Reply #22: A number of these are not OK

[Ediacara]

Many businesses will not accept checks with a PO Box as an address. It is also not legal for banking institutions to accept a PO Box as an address (although they can print that on your check).

You must sign the reverse of your credit cards. They're technically not activated without a signature and anyone accepting them is breaking the law. You may also write in huge capitol letters CHECK PHOTO I.D (which is what I do), but the card has to be signed on the reverse.

Three more tips that I would like to bring up are these:

1) Never, ever, ever put your social security card in your waller. This should be common sense, but I feel that over 50% of Americans store their social security card in their wallets and that's just a disaster waiting to happen.

2) Do not have your drivers license or telephone number printed on your checks. If a store really really needs them, they can ask you and input them into the computer manually.

3) If you live in one of the (shockingly many) states that use your SSN as your drivers license number for "convenience," DON'T DO IT! They all have alternatives to the SSN, and new federal laws stop this practice, but it will take many years for the old licenses to expire and the SSN/DLN to phase out.