First Real Job...No Idea How to Save

[Whitechapel]

BuckyBadger is correct. I was looking at the effective monthly rate for the first year. Whether you pay it upfront or pay it out monthly, the total cost is the same: $28.32/month.

That said, I agree that it isn't so bad if it includes purchase of the modem and router.

Make sure you know what the rate jumps to after 12 months.

I checked, after 12 months I'm free to switch to any other deal. Hell maybe I'll sign up for Comcast and get a new customer deal with them. I got hit with 2 fees today too according to my Mint app...once is for $7.50 from Fifth Third and the other is $7.91 from Chase for a "finance charge". Wtf!

[disneysteve]

I got hit with 2 fees today too according to my Mint app...once is for $7.50 from Fifth Third and the other is $7.91 from Chase for a "finance charge".

Certainly check what the fees are for. If they are errors, get them reversed. If they are legitimate, make sure you don't repeat whatever caused them to occur.

[Whitechapel]

Certainly check what the fees are for. If they are errors, get them reversed. If they are legitimate, make sure you don't repeat whatever caused them to occur.

Well that's the thing, I didn't do anything or spend anything or go under. Here are the descriptions...

[disneysteve]

You don't necessarily have to do anything to incur a fee. If your bank account has a monthly fee, you pay it every month no matter what. Is that $7.50 something you've paid previously? If it is brand new, I'd call and ask about it. If it isn't new, I'd call and ask what you need to do to avoid paying it.

As for the credit card, that might just be interest but I'm not sure. I'd suggest looking at the actual account statements (or websites) rather than the mint.com summary.

[Whitechapel]

You don't necessarily have to do anything to incur a fee. If your bank account has a monthly fee, you pay it every month no matter what. Is that $7.50 something you've paid previously? If it is brand new, I'd call and ask about it. If it isn't new, I'd call and ask what you need to do to avoid paying it.

As for the credit card, that might just be interest but I'm not sure. I'd suggest looking at the actual account statements (or websites) rather than the mint.com summary.

I don't know if I've paid it previously, I don't think I have. If there are monthly fees then I am hands down switching to another bank. My buddy says Chase is everywhere here, so I may just switch to that. I'd need to do some homework.

[disneysteve]

I don't know if I've paid it previously

That should be easy enough to find out. Just pull out last month's statement (or pull it up online) and see.

I agree that there is no reason to pay $7.50/month for them to hold your money. There are plenty of places to get an account that won't cost you anything.

[Whitechapel]

That should be easy enough to find out. Just pull out last month's statement (or pull it up online) and see.

I agree that there is no reason to pay $7.50/month for them to hold your money. There are plenty of places to get an account that won't cost you anything.

Just scoped it out. October 13th, maintenance fee for $7.50. I'll switch banks. Let me talk to my coworkers and see what the general consensus is for good banking here. Like I said the one said that Chase is EVERYWHERE up here, which would be perfect for me. Plus our company uses Chase to write their checks, so that's always good.

[disneysteve]

Just scoped it out. October 13th, maintenance fee for $7.50. I'll switch banks.

I would call first. Find out if there is some way to avoid paying the fee. Sometimes it is a simple as changing the type of account you have. Or it could require maintaining a minimum balance (which you may or may not be able to do right now). Or you could be paying for something you don't really need or want.

A few months ago, a $3.00 fee showed up on my statement. I called and was told they had started charging a monthly fee to get the cancelled check images with my statement. I told them to stop sending them to me and eliminated the fee but was able to keep the account otherwise the same.

[Whitechapel]

I would call first. Find out if there is some way to avoid paying the fee. Sometimes it is a simple as changing the type of account you have. Or it could require maintaining a minimum balance (which you may or may not be able to do right now). Or you could be paying for something you don't really need or want.

A few months ago, a $3.00 fee showed up on my statement. I called and was told they had started charging a monthly fee to get the cancelled check images with my statement. I told them to stop sending them to me and eliminated the fee but was able to keep the account otherwise the same.

Honestly, I am looking for a new bank anyway. Fifth Third is out of the way for me. Not that I really go to the ATM for money, but it'd just be nice to know I have a bunch of locations to choose from for when I do need to go in or get money.

