Organizing ma vie : Les Finances Pt 1
Organizing ma vie : Les Finances Pt 2
Organizing ma vie : Les Finances Pt 3
I don’t know about you, but when I was young my mother opened up a bank account for me. You know the kind that you actually go deposit your chunk of change you spend weeks doing chores in the house to get. A child account, at her bank. Well, when I turned 16, I got my first paying job and well, I didn’t know much about banks so I stayed with Desjardins seeing it was the easiest way (then). As time passed, I never really looked at other banks because I didn’t really know anything about money. So I, Kelly, loyal customer stayed with my current institution. Then came college and with it my first credit card. Le Sigh. Of course I went with my current bank credit card, because it was easy. If only I knew what I was getting into. I did do something partly right, opened up a savings account with ING back in 2003. At least I was getting a little money back on my tiny savings.
While working on my debt-free plan, the first thing Dave Ramsey talks about is cutting down, lower your payments (on things you can) cancel unnecessary wants (until you can afford it) and change your bank if you have endless fees. I didn’t go to the full extreme. Yes, I still have my iphone and we have cable… but I was able to reduce both cell & cable/internet bills combined by 70$ (which is not so bad) We are tv & internet people so you we have to have SOMETHING to look forward to seeing we aren’t going out or eating at restaurants (for 24 month)
Seeing Dave talks about local endorsed providers (people he trusts and tells readers to do business with) but local means in the US, it was hard for me to relate or find the best options out here. in Canada. I knew I paid crazy fees with my current bank but thought it was the norm. (lack of financial education on my part) I thought I couldn’t escape it and seeing we have 3 accounts, each a personal and one joint… our fees were ridic when you actually put it on paper. Just my account alone was 15$ in fees per month, Marc’s 7$/month and our joint 4$/month. That’s over 300$ a year, and not to mention the countless times we went over our allowed number of transactions. WHAT?!!!! Money I am just giving away for fees (when I do all my banking online?!) I was not happy. I actually was pissed at myself for not taking better care of my money. Money I worked hard for. Money I was clearly giving away to my bank. MASSIVE FAIL!!!
Here is just a little idea of what banks charge as fees. This is an overview but in the end it comes down to the same thing. They charge YOU for using YOUR money at THEIR bank. You are doing them a favor putting YOUR money in their company and they say thanks by charging fees. NO THANKS!
So I started googling “Canadian No Fee” or “High Interest” Debit Accounts because I didn’t want to be ripped off anymore. I wanted to stand up for myself and wanted to take action. In my search, two results came back. YAY! Then when I clicked on the link, there I was, on the ING website which talked about their THRiVE fee less checking account. Fee less… as in FREE. How is that even possible? How did I not know this? At this point I didn’t care, I was just beyond happy.
AND to make things even easier (not as if I needed any convincing) but they were giving 100$ bonus if you got your paycheck deposited directly in your account. 100$ FREE. I KID YOU NOT! So I started the process of switching all my bills and payroll. Is/was it a pain? Yes, I won’t lie. But I was ready to have 300$ more in my pocket at the end of the year. It was worth it, and now I am passing the information along because clearly you need to get a THRiVE checking account (if you don’t have one already)
They don’t have the 100$ bonus promotion (ends tomorrow Aug 31st) but you can get a 25$ bonus if you open an account using my Orange Key 20549504S1 (with a 100$ start up amount) I mean a free 25$ why not? Right. Definitely kick starts the savings with a bang. Just to be clear, I was not paid to blog about ING Direct or the THRiVE checking account. Did so because I truly believe in this bank and they are helping me get to my debt-free goal. Plus, apparently orange is my color. Talk about being a great fit 
I will talk about the envelope system. Paying cash for everything. Myth about credit cards. I’m pretty sure you all think I’m crazy, but trust me when I say it’s worked for us thus far and I really don’t care if people think we are crazy, because in 2 years, I’ll simply be laughing at everyone who laughed at us (and is in debt ) :]
[ on a side note : I have no background in finance and everything I am blogging about in this series of posts is from personal experience and my determination to help others life the debt free life. ]
Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! official blog of Blushink with 5 comments
Wow, those fees are ridiculous! I’m glad you found something that was so much better! I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about ING…I might do some more research on how they compare to our bank and if switching might be a good idea! Thanks!
Wow! I’m shocked at all those fees! Is this a Canada thing? I’ve never encountered a bank that limits how many transactions you can have. I would blow that out of the water in no time. I can’t tell you the last time I kept cash in my wallet. Thanks so much for bringing these to light though. I had been hanging on to my pre-marriage Bank of America account for sentimental reasons, even though when I moved to my hubby’s home town the nearest BofA was over 40 miles away. I looked at my checking fees and it was over $12 a month just to keep an account I had $8 in. How crazy is that? So I just now called them up and cancelled it! Because of your awesome post! You just saved me $150 a year! So thanks for being vigilant about your debt-free living!
Well I’m sure there are bank fees in the US but probably not as expensive as here in Canada. Maybe it’s because we have a much smaller global population? The idea that I’ve given them over 2500$ in the last 8 years is depressing. I’m glad my post got you to cancel your account! Yay for 150$ more in your pockets!!!
I’m really loving this series. We are also in focus-on-finances mode. We met our goal of paying off our credit cards before our baby was born in March and now we’re attacking the car loan. We really have to be careful now that I’m a SAHM. This post was a great reminder to me to check out my bank’s fees. Looks like I’ve been avoiding them by having my check direct deposited, but now that I’m not working, I will have to reconsider staying with this bank. $12 a month in checking fees and $5 a month for a savings account is ridiculous!
Thanks Lindsay. My intentions werent to make this a series, but I guess I have alot to say
I think switching to a fee less bank is a good idea. even more so being a SAHM those fees can amount to the price of a bag of diapers 