Wednesday, June 22, 2005
(10:47 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
ATM Problems
I keep getting hit by double fees for using ATMs that don't belong to my bank. (By "keep getting hit," I mean that it has happened three times in six months, bringing my total cost for double fees to $5.50.) I've thought about switching to a bigger bank, such as Bank One, in order to avoid such fees. The "nice" areas of the city, such as Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and the Loop, are well-served by ATMs for my bank, but I don't spend all my time in those areas. I'm wondering, though -- might it be easier, and nearly as quick, to just wait until my bank is bought out by a larger bank?Another option would be to stop using ATMs that don't identify themselves as belonging to any particular bank, because those are the ones that keep resulting in double fees -- that would include the ATM by the Streetside Cafe, the closest and most convenient ATM in my neighborhood, and the ATM in the gas station across the street from Don Pedro's in Sterling, IL, which I use only very rarely.
Or I could avoid all fees by always routing every trip I take through the Loop, getting any necessary cash at the ATM for the branch of my bank at Monroe and Dearborn. What would be the time difference of taking the Blue Line all the way to the Loop, then catching the Red or Brown Line to the cool, hip neighborhoods, as opposed to taking a bus along one of the congested east/west streets in order to catch the Red or Brown Line there as necessary? Or perhaps I could just do a better job of planning ahead in terms of having cash on hand, rather than walking around with $3.00 in my pocket and paying for CTA cards by scrounging around for change? And to enable that strategy, I would have to do a better job of just having more money.
Man, this is throwing my entire lifestyle into question.
