Walk With Money » Checking Account

Make Money Online with Surveys – Can It Be Done?

Robert Wilkinson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:20:06 +0000

When the topic of making extra money comes up, taking online surveys is often one of the ideas that is put forward. This is something that I do myself after I read about it on an online forum, but it’s by no-means a “get rich quick” scheme. If you’re thinking about signing up for a host of survey websites, it’s best to know what you’re getting involved in so you can decide if it’s going to be worth the effort.

What Are The Reward Options?

For the most part, you’ve got the choice between cash and vouchers. Cash may come in the form of a Paypal payment or in some cases, a transfer straight to your checking account. Vouchers tend to be of the gift variety and can be either a paper voucher that you hand over in a store or an e-voucher to redeem at online retailers like Amazon. Some survey sites only offer one or the other so be sure to check this out before you sign up. Some survey sites make it easy to work out how much you’ll get by paying a designated amount (say $0.50) per survey. Others pay in points, so it’s a case of earning so many points and having that converted into earnings (for example, 5,000 points may equate to $5 in cash or a voucher worth the equivalent of $5). Again, read the help or FAQ sections to see how easy (or otherwise) it is to redeem your earnings.

How Much Can You Make?

There’s no easy answer to this question because a lot will depend on whether you fit the demographic for the surveys that you’re invited to participate in. You’ll get survey invitations, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re eligible to actually complete the survey. For example, the people behind a particular survey may be looking for views from a thirty-something woman with multiple kids, and if you’re a single guy (with or without kids), you’ll be “screened out” of the survey once this becomes apparent and won’t earn anything. Don’t automatically assume that just because a few surveys out there screen you out that there are no options for you. There are a lot of surveys out there and you’re bound to fit the profile for some of them.

If you’re interested in my personal “earnings,” here they are. I earn around $80 worth of vouchers over the course of a year, which I put towards birthday and Christmas gifts or spend on treats for myself. In terms of cash, it’s more like $60 per year. Before this year, I did earn more from paid surveys but I decided to become more picky about which surveys are worth my time. I might be making less but I’m happier that I’m not spending a disproportionate ...

BB&T Customer Service Nightmare and How to Avoid Overdraft Fees

Robert Wilkinson — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:20:02 +0000

I had a really bad banking experience last week – actually, it took place over 7 days and is still not quite over. I was going to blog about it and rat out the bank, but then some halfway decent customer service changed my mind. When I logged into my account today and saw YET ANOTHER FEE, I changed it back – so here goes the saga.

Photo by Worak via Flickr

Background

I have held an account at BB&T for over three years. It’s a regional bank that was the only brick-and-mortar near my first apartment. Since opening, I’ve moved twice and had the opportunity to switch to national banks with more branches and more readily-available ATMs. However, I have remained a loyal customer to BB&T, direct depositing my paychecks and running all checks and bill payments through that account – since my rent alone is $1500 a month, this is not an insignificant amount of money!

I maintain both a checking and savings account with BB&T, keeping at least $800-900 across the two accounts at any given time and more when I am going to pay bills. However, in the interest (haha) of earning a little more interest, I keep most of my cash in an online account with a better rate. I periodically make transfers to pay my bills, including my rent.

The Situation

I was going away for the 4^th and wrote my July rent check on June 30. Knowing that I did not have enough cash in my checking account to cover it, I transferred $1075 from my online savings account to my BB&T checking. I then left out of town until the 5^th.

Late on the 5^th (Monday), I logged into my checking account and saw TWO overdraft fees ($70 total). Turns out the transfer went the wrong way — OUT of my checking instead of INTO my checking. I’m still not sure whether this was my fault or the bank’s, but we’ll go ahead and call it mine — I scheduled the transaction in a hurry, anxious to get to the beach!

As it happens, that very week I had made the decision to stop using my credit card for everything (earning points and paying it off monthly of course) and switch to using my debit card in an effort to curb spending. I had some pending debit card items from July 1st that reduced my “available balance” to right around $1,050 — so when the $1,075 transfer came out, it caused an overdraft. An auto-payment went through after, causing another overdraft. I called to confirm that pending transactions mattered when assessing overdraft fees. I then transferred $300 into my account from my BB&T savings — more than enough to bring the account back to positive AND cover the 3 remaining pending transactions. I also transferred $2,000 from my online savings account to checking — $1,000 to make up for the accidental withdrawal and $1,000 to cover the original deposit I was TRYING to make to cover my rent check. I made it very clear to the customer service rep that I did not want to receive MORE overdrafts for those pending transactions. She didn’t really understand my point that since they caused the original overdrafts by locking up funds that WERE available, they shouldn’t ALSO cause their own overdrafts.

