With all of the fees and low interest rates on savings accounts, banking can be surprising expensive. Consumer United has compiled a list of tips to help you avoid hidden fees and needless hassles.
Stay informed. A lot of banks stagger the order in which checks are deposited and accounts are debited in order to charge as many overdraft fees as possible. Keep a "cushion" in your checking account to ensure that any crafty banking practices won't dent your wallet.
Consider alternatives to a traditional checking account at a large, national bank. Credit unions sometimes have more flexibilities when it comes to overdrafting, and prepaid debit cards can also be a good option for customers who frequently send their accounts into the red through point of sale transactions.
Find a bank that works and stick with them. Banks may be more likely to accommodate the requests of long-term customers who have both checking and savings accounts. It's expensive for service providers to acquire new customers and maintaining a history with your bank will make them want to lose their established customers even less.
Get back to basics. With multiple accounts and a wallet full of debit and credit cards, it can be difficult to keep track of numerous balances. The more cards and accounts you have, the easier it is for you to overdraft. It's old-fashioned, but allotting a designated amount of cash for spending each week is a fool-proof solution.
It's easy to blow a budget ... and many already have. However, one can send a message by giving a gift gift with a personal finance focus.
The ultimate holiday season lesson? It's important to understand personal finances... at any age. We've compiled a list of gifts that are pro-active in understanding personal finance and suitable for kids from one to 92. Toys for kids: Give the gift of words, and read a book to a little one. There are many books on finance, such as Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday," by Judith Viorst. This story is about a boy who gets a dollar from his grandparents, what he wants to buy and how his money disappears.
A board game like Monopoly, Pay Day and Life are excellent gifts for those in elementary school. It teaches the basics, like how to pay for property and how to count money, while making finance extremely fun.
Kim E. Jones, a financial planner in Broomfield, Colorado, recommends the Money Savvy Pig, a piggy bank that has four different sections. One for saving, one for spending, one for donating and the last one is for investing. This way, kids can experiment with their money, and find the best solutions for themselves.
Presents for teens: If your teen wants money, don't fret. Offer to match the teen's savings as long as the money is spent wisely. "Any gift can be turned into a financial lesson with a little creativity," says Shelley Solheim, director of Financial Education for Capital One Financial Corp.
Why not buy a teen a share of stock? This will fuel an interest in stocks for the teen and the youngster will be eager to learn. Check out single shares of stock as framed gifts here.
Buy a teen a gift card for SmartyPig.com. The card can be used to open an account, or as money to add to SmartyPig. What is SmartyPig? SmartyPig is an account that is made with a specific goal in mind. The site also offers social networking, so an account holder can receive contributions from other people. Specific retailers offer dicounts that can be obtained once your savings goal is reached.
Gifts for all ages: Is your friend socially conscious? Donate some money to their favorite cause. Maybe even buy a charitable gift card that enables them to pick out a charity of their choice. 'TisBest Philanthropy, Just Give, and The Network for Good are all charity gift card vendors.
Need a gift for someone who isn't likely to read a book on personal finance? Buy The Nuru deck of personal finance flash cards. The flash cards contain 30 cards, and contain words on budgeting, investing, loans, retirement, and insurance. Buy it for $9.95 here.
With inflation on the rise, the purchasing power of the average consumer’s dollar is dropping quickly. According to the New York Times, consumers’ disposable income, or gross income less taxes, dropped nearly 2 percent in June alone. Adjusted for inflation, this amounts to about a 2.5 percent drop.
Such a rapid tightening of the economic belt has made careful budgeting even more important than it has been for many households. Budgets, however, can be extremely time-consuming to create. An added challenge is that you often have to know roughly how much you’re already spending on each expense in order to cut back.
There is some good news for the consumer, though, because a new wave of online personal banking technology is making budgeting easier than ever before. Most major online banking Web sites offer a “my portfolio” option which keeps track of exactly where your money goes when you shop with a debit card.
Other Web sites, such as mint.com, are devoted exclusively to personal budgeting. Mint.com allows visitors to keep track of all of their finances including bank accounts and credit cards. The site also allows visitors to see exactly where every dollar goes. Best of all, these services are totally free.
If you haven’t already made an online budget, go ahead and try using one. Chances are, you’ll be unpleasantly surprised at how much you’re paying for insurance, utilities, cable, or your cell phone -- just to name a few expenses.
Find the money burner in your budget and see if Consumer United can get you a better deal.
With all of the fees and low interest rates on savings accounts, banking can be surprising expensive. Consumer United has compiled a list of tips to help you avoid hidden fees and needless hassles.
