Uncategorized

THE OLD B.O.H.I.C.A.

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

We’re old school …. well, at least my husband is. There are some things he simply insists on doing the old-fashioned way. One of those things is paying bills. Most people I know use online banking; it’s quick, easy and from what I’ve heard, safe. My husband Bill (how appropriate) is extremely reluctant to put his faith in online financial transactions. Oh, he’ll place orders online but that’s different, he says.

So how do we pay our bills? By writing checks by hand and maintaining a record in the checkbook register. That was always Bill’s job until a few years ago when he underwent emergency surgery after falling off a ladder. While he was in the hospital and rehab, I took over the task of paying the bills and I still do it.

I don’t mind, really, but sometimes the bills all seem to come at the same time and it turns into a project. One thing that saves time is all bills now come with a return payment envelope; no more hunting through the rolltop desk in search of my own envelopes. But everyone once in a while we’ll get that one rogue bill with no return envelope. There I am, ensconced at my desk, pen and a fresh cup of coffee at the ready and I have to stop what I’m doing to dig around for an envelope. That really burns my cookies.

The biggest offenders are the dentist and the gardener. Why? Human error. Both are small businesses set up in the same fashion: there’s one person who manually prepares the invoices for mailing. Sometimes they remember to include a return envelope, sometimes they don’t. And when they do remember, it’s alway one of those smaller envelopes, not the letter size. Funny, they never forget to bill me; I wonder if it would be ok if sometimes I remember to pay them and sometimes I don’t. I’m only human, after all. No, I doubt that would fly.

Is it a coincidence that both the dentist and the gardener mail out a typed invoice on a standard 8 ½ “ x 11” sheet of paper which has no perforated line at the top or the bottom? That’s the line that easily allows me to separate the portion of the invoice that gets returned with my check from the portion that I keep for our records. No perforated line means I have to use scissors to separate the two parts of the invoice or, if I don’t feel like getting up, repeatedly fold one section of the invoice in the same place until there’s a sufficient crease to neatly tear the the invoice into two sections. Mostly neatly; sometimes it looks like I used my teeth, which seems quite fitting for the dentist’s invoice.

And another thing. I think all return envelopes should be prepaid with no postage required on my part. I mean, let’s get real. Isn’t it enough that I’m sending these businesses my money? Now I have to affix a postage stamp. I have been given the privilege of paying to send them my money. Let that sink in. Not only am I giving them my money – I’m paying to do so.

And then we still have to take all our envelopes to the post office!

That, my friends, is “The Old B.O.H.I.C.A.” – Bend Over; Here It Comes Again.

You know, I really need to have another serious conversation with Bill about online banking.

NAR © 2023

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 12, 2023

33 thoughts on “THE OLD B.O.H.I.C.A.”

  2. After reading this I had a quick search to see if I still have a chequebook, and I do. According to the stub, the last one I wrote was in June 2015. If I tried to write a cheque, my handwriting’s so poor you probably wouldn’t be able to read it anyway! Every bank branch in my town has closed, or in one case is due to. I do everything financial online, how times have changed!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’m reading your comment, Keith, with an incredulous look on my face. You wrote “Every bank branch in my town has closed”; here in my town there seems to be a new bank popping up on every street (right next to every new CVS)!
      I make our payments by check because Bill feels more comfortable; it’s no skin off my nose however, left to my own devices, I would do online banking.
      There are pros and cons to both scenarios.

      Like

      Reply

  4. Hubby leaves all the financing stuff to me, but is aware of what’s going on. I have spreadsheets for just about everything, and do budget projections for the year ahead of the one we’re in. Currently I am starting 2025/2026. Bills are paid by monthly direct debit where possible, but card payments are used for car and house insurances. We rarely write cheques and a lot of establishments won’t accept them anyway. Apart from my spreadsheets, I have a cashbook and record all entries for all the accounts in that, then balance it to a temporary statement when we visit the bank. I don’t trust on-line banking, too many scary stories of fraud, and I like to manually oversee everything. Guess it goes back to my banking days as a teller and in later life a financial analyst. Number crunching is my thing and I enjoy it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. To be honest, I’ve got a knack for it and over the years have managed to make ends meet and have a small cushion. This definitely came in handy when we got caught in negative equity on the 1990s and lost thousands of pounds on our house. but still had to cover the outstanding mortgage which was higher than what we sold it for.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

          1. We were lucky as we were of the same mindset, saved like stink, had no luxuries and went without for 6 years by which time we had enough to cover the loss, pay all our legal fees, and the necessary deposit on the new house with a new mortgage. It’s now the norm for us, so we manage very well and always ask ourselves three questions when we’re thinking of buying anything new:
            Do I want this? Do I need this? Will my life end if I don’t have it.
            If we can’t afford to buy something outright, then we don’t have it until we can, and then it’s after doing some research to find out how much it will cost to run. No point having a top of the range car on the drive if you can’t afford the road tax, insurance or fuel to put in it. (No, not interested in EVs)

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  5. Interesting, Nancy! BOHICA is new for me, but here cheques are getting obsolete. Most of the payments are being made online through QR code. It’s instant payment. So no need to go for writing and despatching cheques. Cases of their getting misplaced or forged had also been reported to us.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. My sentiments exactly about stamps, letters and cards; not so much with post offices, at least not our PO. I’ve been to some lovely post offices so to paint them all with one broad brush is not fair.
      It’s wonderful when you have a great mail carrier who takes the job seriously and you know you can trust, one who you call by their first name.
      We had one; he was replaced by an inferior model.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Was gonna say, that must cost a fortune in stamps. Presumably you’re the same as us? Our state carrier (I suppose your equivalent is USPS) now has competition. They get less and less business because, basically, they’re crap. So they hike the prices up and up and up.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. BOHICA… registered 😆😎

    I get where Bill is coming from… I am old school, too.
    People nowadays use their mobile phones for everything, including bank transactions… I often ask them: which antivirus protection are you paying for ( apart from the built in, which is insufficient)?
    Answer comes as a blank stare 😆

    (By the way, USA banks are the only banks I have visited that Thanked me for my business)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ah, you get it! Truly, I don’t care one way or the other; if he’s happy and feels safer the old fashioned way, I’m all for it.

      The Old BOHICA! It’s a classic line I’ve shared with friends over the years. Glad you like it! Feel free to use it any time! 😄

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Ooooh no!!! I never said that, sis! 😂
      I’ve had my share of horror stories with the esteemed UPSP! I’ve even written a few stories about them. It comes down to which agita is more tolerable – the angst from the postal system or arguing with Bill. I choose peace at the homefront. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Tell me what you're thinking. 🖊️