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Comment by cardiffspaceman | Hacker News Reader

Banking point: Let's work this through. Start the banking day with $10. You have $11 in checks clearing and $11+N in pay automatically deposited. You should end the day with $10+N balance. You would have an overdraft because the checks are recognized ahead of the deposits. You'll end up ahead on the day, but at least one check didn't get paid and you'll have costs from that. How do I keep this from happening?

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The flaw in your point is that you should not have $11 in checks clearing with only $10 in balance. This means that you wrote the check without enough money. People its your responsibility to keep track of your balance, not your banks. This seems to be a common misconception in modern times.

The reason I mentioned clearing is that the day that the bank sees the check is not the same as the day it is mailed, or the day that it is handled by the recipient. There are variables. If you are trying to achieve a decent financial status, you might want keep your cash in the savings account that earns better interest, instead of keeping excessive funds in the checking account. I'm engaging on this because I'd like to hear if there is some option besides having a benefactor provide me with a spare 'N' dollars to allow my checking account to have a buffer against the bank's unfriendly policies and the other random effects.

I think you missed my point. You should not write a check for more money than you have, (you can but you are taking a risk that it will bounce). You do not need a buffer, you need to track your money better. The second that you write a check, it should be deducted from your, (your meaning the record you keep not the banks record), balance. In this scenario, when you wrote the check, the balance would be -$1. That is the problem here. The bank can clear or not clear things in any order, but if your recording is better, you will never have an issue. The benefactor you speak of is your own records, if you do not keep them, you are doing yourself a disservice.

> The second that you write a check, it should be deducted from your, (your meaning the record you keep not the banks record), balance. In this scenario, when you wrote the check, the balance would be -$1. That is the problem here. The bank can clear or not clear things in any order, but if your recording is better, you will never have an issue.

For this to work, you also have to not apply deposits to your working balance until you have confirmed that the bank has applied them to your available balance.

And you have to make sure you correctly account or any fees, service charges, or temporary holds (the last often catches people out.)

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