Bank Accounts

It is possible to get a bank account while on the street. Here is an article I wrote about how I did that.

I established a new local bank account on the street after establishing a mailing address. My son did so using Neil Good (a homeless services center in downtown San Diego, California) as a mailing address and phone number and he just asked them to send everything via email, not snail mail. We haven't had a problem.

I had a bank account with a fee when I was first on the street and it was $17/month. That's painful when money is so tight. I established a free checking account with a different bank to eliminate that expense.

I never told my bank that I was homeless. I did all I could to downplay that while I was on the street whenever I had to interact with a bank, the writing service I work for, etc. I always made sure I had some kind of street mailing address, not a PO box. I kept a cheap phone to keep an active phone number as well.