Personal Finance Archives

How to Save Automatically and Eliminate Bank Fees with Chime

Chime Card Reviews - What Is Chime Card?

If you often find yourself struggling to save money on a regular basis and at the mercy of monthly fees, overdraft fees, and nearly every other type of fee your bank cheerfully tacks onto your accounts, then perhaps it’s time for a new approach to personal financial management. Chime bank and the Chime card may just be the right bank account and debit card to help you take back control over your personal finances, finally start saving, and stop paying bank fees once and for all.

Chime, for instance, is an up-and-coming online and mobile bank account that offers a simple way of tricking yourself into saving more money. Rather than gouging you on bank fees, Chime offers a spending account and a savings account with no monthly minimums or fees, no overdraft, no international fees, and a fee-free ATM network. Plus, they offer an automatic savings program that delivers weekly savings bonuses to their cardholders.

Additionally, Chime has some pretty cool features if you’re having trouble getting started savings. I had the opportunity to check out Chime for myself. And, the results were awesome!

Chime Card Review – What Is Chime Banking?

When you sign up for a Chime bank account and a Chime Visa Debit card, you can transfer funds into your new Chime account for free and use the card anywhere Visa cards are accepted. It’s a demand deposit bank account with a debit card. So, like all checking accounts, you can only pay for items with your Chime card after you’ve deposited funds into your Chime bank account.

You also have the option of setting up direct deposit from your employer directly to your Chime spending account. You also receive access to the Chime Checkbook feature, in which Chime will mail physical checks on your behalf after you authorize a payment and provide them with the name and mailing address of the recipient.

Chime members can get paid up to two days early when they fund their account through payroll direct deposit. Chime makes it easy to set up direct deposit with a form that can be emailed or printed and provided to the employer.

There are many different options when it comes to managing your money with Chime. Not only does Chime offer its own Spending and Savings, but Chime also offers easy access to mobile check deposits and direct deposits into your accounts through the Chime app.

The Chime app is available for both iPhones and Android devices, allowing you to access real-time updates on your account balances, recent transactions, locate nearby fee-free ATMs, and contact Chime’s customer service on-the-go.

Good, Fast, or Cheap – How the Three Legged Stool Analogy Impacts Your Finances

by Hank Coleman

Is the three legged stool concept a myth?

Most of us have heard the old adage about the three legged stool analogy. It’s often referred to when buying products, both large and small.

You can only get two out of three attributes in almost all cases. Good, fast, and cheap – you can only have two.

So, you have to pick. You have to compromise sometimes.

For example, you can buy an item that is made with great quality parts, and the company can ship it to you fast. But, it won’t come cheap!

Look at the way the US government buys big pieces of military hardware. They often accept the lowest bidder to build the gear. They’ve got the cost part of the equation down, but you must choose between getting it fast or having a lower quality product with parts that may go bad very quickly. You almost always can’t have all three.

Wal-Mart vs. Firestone Tires and a Mother

The other day a friend of mine told me that she broke down in the middle of Wal-Mart. She’s a single mother of a toddler and was feeling stressed.

She said that she originally had a coupon to save $30 on new a set of new car tires at Firestone. She desperately needed new tires.

But, she knew that if she went to Firestone to make the purchase and put the tires on, her toddler wouldn’t have much to keep him occupied for the hour or two while they repaired the car. And, anyone with small children knows how quickly a toddler’s attention span can run out.

So, my friend made the conscious choice to get her tires replaced at Wal-Mart while she shopped even though it would be at a higher price – believe it or not Wal-Mart isn’t ALWAYS the lowest price in town.

She also needed groceries and other household items anyway, and she could knock out two birds with one stone while Wal-Mart repaired her car.

But, while she was there, she couldn’t get the thought out of her head that she was spending more by taking the path of least resistance. She chose the quality of her hour or two of her life keeping her son calm at Wal-Mart moving around and looking at toys and groceries over the instead of the lower cost at Firestone.

You may also like to check out my review of Jet.com. You should also check to see if wholesale clubs are right for you and your family.

You Are Missing Several Key Assets When Tracking Your Net Worth

by Hank Coleman

You’re missing a key part in your net worth calculations! You’re richer than you think you are. I’ve been critical of J Money’s monthly net worth updates for years now. Every month, he keeps us up-to-date on his net worth increases on his popular personal finance blog, Budgets Are Sexy. It makes me depressed about my own lack of large numbers when it comes to my net worth.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not mad, and I know that I shouldn’t be comparing myself to others. We’re all in separate places with different goals and situations in life. But, I can’t help but continue to dwell on J Money’s net worth updates when he posts them every month.

