Well as most of you have seen from my FB posts earlier today, you will notice that I am not very happy with Suntrust Bank. Today I found out that they have "discontinued" their "Free" checking accounts and have moved all of those accounts to their "basic checking" and only after I logged into my account this morning and realized that they have assessed a $7 a month "maintenance" fee for each account. I have been a loyal client of theirs for over 11 years and I have had several Business and Personal accounts with them throughout that time. What upsets me the most is after having a "chat" with one of their reps, I was told that there are only two ways to waive such a fee, one was a direct deposit of over $100 or having, get this, a $500 minimum daily average balance in each account.
Now this is where it makes me angry. As most of us don't realize...these banks NEED our funds/deposits. They can't function without them. They take our funds, and lend them out to other people, in the forms of Mortgages, Lines of Credit, Credit cards etc. If they didn't have these funds on deposit they wouldn't be able to lend. And what's even funnier is that NOW they are trying to charge us fees to allow them to make even more money on our deposits. It's kind of like saying this: "John Doe gives Jane Smith $100 to lend to Jane Doe at a rate of 29.99% (credit card rates), and Jane Smith turns to John Doe and says you have to pay me a $7.00 monthly fee to me for allowing me that privledge" And all along, it's John Doe's money that is being lent out to others, of which he doesn't make a dime, AND he has to pay the fee to Jane Smith. Does this make any sense to anyone?
This is why I am angry. I use the Banking system out of pure convenience. I know they are going to lend my money out to other people and make a fortune on those funds. And I have been just fine with that because it affords me some convenience (i.e online bill pay etc). But where I draw the line is when banks think they are irreplacedable and start charging us for our own funds.
If you really think about it, why do they advertise? Why do they compete? They NEED our funds, we DON'T need them. So as a part of this entry, I challenge those of you from the US (because Canadian banks are very different) to push back against "maintenace fees", 'debit card fees" and any other fee they will try to charge you to access your own funds. Many credit unions allow for ABSOLUTELY free checking, AND everytime you use your debit card as a credit card (no PIN # entered), they actually give back to your local community. Unlike the bigger banks who actually get paid from Mastercard or Visa everytime you sign instead of enter your pin #, then have the NERVE to try and charge us to hold our funds in their bank, even though they NEED our funds to survive.
Think about this.... IF everyone pulled their money from all the banks in the world tomorrow, what would happen? Banks would cease to exist and collapse. Our money is like their blood, without it, they CAN"T SURVIVE!
And I refuse to stand by and allow this to continue to happen...
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Steps to a Higher Credit Score!
Ok, for those of you who follow my posts, you should know by now, how I feel about using credit to purchase things that you can easily pay cash for. And with that idea in our heads, let me revise those thoughts into something a bit more useful. The use of credit to purchase luxury items that you CAN NOT afford is a trap. STAY AWAY from this at all costs! If you can't control your spending, and you don't have the money THEN YOU SHOULDN'T BE SHOPPING!
Now that I got that out of the way, I want you to know that the use of "credit" is not always a bad thing. It can help you get better interest rates on big ticket items (i.e a house or a car) and it is a HUGE factor in the way your credit score is calculated.
So let's take a look at how they come up with your "scores" and see if we can build some habits to help keep your credit score as high as possible. Let's start with the building blocks of a good credit score.Your credit score is based multiple factors. So lets take a look at them below.
Building a Good Credit Score
Ok so now that you know the steps to building good credit and KEEPING good credit, let's take the steps to keep those scores HIGH!
Paycheck Distribution Coaching has been created to help you keep control of your finances, educate you on how the "financial" industry works and to keep you informed and motivated to reach your financial goals. Everyone needs a coach....a Paycheck Distribution Coach.
Please follow me at www.facebook.com/paycheckdistributioncoach
Linked In - Irene M Cruz.
Twitter- www.twitter.com/irenemcruz
Now that I got that out of the way, I want you to know that the use of "credit" is not always a bad thing. It can help you get better interest rates on big ticket items (i.e a house or a car) and it is a HUGE factor in the way your credit score is calculated.
So let's take a look at how they come up with your "scores" and see if we can build some habits to help keep your credit score as high as possible. Let's start with the building blocks of a good credit score.Your credit score is based multiple factors. So lets take a look at them below.
Building a Good Credit Score
- Income-Everything starts with your income. The higher your income the more credit you can take on without a hit to your credit score, this includes revolving credit as well.
- Length of your credit history- In this case the longer you have history the better. One easy way to keep your score higher is to maintain old credit cards. Even if you want to move on, closing that account that has been open for five or ten years will affect your score negatively. It is best to keep a zero balance on this account, use it for one purchase every three or four months, and request your balance lower to the minimum allowable.
- Credit Cards: How Many is Too Many?- The other side of this is having too many credit cards. Credit card limits reflect the total amount of revolving credit available to you. The more credit you have available to you, the less credit you will be able to qualify for. All of this contributes to a lower credit score. Keeping two (three maximum) is the best way to go. Revolving credit includes department store cards, grocery store cards, gas cards, etc. Avoid signing up for cards that promise store discounts because that limit will be reflected on your credit score.
