something else, there would be a transition period anyway.  Money in the banks would be converted to the "New" currency. Even when Columbia switched currencies years back, they had a reasonably long period in which you had to convert your old to new. So if there was a switch in US currencies, your ATM card would work, you'd just get the new "bills" when they were available. You simply cannot make such a switch over overnight, there are too many technical issues to be considered and too many computer programs to work with.

  So, if I were contemplating another through hike, I's do what I did..carry a little cash, a credit card, and an ATM card. It worked well for me.  My personal preference on debit cards is to steer clear of them since there is no legal requirement for the issuer to make good any bad transactions as there is for a credit card. They seem to do so, but who knows how hard they might  make it to correct problems if they get stretched? Also, if your bank account gets emptied before you know it, you are out of funds until the bank agrees to put the funds back. No such problem with the credit card.

  My $$'s worth!

  Mainframe


  At 01:06 PM 10/12/2008, Georgiamountainwoman wrote:

    Using ATM Debit Cards would be great, but with the failing economy in shambles, and big banks closing, with smaller ones trailing behind, whose to say that our Debit Cards would be any good ?  I've heard a lot of people are taking their money OUT of the banks now, and some are not allowed to withdraw more than $2500.  Mattress money is becoming more common with the oncoming Depression.  And its not just the USA, many other country's monitary systems are going down the tube as well.  Iceland has already gone bellyup.  If this happens here, will it even be feasible to hike the trail anymore, without carrying all you need for the entire adventure with you ?  And, what if, in the middle of the adventure, the government decides to change the currency into Amero's instead of the old "Federal" Reserve greenbacks ?  There are serious problems going on with this country's financial system right now, very serious.

    Caterfly


    Thats the way I always hike, using ATM Debit card, I usually tried to 
    survive on  $100 a week but I think that more often than not I wound up 
    getting a little more out. Debit cards are linked to your checking savings 
    account, you simply use the card to withdraw money from your account.  ATM 
    machines are just about everywhere, try and find ones with no fees or low 
    fees. The only place I found that I could'nt use an ATM or Credit card was 
    in Stehekin, Wa. on the PCT. But that was in 05 you may be able to even use 
    them there now.

    Pat 

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