Originally posted by: Aimster
Ok this is getting off-topic but how does it make me a bad guy if I just check her account? I never tell her what to spend money on or anything. She just isn't very money smart and goes off and spends her check card like she has all the money in the world. She's been spoiled so much by her parents she is clueless (she is young, 18). I'll be honest unlike other girls who are independent she is not and I have to make sure she doesn't go and blow all her money on clothes and not have money for school. When I say make sure I just tell her she has no money in her account to do the things she wants to do and in the end she won't have money that she needs and then I will be stuck paying her bills since her parents dont have any extra since they bought a house. She is very used to me paying for everything and Im trying to put an end to that by making her realize money doesn't grow on trees. She makes $200-500 a month when she works and I deposit money in the account too when I run low on cash and she ends up using her check card for when we are out. But I never tell her what to buy ever.
I asked her if I could use her account and she agreed. I didn't force her to give me the login for her account.
Well, to keep this post SOMEWHAT on-topic, if you call the bank immediately, they'll likely waive any liability. I once had a problem with a merchant who didn't deliver the product I paid for, so I called my bank (I used my bank card). The woman on the line said, "Sorry, we can't dispute charges because of a merchant dispute. However, if this were something bought using a card that was stolen, we'd be able to cancel the charge and begin an investigation." So you'll likely get a lot of help if you call the bank.
Now, I firmly believe that yes, people who need money management skills should be watched, carefully. But to access someone's bank account records I believe is just wrong. It boils down to an issue of trust for me. If my girlfriend asks me for advice on something, I'll tell her. If she then goes and squanders her money on something completely wasteful, then that's her problem, and I'll get to say "I told you so!" But I don't think it's right to check up on her bank account records. It's an issue of trust for me...everyone makes purchasing/saving mistakes, but I wouldn't want to see her financial records unless we were sharing a checking account (which would imply we were married).