Cut your cell phone bill! me and the sysop / Flickr
We share five must read blog posts about saving money every Friday.
Tying the knot? Find out how marriage affects finances. (Money Girl’s Smart Moves to Grow Rich)
Going over your minutes? Donna Freedman show you how to cut your phone and Internet bills. (Surviving and Thriving)
Hoarding ketchup and picking up extra napkins at restaurants — frugal or not? The Silicon Valley Blogger writes about thievery vs. frugality. (The Digerati Life)
Higher bank fees are coming! Avoid debit card fees with these four suggestions. (Wisebread)
Group buying the latest trend? Sites that bundle buyer orders to help them secure a discount previously only available to retailers, are springing up left and right. Is this the latest saving-money trend? (The Guardian)
borman818 / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Weeks before graduation, I received a letter from my bank telling me I would no longer qualify for a student account and that I needed an average daily balance of $1,500. Boo!
With my student account I managed to avoid bank fees as long as I never stepped in to the bank and only used the ATM for my transactions. According to the bank’s letter, the fees would kick in on or after June 4. I prepared by transferring money from my savings account on June 1.
A couple days later, I was slapped with a $8.75 fee. What?!?! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately called my bank.
“Hi. I’d like to know why I was charged a fee when I met the average daily balance for my account.”
“Sure, let me check our records,” said the bank teller.
Turns out I
kenteegardin / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
With bank fees increasing due to debit card swipe fees getting capped, it’s time to take these four easy steps to avoid bank fees.
- Give your bank a call- I called my bank and requested my personal schedule of fees and deposit agreement. Didn’t get charged for this, thank goodness! It contains a list of all the bank fees I could end up paying if I’m not careful. Now I know that if I lose my card, I’ll have to pay $5 for a replacement. I could also get slapped with a $20 per hour fee for research (more…)
Broken Piggy Bank / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
CCN Money made a list of the 9 most annoying bank fees and included information as to why banks charge the exorbitant fees. Here are the nine pesky bank fees and my suggestions to avoiding them.
- Forgetting to update your address – If you are moving, make it your top priority to call your bank and change your mailing address to avoid this fee. I have a post office box where I have important mail delivered for security reasons and to avoid having to deal with address changes.
- Cashing in your coins – Coin-counting fees at many banks run at 5% or more. In my post about gift cards with perks, I shared that Coinstar no longer
This lady is ticked off by bank fees. Credit: Betsssssy/Flickr
Whatever happened to credit and debit card fees? You might remember I wrote about debit cards being cash cows for banks, which was followed by a post on major banks eliminating fees. Banks exist to profit, so many are raising existing fees to make up for ones that have been disallowed. Here is a list from Billshrink with examples. The good news is that these fees are much more transparent and upfront.
- Credit card interest rates are rising. Over the past six months, nearly 20% of card issuers have (more…)