Every other time I have ever transferred funds from savings to checking within the same bank, they credit immediately. Guess what — this time, they didn’t. And so the three pending transactions went through and caused an additional $105 in overdrafts. When I called to complain, noting that I had a $300 pending deposit, I was told pending transactions don’t count — OH WAIT, but when the pending transactions were debits they sure did! I asked politely if any of the charges could be reversed and was told no. I then said “I need to either talk to someone who can fix this, or talk to someone who can close my account.” The customer ...

Ask the Readers: What will You Buy with Your Tax Refund? (Win Turbo Tax Prizes!)

Robert Wilkinson — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:20:37 +0000

By Linsey Knerl

We've already asked whether you look forward to tax time, and people are just now starting to see their refunds (or bills) filtering through their home offices. We want to know what you plan on doing with that refund -- if you get one. OR what you believe people should be doing with their refunds. (Now's your time to preach!)

Do you use it for something special, like a big screen TV or computer?
Do you save it for a long-term investment?
Are you likely to use every penny for bills (like that enormous heating charge you received last month?)
Do you work really hard to make sure you don't even get a refund back -- you use it throughout the year for groceries and gas?

Give us your tax purchasing tips, behaviors, or observations. We want to know what you'll be doing once that refund check hits your mailbox (or checking account). In return for sharing your heart on the matter, you'll be entered to win one of two gifts from Turbo Tax -- good for Tax preparation and filing.

See more about Turbo Tax and their tips for getting the most on your return at their blog!

Win a Tax Filing prize from Turbo Tax!

We're doing two giveaways — one for random comments, and another one for a random tweets.

How to Enter:

Post your answer in the comments below, or
Tweet your answer. Include both "@wisebread" and "#WBAsk" in your tweet so we'll see it and count it.

If you're inspired to write a whole blog post, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.

At the end of the drawing, we'll update this post to include (and link to) ...

ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Reference Code: $50 Bonus

Robert Wilkinson — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:20:06 +0000

The online checking account from ING Direct, called Electric Orange, is offered new customers a $50 bonus if they open a new account and use the debit card for signature transactions 3 times within 45 days. Use Reference Code EM428 on your online application. Expires 2/28/2010.

Open an Electric Orange by February 28, 2010, and use the free Debit Card to make 3 signature transactions (you know, the ones you have to actually sign) within the first 45 days. On day 50, we’ll put $50 in your account.

Being a newlywed can be an exciting period in two people’s lives. Young or old, those who have decided to take the plunge and get married will likely find their lives radically changed from when they were single. One aspect of life where this change might be most noticeable is in the area of personal finance. Love can conquer many things, but when it comes to finances, love and money are like two heavyweights slugging it out during the title fight. This battle can quickly extinguish that care-free, optimistic attitude that often follows marriage. Finding that you and your spouse don’t quite see eye-to-eye on financial matters can be a rude awakening. To help avoid money missteps as newlyweds, here are some tips, tools, and techniques that can help you and your partner better manage your finances together.

1. Have the ‘Talk’

If you haven’t done it before you got married, it is important to sit down with your spouse and discuss your finances and financial situation. But this conversation should involve more than just comparing checking account balances and leaving it at that. Discuss how you view money, the spending and saving of that money, as well as how your finances should be organized. Having this discussion early on can help avoid issues later in the relationship.

2. Divide and Conquer

During your money conversation, consider discussing the division of finances. Keeping certain finances separate is not necessarily a bad thing when you get married. For example, consider keeping a joint checking account for things like utilities, mortgage, rent, car payments, and similar jointly paid expenses, and then having an individual checking account for each of you to spend upon personal items. This can help keep things fair and avoid arguments about one person overspending ...

Checkbooks 101

Robert Wilkinson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:20:21 +0000

Although the premise of balancing a checkbook sounds easy enough, the fact is that the vast majority of Americans really don’t take the time to do it, or they do not know how to do it properly. There is a lot more than simple addition and subtraction when it comes to balancing a checkbook and if you are not careful, you can end up bouncing checks. Here are some tips that everyone needs to know about balancing their checkbooks.

1. Balance means balance –

Those statements that you get every month from the bank are not just for show. They are there to help you balance your checkbook and make sure that there are no errors. The next statement that you get, go line by line and reconcile this with your checkbook. We’ll go more into reconciliation here in a minute, but for now, let’s focus on the balance. The balance in your checkbook needs to match the balance on the bank’s statement.

If it doesn’t, you need to see where the error occurred. Many times, it may be do to a checking account fee that you forgot to deduct, or a simple subtraction or addition error. Look through the entire statement until you find where the error occurred and then make sure to note the correct balance in your checkbook.

2. Reconciliation –

We mentioned this briefly above. Reconciliation refers to the process of making sure that the entries you made in your checkbook register match the entries on the bank statement. It does take a little time, but it is well worth it. Make a checkmark next to each entry as soon as you have verified it in your register. Keep track of any wrong amounts and watch out for fees that you may have forgotten to deduct.