- Avoid taking the automatic limit increases. There is no need to have a high credit card limit that you never come close too. Your emergency credit card should have a limit under $10,000. High limits negatively affect your score, so keeping track of them can keep your score higher. Keep control over this!
- Request a limit increase- this comes in handy to keep your "available credit" numbers high. If you have too much of a balance on your credit card, this can have a negative affect on your credit, so you want to keep your balance at about 35%-50% of what your "credit limit" is on each card.
- Applying for Credit-Too many applications will also ding your credit score, but not by much. Remember, your credit score enables you to get credit, so don’t go overboard avoiding all credit. When you do need to apply for credit, make sure all of the applications happen in a 30 day period. You only get one ding per 30 days because the companies expect you to use credit. This will not seriously affect your score unless you constantly apply for credit.
- Make sure that your payments are on time. I know this sounds like a given, but you would be surprised how many people don't know this one. If you miss a payment, it could lower your credit score by as much as 100 points! Missing a payment is the quickest way to ruin your credit. But there are some tricks to this. There are two different types of "late". The first type of late is according to your credit card company. If your payment is due on the 1st and you pay on the 2nd, your "late" and they assess you a "late fee penalty". This can add up so try to avoid this at all costs. The second type of late is "credit score late". Credit card companies are known for waiting for you to be 30 days late before reporting it to the credit beareaus. So if you need to be late and are worried about it, this is a nifty trick to help keep your credit scores up.
- Don't carry high balances on your credit cards. Having more than 35% of your credit card used up could lower your credit score. To keep your balances low, and ONLY if your good at managing your money, you can use your credit card for something that you could pay cash for and then pay the balance off at the end of the month. That way you can pay it off quickly, but are still using it so you are building your credit.
- Credit History- We went over this in "building" your credit. The longer a credit card is open, the more it helps your credit score, so never close a credit card, even if you don't use it very often. Closing a ten year old credit card could take a bite out of your credit score.
- Avoid store credit cards. The use of store credit cards is considered to be risky due to the fact that most stores where you can get credit cards sell luxury items. In which case, at that store you would be making luxury purchases which are one of the biggest reasons people are in such HIGH DEBT!
- Payment History- Paying bills on time makes you a less risky borrower. Everyone makes mistakes, so don’t expect that one payment you sent in three days late to show up on your score. Being chronically late; however, will ding your credit score. There is no magic number of late payments that gets you on the late payer list, but it takes more than one and less than five late payments (in a row). Some of this can be delayed by simply working with the company that you will be paying late. In the event of an emergency, calling your credit card companies and working out a plan you stick to can save you unnecessary dings on your credit score.
Ok so now that you know the steps to building good credit and KEEPING good credit, let's take the steps to keep those scores HIGH!
Paycheck Distribution Coaching has been created to help you keep control of your finances, educate you on how the "financial" industry works and to keep you informed and motivated to reach your financial goals. Everyone needs a coach....a Paycheck Distribution Coach.
Please follow me at www.facebook.com/paycheckdistributioncoach
Linked In - Irene M Cruz.
Twitter- www.twitter.com/irenemcruz
Monday, February 7, 2011
Equal Dollars: Avoid Arguements and clash of financial personalities.
Ok, now we all know that creating a budget is important to help keep your financial life in order. And as I have mentioned in the past, if you don't have a coach to show you how to create it correctly, it could do you more harm than good. But even when you have created a budget that fits and make sense for your financial reality, there are still some more components that can come around and destroy all of your hard work! So in this post, we are going to talk about the different personality types and how they can affect your budgeting plans and essentially your life.
Most of the experts say that there are four different financial personality types. Spender, Saver, Avoider and Monk. Below you will find a breakdown of each one....
1. The spender- this may seem obvious but, this person spends and spends pays no attention to the budget created. There is something inside of them that is compensating for something else, and just feels the need to spend as their heart desires. This person can destroy your budget more than any other personalities.
2. The saver- this person thinks it's more important to save for the future than to enjoy the present. They are HIGHLY anal about the budget and any deviation can make them crazy. They are usually the "responsible' ones too. Combine a spender with a saver and one can be called "fun" and the other "boring".
3. The avoider- now this person just avoids the bills all together. They don't want to know anything about a budget or about the interest they are paying on their credit cards. They usually WILL NOT even open a bill to see the balance or when it's due. This person is dangerous financially because they spend without a clue of what's happening in their accounts.
4. The Monk- This person thinks and feels that money has no place in our society and if they can avoid the use of it in any way they will. These people usually live a very very very simple lifestyle and prefer not to even speak about money at all, because it's messes with their spriritual flow and existence. Need I say more?
Ok so now that we know what type of personalities there are for dealing with money let's talk about how we can make things more pleasant between clashing personality traits.
This is where EQUAL DOLLARS, comes into play. Now we all know that opposities attract and how there needs to be balance in the world, the whole Ying and Yang theories. But the problem is that when opposities comes together there is usually a problem with how they interact with one another. This is especially true when it comes to finances. The statistics vary but it is VERY widely known that the BIGGEST reason for relationship stress and arguements is FINANCES!
