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Managing my Money Better
Murphy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Until recently, I had been unemployed for several years. I have a free checking account that I opened as a student, and though I do put money in there on occasion, I have usually dealt in cash only. Now that I have money coming in, I'd like to 1.) Make better use of it. 2.) Pay off my debt. and 3.) Save
I don't want to worry about #3 until #2 is taken care of, but that doesn't mean my money can't do some work for me in the meantime. Currently I have a free checking account with US Bank. They have been ok, except when it comes to fees, and now that I live in NE instead of SW Ohio, ATM and branch office availability is scarce.
I've heard really good things about ING Direct and other online checking/savings options, and I wanted to find out which ones were good and which ones were just terrible. How is ATM availability? How do you deal with deposits? Checks? What if you need fast cash? Anything else I should know about?
What's the best way to sort out my debt situation if I don't know exactly where I stand?
I've been reading some blogs like The Simple Dollar and stuff like that, but is there anything else out there worth a look? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any help!
I don't want to worry about #3 until #2 is taken care of, but that doesn't mean my money can't do some work for me in the meantime. Currently I have a free checking account with US Bank. They have been ok, except when it comes to fees, and now that I live in NE instead of SW Ohio, ATM and branch office availability is scarce.
I've heard really good things about ING Direct and other online checking/savings options, and I wanted to find out which ones were good and which ones were just terrible. How is ATM availability? How do you deal with deposits? Checks? What if you need fast cash? Anything else I should know about?
What's the best way to sort out my debt situation if I don't know exactly where I stand?
I've been reading some blogs like The Simple Dollar and stuff like that, but is there anything else out there worth a look? Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Murphy on
0
Posts
Never cash work checks, Always always deposit them, better yet do direct deposit if your job has that option.
Figure out your monthly expenditures, subtract from how much you earn a month. Anything left over is savings. Add some for recreation, but keep it light. You don't have to go spending 50 bucks a week at bars and buying every videogame you see. Saving is more about self control than anything.
Yes we all like to have fun, but you can be reasonable too.
For the debt:
What kind of debt? How much?
Really tally out your bills and see what you are paying to live, then work off your debt as you can. If you have some extra one month, say because you stayed in a lot or what ever, use that to pay off debt.
If your bills seem too high, there are things you can do to keep costs down. Buy generic stuff, turn lights out, turn AC up when you leave. The little things really add up.
Sorry if that seems all over the place, just giving my thoughts.
Edit:
I never carry cash, never go to the ATM or anything. I just use my bank debit card for everything. No credit cards either, they are debt pools.
In the event you do need cash an ATM is always an option.
Most banks now issue bank cards and checks for a small fee or free. I keep checks on hand because sometimes you just need a one.
I keep everything on there, including my car loan (and if I had student loans I would have them there as well) except for my investments (because I like to be in a financial position where I can disregard it when looking at my income, so I am not tempted to cash into it).
It's also good to have a credit card, even if you only use it for gas or food purchases and pay it off immediately. They may be a debt pool, but you will need to build credit if you ever want to both buy and have a good rate on a house/car.
As far as your checking account, you should look at banks that are local to you and are very prevalent in the area. Most banks don't charge ATM fees when you use their ATMs, and some don't do it at all. I'd look all the different options you have.
As far as savings accounts, fatwallet and mint will give you info on who has the best rates and all that other stuff.
Credit cards aren't even a factor right now. My credit is awful. But that's something I'd like to improve at some point.
My thought re: internet banking was that I could get an account that pays interest, but keep my free checking account around for quick cash or transfers. My work doesn't have direct deposit for some reason, so I would still need to deposit money somewhere.
Like, I pay my rent and utilities to my landlord directly, so when the transaction goes through Mint I split it into two separate transactions, one for rent and another for utilities. Another example would be buying clothes, school books and a video game on Amazon in the same order. You could split that order up individually.
Also you can make your own categories, so when I sell something on Amazon/Ebay I have it categorize into "Yard Sale" as opposed to "Misc. Income"
I think there are tutorials on the site was well.
The only real drawback is that if you want to deposit a check, you either have to go into a Schwab branch, or mail it to them. I can't complain about this as I rarely have to deal with personal or business checks, and when I do there's a branch right by me. Even if there wasn't, they give you a bunch of pre-paid deposit envelopes.
They also revamped their site interface a few months ago - I occasionally bitch about the new one only because I was used to the old one (and I'm a cranky old man).