If you have a debit card from your bank, there may be extra fees that will apply each time you use it. If you are not marking down these fees, it is all too easy to end up short in your checkbook. Make note of all of these fees and in the future, write them down in your checkbook whenever you use your debit card.

3. Handling errors –

Sometimes banks do make mistakes, but if you are not balancing your checkbook every month, you may not notice them. You may not also notice an error you’ve made until it is too late. Balancing your checkbook gives you the opportunity to find these errors and correct them before they end up costing you more money in bounced check fees.

You can look at the process of balancing your checkbook like balancing a cash register. Most businesses need to make sure that the receipts match the balance left in the register every day. Your checkbook is just like that, and being more than a few cents off is not a good idea. Schedule in a day every month to go through the process of balancing your checkbook, it will pay off.

Photo Credit: 1

Originally posted 2008-09-24 05:00:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Savings Accounts vs. CDs: Where to Keep Your Money in 2010?

Robert Wilkinson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:20:07 +0000

If you’re a savvy investor, you most certainly have a fair bit of cash tucked away for general spending and emergencies. The stock market is a long term investment and if 2009 taught us anything, it was to not have money you need to spend in the stock market. So where do you put the money you don’t want in the stock market?

There’s 3 main options to place your cash and get it FDIC insured for up to $250,000.

You can put your money in a checking account where you have fast and easy access to funds.
You can put your money in a savings account where you can take money out and put money in while still earning interest on your funds, or
You can put your money in a certificate of deposit, which typically has higher yields than savings but your money is locked into the account for the agreed upon term.

So where should you put your money? Well all 3 of course.

For money that you plan on spending you should keep in a checking account. It’s the easiest account to get money into and out of so it makes sense to keep spending money in it. You shouldn’t keep more than you need to however because you don’t get a return on your investment in a checking account.

This is where savings accounts and certificates of deposit jump into the picture. Your strategy becomes more complicated now because of the fact that you must lock in a rate when opening a CD.

So what is the best cash strategy for 2010?

If you pay attention to CD rates you know that they’re at the lowest levels since the 80s right now. So it doesn’t make much sense to lock in to a long term CD right now because they’re bound to increase when the unemployment rate drops and the Fed decides to raise interest rates. So there’s 2 main strategies you should consider. The first is to convert any maturing CDs you have into savings accounts.

The yields on savings accounts are not that much lower than what banks are offering on CDs so there isn’t that much incentive to lock in your money. You could keep your extra cash in savings accounts which will leave you ready to jump on a CD when rates start climbing back up. Just make sure you stay under the ...

Getting Paid to Play: High-Stakes Checking

Robert Wilkinson — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:20:06 +0000

Seven New Years Financial Resolutions for 2010

Robert Wilkinson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:20:40 +0000

This is a guest post from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), a non-profit dedicated to improving the financial literacy of all Americans. NEFE operates the site Smart About Money and have developed a series of articles filled with tips to help you make 2010 the year of financial freedom. You can also find Economic Survival Tips, worksheets and articles focused on financial education related to housing, spending, credit and job change. Follow NEFE on Twitter at @nefe_org

Control Spending. If you spend less you'll have more money available to pay down debt and save for the future. Write down your expenses for a month to see where your money is going. You might be surprised by how easy it is to find places to scale back.

Create a Debt Repayment Plan. If you carry credit card debt, write down everything you owe and make a plan to pay it off. Start with small items you can act on right away–it will make tackling the bigger debt easier. Also, try buying with cash only. It’s a sure-fire way to prevent increases in your credit card debt.

Setup Auto-Savings Plans. Arrange with your bank or another financial institution to have a set amount deducted from your checking account to a savings account each pay period. Of the Americans who have been able to contribute to emergency savings funds, automatic withdrawal is the most popular method, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Here's why you ...

Bank Accounts: When More is More

Robert Wilkinson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:20:06 +0000

The bad old days

I’m old enough, barely, to remember a time when most people had only two cash accounts: a checking account and a savings account. They were basically the same, except that the checking account let you transfer money to another person by writing on a little rectangular sheet of paper. This was so long ago that I can’t even remember what they called those things.

Schmecks, was it?
Back then, if you wanted to open a new account, you had to walk into the branch and sit down at a desk. If you wanted to set up an automatic monthly transfer between accounts—if your bank even offered such a service—you had to fill out paperwork. If you wanted to transfer money between accounts at different banks, you had to write yourself a schmeck or pay a wire fee. And if you had accounts at different banks and wanted to see them all at once in a single interface? Here, pal, take your free thermos and get out of my bank.

Yes, the good old days really sucked. Luckily, we don’t live there anymore, and we shouldn’t bank as if we do.

I have an emergency fund. A vacation account. A medical account. ...