Equal Dollars is meant to keep this in balance. Let's say that in one household you have a spender and saver, or saver and avoider, or spender and avoider (this is really not a good combo), how do you keep your financial reality and budget in line without filing for divorce?
If you combine accounts and finances, this is for you! This is how equal dollars works.
1. Agree on an equal dollar amount that fits into your budget. For this example lets use $100 each.
2. Every month, each person gets $100.
2. For the spenders, that they can spend it on ANYTHING they want. And the rule is, that the other person can't comment on the purchase because it was bought with equal dollars. They can even save it for bigger purchases without repercussions.
3. For the savers, you can save the $100 a month if you want and put it away for your rainy day. And again the other person can't comment on it either.
4. For the avoiders, they only get the $100 to spend ONLY if they open and pay 2 bills per month. This is an incentive for getting them involved in the financial future of the couple.
The idea behind this method is to keep the arguements to a minimum. The spenders are happy because they can spend as they want ($100 in this case) without arguement. The savers are happy because they get to protect their own money without fear of losing it, and the avoiders are happy because they still get to avoid the majority of the bills and get to spend a little for themselves.
Now if your budget after it's been created, doesn't have enough room for $100 each per month, make it $50 or $40, or whatever is going to keep you on track.
REMEMBER: Just because your working together and living together doesn't mean you should LOSE your independence. EQUAL DOLLARS makes sure you can still make decisions on your own with your hard earned money, it keeps your financial personality happy, it reduces the #1 reason for relationship stress and it keeps your budget alive and well!
Paycheck Distribution Coaching- "Making your money work harder for you than you do for it!"
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post below!
follow me at http://www.irenemcruz.com/
www.facebook.com/paycheckdistributioncoach
www.twitter.com/irenemcruz
Most of the experts say that there are four different financial personality types. Spender, Saver, Avoider and Monk. Below you will find a breakdown of each one....
1. The spender- this may seem obvious but, this person spends and spends pays no attention to the budget created. There is something inside of them that is compensating for something else, and just feels the need to spend as their heart desires. This person can destroy your budget more than any other personalities.
2. The saver- this person thinks it's more important to save for the future than to enjoy the present. They are HIGHLY anal about the budget and any deviation can make them crazy. They are usually the "responsible' ones too. Combine a spender with a saver and one can be called "fun" and the other "boring".
3. The avoider- now this person just avoids the bills all together. They don't want to know anything about a budget or about the interest they are paying on their credit cards. They usually WILL NOT even open a bill to see the balance or when it's due. This person is dangerous financially because they spend without a clue of what's happening in their accounts.
4. The Monk- This person thinks and feels that money has no place in our society and if they can avoid the use of it in any way they will. These people usually live a very very very simple lifestyle and prefer not to even speak about money at all, because it's messes with their spriritual flow and existence. Need I say more?
Ok so now that we know what type of personalities there are for dealing with money let's talk about how we can make things more pleasant between clashing personality traits.
This is where EQUAL DOLLARS, comes into play. Now we all know that opposities attract and how there needs to be balance in the world, the whole Ying and Yang theories. But the problem is that when opposities comes together there is usually a problem with how they interact with one another. This is especially true when it comes to finances. The statistics vary but it is VERY widely known that the BIGGEST reason for relationship stress and arguements is FINANCES!
Equal Dollars is meant to keep this in balance. Let's say that in one household you have a spender and saver, or saver and avoider, or spender and avoider (this is really not a good combo), how do you keep your financial reality and budget in line without filing for divorce?
If you combine accounts and finances, this is for you! This is how equal dollars works.
1. Agree on an equal dollar amount that fits into your budget. For this example lets use $100 each.
2. Every month, each person gets $100.
2. For the spenders, that they can spend it on ANYTHING they want. And the rule is, that the other person can't comment on the purchase because it was bought with equal dollars. They can even save it for bigger purchases without repercussions.
3. For the savers, you can save the $100 a month if you want and put it away for your rainy day. And again the other person can't comment on it either.
4. For the avoiders, they only get the $100 to spend ONLY if they open and pay 2 bills per month. This is an incentive for getting them involved in the financial future of the couple.
The idea behind this method is to keep the arguements to a minimum. The spenders are happy because they can spend as they want ($100 in this case) without arguement. The savers are happy because they get to protect their own money without fear of losing it, and the avoiders are happy because they still get to avoid the majority of the bills and get to spend a little for themselves.
Now if your budget after it's been created, doesn't have enough room for $100 each per month, make it $50 or $40, or whatever is going to keep you on track.
REMEMBER: Just because your working together and living together doesn't mean you should LOSE your independence. EQUAL DOLLARS makes sure you can still make decisions on your own with your hard earned money, it keeps your financial personality happy, it reduces the #1 reason for relationship stress and it keeps your budget alive and well!
Paycheck Distribution Coaching- "Making your money work harder for you than you do for it!"
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post below!
follow me at http://www.irenemcruz.com/
www.facebook.com/paycheckdistributioncoach
www.twitter.com/irenemcruz
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