Scanned check deposit = win

Normally if I deposit a check via ATM, it takes at least 2 days to show up in the account, another 2 (business days) to be "available." I note that to date I've been using a "foreign" credit union ATM, not one owned by my CU. As of about 2 months ago there's one relatively close by work and I've used it once but didn't keep track of the timing on the deposit, it could be a little faster.

If I mail the check (they give me postage paid envelopes so it's easier than bothering swinging past an ATM), add 2 more days to that.

I did a scanned check deposit with Ally on Monday night around 10PM, and this morning the money was available. According to their site, if I'd gotten it scanned before 4PM it would have been there and available the next morning.

I've always assumed that, for the last 10 or 15 years at least, the only reason for at least one or two of those days of unavailable cash is just the banks taking every last minute they can before having to pay interest, but this may prove that wrong; it's possible that it just takes that long to get the checks scanned and entered (someone has to LOOK at the check and confirm the amount). Or maybe they're doing it to get people on board, obviously this saves them money. For historical reasons they don't make any money on checks (which is why they really want you to use that debit card) and processing them requires actual humans. This takes that out of the equation.

I expect this to take hold in general with any bank with a web presence (are there any that don't?) because this is actually a 3rd party service, not internal to Ally.

Car dead

The 97 Taurus has died. I put new front brakes on it Saturday, and when I went to start it afterwards, as best I can tell, the timing chain jumped. Step one in that repair is "remove engine" and at a shop that is $1300 just in labor just to get that far, so it's not really reasonable to repair the thing, retail on it if running is only about $2500. There's no way we'd get it out of there for < $1800, and we'd still have a rusty car with an engine the burned oil. I'm capable of fixing it myself but it's not really worth my time or tying up the garage bay for the 3 weekends minimum for a repair, let alone that this is a really bad time for all my weekends to be taken up.

I also JUST put brand new headlights into the thing about 2 months ago. If it goes to a junkyard I'm definitely pulling the brand new brake components and returning them to the store, they literally never moved an inch, or at least, not when they weren't on a tow truck.

So now we need to start shopping for a used car for the college kid to drive for the next couple of years, then it'll probably go to the younger kid.