Banking and RVs

Although I am not in a hurry at this time, several readers told me I should call my bank and request access to the money that I deposited at least a week ago from the sale of my RV. I say I'm in no hurry, because I can't go anywhere right now except to local stores, and I certainly don't want to spend that money yet!

I'm not surprised at all because I've been through this before. When I sold my condo in Virginia (2003) and my house in North Carolina (2008) the proceeds were wired to my account and I had instant access to them. When I wrote a check for my 5ver and truck, you might remember I sat and cooled my heels for nearly a whole month because the seller's bank held up the funds. Of course they disappeared from my account within a day or two, but the seller couldn't even see them in her account.

In this instance, the full amount I received from my 5th wheel showed up in my account, and I'm almost certain I will be credited with the interest on these funds.

I have been dealing with a Federal Employees Credit Union in Cincinnati since I was 17 years old, and have watched it grow from a two-person office, to a full banking center with a number of branches in the metro Cincinnati area. I realize how much like a bank it is today when I was kept on hold for 35 minutes while "they were assisting other customers". Since my only phone is a cell phone and the minutes were ticking against my account, I finally hung up and emailed them.

I still love this credit union and wouldn't take a regular bank in place of them in a thousand years! The system is what it is and I can't do much about it, although knowing how they work, if I told them I needed xxxxx number of dollars right now to make a purchase of an RV, I'm sure they would allow me access to it. A credit union is more likely to bend the rules once in a while whereas a bank is more rigid. They have bent the rules for me many times in the past, including when I was living in Ireland and needed to buy a car, so I will go along with the situation as it is right now. As I said, I can't go to purchase and pick up the RV right away, and the money will be available when I can.

In the meantime I'm just trying to keep my excitement down to a manageable level, and try not to make too many lists of things I want to get for the camper. And of course I need to do an attitude adjustment on the amount of space I think I need, although that shouldn't be too difficult for me.