chaddux said:
Amen. Find a smaller local bank that doesn't charge you for these services. The big guys are the ones that screw over their consumer customers. 10 years ago I had an account at a local bank. Then they were bought by United Jersey Bank, who were then bought by Summit Bank, who were then bought by Fleet, who were then bought by First Union, who were then bought by Bank of America. I bailed when Fleet took over and tried charging me $9 a month for the privilege of holding my money. I switched to a small local bank and have not paid a fee in 5 years. They don't pay interest on my account, but then most of those have a $1000 minimum which triggers fees if you slip below that threshold for even 1 day. Plus in exchange for your .5-2% interest, you get a 1099 from them and you have to pay taxes on it. But if you get hit one month with a fee for dropping below the minimum you wipe out any benefits (unless you manage to keep $10K in it..... I don't know many who do that).
Also, here's a trick I use to pump up my credit score (I gained 40 points doing this).... Go to your credit card accounts online and pay them two days before the bills are generated. Your credit score is partially determined by how much available credit you have. I primarily use American Express but they don't pad your available credit like Mastercard and VISA does (ie. if your average bill is $4000 your credit line is often only about $5000 -- meanwhile MasterCard will peg your limit at about 3 times that). If you pay these bills before they are due, you usually wind up getting a bill for only those charges that hit your account on the last 2 days of the month. You still get credit for Membership Rewards, airline miles, etc. I'm planning on getting a Home Equity Loan next year to do some renovations (and hopefully finally build that dream home theater like the one in my avatar) and this will make sure that I get the best rate and not have any problems. Using this trick bumped me from Very Good to Excellent with Experian (I get free credit score checking with my Microsoft Money software)
