Red Ink

Here's a handy tip to help you avoid red ink in your household budgeting: Don't use red ink. A couple in Berkeley, California, learned this lesson the hard way, after they received some checks for Christmas that the husband's grandfather had written out with a red pen. They deposited the checks - for $100 each - in an ATM. And that's when the nightmare began.

The following week, they went to pay their mortgage, and found that their paychecks, which were usually direct-deposited into their account, never showed up. When they asked why this had happened, the bank told them their account had been closed, due to fraud. The problem was that a computer had "read" the red-inked checks, decided they were blank, and declared them fraudulent. The bank's check-imaging system functions in blank and white, so it can't see red very well, just blue or black ink.

After a couple of weeks of wrangling, and getting the San Francisco Chronicle involved, the couple got their checking privileges restored, with the bank covering all overdraft fees from when the account was closed. But you can bet they won't be depositing any more red checks.