I think what I'm going to do is close down my Fifth Third account, open up a Chase checking account, and then open a checking and savings with a credit union.

[jteezie]

I get the sense that you are focusing on the wrong things and should look at the long run bigger picture otherwise you'll continue to run into these random fees and will keep putting out little fires daily.

Yes, the fees are bad, but what happens when you zero out your account and suddenly some service you paid for using that account gets shut off and you now find yourself with a cancellation fee and another overdraft fee.

I almost didn't feel like replying, but you're an intelligent guy who genuinely wants to and is fully capable of improving your situation. However, the disconnect between what you say and what you do are very disheartening.

[disneysteve]

I think what I'm going to do is close down my Fifth Third account, open up a Chase checking account, and then open a checking and savings with a credit union.

Why do you need 3 different accounts (and 2 checking accounts)?

[graceful]

I don't know if I've paid it previously, I don't think I have. If there are monthly fees then I am hands down switching to another bank. My buddy says Chase is everywhere here, so I may just switch to that. I'd need to do some homework.

I agree that Chase is EVERYWHERE in NYC also. We have banked with Chase for DECADES when it was still Chemical Bank in NYC. Can't beat it for convenience. HOWEVER, unless you can maintain a minimum balance (I want to say $1500), they sock you with a monthly service charge.

We had business accounts that had lower balances that kept getting monthly service charges of $20+. Moved them to Wamu for the free business checking. Wamu soon got absorbed by Chase and we are back where we started after Chase grandfathered the free checking for a limited time. Now the monthly charge is $18 and I need to shop around again.

Make sure you can qualify for a FREE checking there before opening an account. It may be a much lower amount to OPEN an account versus a higher amount to keep from being assessed a fee. I think that they might have a free checking option if you get your paycheck direct deposited into the account.

Good luck.

[graceful]

Why do you need 3 different accounts (and 2 checking accounts)?

I agree that you don't need so many accounts right now especially since you don't have the money to fund all of them yet.

Stick with Chase for now if you qualify for free checking. Open up an on-line savings account (ING, Ally, etc.) and link it to the checking.

Otherwise, look into the credit union accounts, one that has a large ATM network or fully reimburses you for using other ATMs.

When you actually HAVE a few grand in the bank without it all being spent in the next week because of upcoming bills/payment, then start looking into more than one account.

Good luck.

[riverwed070707]

And yes, I have been wanting to be hand held to a budget. Because I don't know the do's and don'ts. All I ever do is write out a balance, and then try to figure out expenses. But I never know what to do. Or what to pay when. Maybe some help on this?

I think first you need to understand the point of a budget. A budget is a measuring tool so see how well your spending habits align with your goals. You can have a budget that makes it appear that you're savings $500/mo but that means nothing if your spending doesn't actually reflect that.

That said, what you should be doing with your budget, once created, is tracking your spending for each month and at the end of the month totaling up all of your expenses for each category in your budget to see how much you spent in relation to what you budgeted for. Every penny that leaves your wallet needs to be accounted for, and every expense has a category. One thing that was difficult for me in the beginning was figuring out where my expenses should go, but once everything has a place, it's pretty easy and you only need to balance the budget once or twice a month.

Regarding when to pay bills, I pay all mine through my banks bill pay system so I have a record of it all. I pay bills twice a month -- once on the 15th for all the bills that are due in the second half of the month and once on the 30th for all the bills that are due at the beginning of the following month. This way it's easier to track what has been paid and what hasn't. I keep a list of all my bills along with estimated payments with all my budget stuff so I can make sure everything gets paid on time. If you switch to a method like this, you will really have to be responsible about your spending because that means not spending your whole paycheck the day you receive it. It's all about habits, and you *can* change them.

[LookBeforeSpending]

At the start, don't worry as much about how to save and instead, just plain SAVE! You need to decide how much you can save. Then, just make sure that amount finds its way into a savings account.

I fully recommend ING bank for saving and fee free banking. Their basic savings account pays 1% interest and you can probably hit a promotion and get $50 free with a $1000 deposit. Look into it for sure! Also, once with ING, after you have saved a bit, you can easily get into their investing options.