Cashing in on A Valuable Lesson

I spent 6 hours on Wednesday dealing with what appeared to be a fraudulent charge on our family's debit card. It was roughly $24 charged to a Subway restaurant in a city about 45 minutes away that we never go to.

A call to the bank. A police report filed. Then, the detective work began. I didn't have a phone number to the store on my charge information. So, I Googled the restaurant name and the city. I called the first store on my list and told them I was looking for the store that made this charge. I was directed to Corporate headquarters. Called them. I was told the store was actually located in the town adjacent to me, rather than what was listed on the charge. I spoke with a trainer from that store (it had just opened this month) and he assured me he was going to look into it.

By the afternoon, the trainer called me back and mentioned some problems with the bank mixing up their accounts. They own a Subway and a Little Caesars. Well, the mystery was solved right then. My husband had been to Little Caesar's in our town.

So, I wasted 6 hours of my day investigating a legitimate charge thanks to the bank!!

I was very frustrated and upset at that valuable time I spent due to someone else's mistake. Well, that got me to thinking...how can I avoid having to do this again? I can't keep the banks from making mistakes. The answer: pay with cash. If we had paid for that pizza in cash it wouldn't have mattered how the credit card machine was set up.

I've wanted to switch to the envelope system for some time, but my husband has never been too gung ho on it. Well, now I had a good argument for why we should just pay cash.

So, this weekend, when my husband was paid, I took out the requisite amount for gas, groceries and lunches. I gave him his amount, and I took the grocery money to the store. I knew I had an exact amount I could spend, and refrained from tossing in a People magazine, extra snacks, candles, ice cream, and more b/c I knew I didn't have enough for them. So, the 6 hours I spent on my crazy hunt for an ID thief may just pay off in money saved. Knowing exactly how much cash I have in my wallet to last the week will also make me less likely to stop at a drive-thru. It's much easier to swipe my card than hand over my cash.