But, this time, I think I’m onto something. I think that he’s forgetting something, and subsequently so am I. We all might be forgetting something in our calculations. We all might be richer than we realize! Are you making this key mistake when you calculate your net worth? I bet you are, and you’re not alone.

Maybe there is more to these net worth numbers and the simple calculations of our assets and liabilities. I think J Money is unrepresenting his net worth and leaving money on the table. I think we all are. Our net worth numbers can be even larger, and maybe some of us are closer to J Money than we think.

You’re Leaving Out a Few Assets

Where do you draw the line on what is an asset? We all understand thanks to J and his posts that to calculate your net worth, you simply subtract all of your debts from a list of assets like your home, investments, and your cars.

But, we are leaving out key assets to our calculations. It struck me when I had an argument with my friend Blake a few months ago whether or not your cars deserve to be included in your net worth as an asset. It does! I agree with J in that respect. My friend was leaving out his cars as an asset, but he was surely including his car loans in the list of liabilities. This greatly underestimated his net worth.

So, that got me thinking about other assets that we typically do not include in our net worth calculations. I think that we are a little better off in our wealth than we all think.

7 Ways to Control of Your Own Thoughts from Says Who by Ora Nadrich

by Hank Coleman

The following is a guest post by Ora Nadrich, who is the author of Says Who? How One Simple Question Can Change The Way You Think Forever. If you’d like to guest post on Money Q&A, check out the site’s guest posting guidelines.

I can’t, I won’t ever — these are but two examples of the thousands of negative thoughts that race through our minds in many situations. They’re so loud we can’t hear ourselves above them. They hold us hostage in a whirlwind of doubt and worry. But they don’t have to. Whenever a negative thought takes hold in your mind, challenge it. Just like a trespasser, you can chase it away.

It starts by immediately questioning the thought as it enters your head, using the Says Who? Method. In my book, Says Who? How One Simple Question Can Change The Way You Think Forever, I lay out the seven questions that can banish those inner bullies. You are the creator and master of your internal dialogue, which creates your reality. So now, time to show your mind who’s boss.

Here are the 7 Says Who? questions:

Says Who?

Whenever a negative though pops into your head, ask it: Says Who? The question exposes a negative thought for exactly what it is: a doubt that can disrupt your life and damage your sense of well-being.

Have I heard someone say this thought before?

So many of the voices in our head are actually echoes. They’re old words we heard someone else say to us, such as a parent, spouse, or boss. By identifying the originator of the thought, you can find out if it really belongs to you. Many times, it doesn’t.

Cutting Down and Save on Monthly Grocery Bills with Coupons

by Hank Coleman

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food gets more expensive each year with a 2.5% increase in prices. Naturally, saving on groceries is a top priority for consumers. Today, it is possible to cut down your monthly grocery bill dramatically by using coupons, which can shave down the price on basic grocery items such as meats and fresh produce to staples like bread or eggs. You can learn how to save money with coupons. Superstores such as Walmart and other, smaller grocery stores are all offering coupon specials. So, why should you continue to pay full price when you can get your food at huge discounts? Start Collecting Coupons Remember, the more coupons you have, the more savings … Read more

How Does a Credit Union Work? Do They Live Up to the Hype?

by Hank Coleman

The Credit Union National Association reports that over 105 million Americans are members of a credit union. This makes up nearly a third of the population. But, a majority of Americans still use traditional banks to manage their money, and younger generations are reportedly less likely to use credit unions simply because they don’t understand and often ask – how does a credit unions work.

How Does a Credit Union Work?

There are many benefits of switching from a bank to a credit union, but it can also be a hassle to make the move, which also requires you to reroute all your bill payments, direct deposits, and other forms of incoming and outgoing payments. If you’ve considered leaving your banking institution for a credit union, but you’re not sure if the benefits outweigh the hassle, keep reading to decide whether or not credit unions live up to the hype.

Government-Backed Funds

There are a lot of misperceptions about credit unions that prevent people from exploring this option for their financial management, including the idea that credit union funds are not backed by the government. This is completely unfounded, as the National Credit Union Administration insurance exists as the federal government’s protective shield for credit union consumers, similarly to how FDIC insurance works.

Better Interest Rates on Savings Accounts and Loans

MyCreditUnion.gov asserts that, compared to banks, credit unions tend to offer higher interest rates on savings accounts and lower interest rates on loans for their consumers. For example, a 36-month auto loan from a credit union comes with an average interest rate of 2.71%, which is significantly lower than the 5.26% average interest rate a bank would charge for the same loan.

If you want to find the best mortgage rate, personal loan rate, or interest rate on a savings account, switching to a credit union could save you thousands of dollars in interest than if you stay with your traditional banking institution and take out a loan through them.