Make More, Save More With A Little Penny Pinching
While the only person you may hear the term "penny-pinching" from is your 80-year old grandmother, you should know that cutting corners on your budget and paying more attention to where your money goes, may just help you earn back some of your own money while affording you the opportunity to put some money into savings.
There are many ways to govern your finances and take charge of your cash flow.
Start out by reading your bank statements.
Most people simply open the envelope to see the total ending balance and then move on with the next piece of mail.
If you are not taking a few extra minutes to go over the details of your monthly statement, you could be missing vital transactions that are actually costing you money that you didn't plan on spending.
Make sure all of your deposits have been credited to your account and that all the withdrawals made are legitimate and were authorized by you, the account holder.
If not, contact your bank immediately.
Tally up the insufficient fees you have paid, if any, along with any ATM fees you incurred because you didn't conduct your transaction at your own bank ATM.
With $25 for each NSF fee and anywhere from $1.
50-$3.
00 to use another banks ATM, you are throwing away quite a bit of your hard-earned cash.
DON'T write check or pay bills online until you know you have the money in the bank to cover them.
often times people make a deposit and then write checks against it the very same day.
When the check doesn't clear, they are charged for lack of funds.
Don't cave into your bank's offer for "free" bounced check protection.
While they will cover any insufficient funds that may occur, they will charge a hefty fee for the courtesy of doing so.
With that, make an effort to visit your own bank's ATM so that you don't pay extra for withdrawing your own money somewhere else.
If the closes branch ATM is too far or too inconvenient, consider switching to a bank that is closer.
You will save time and money in driving and ATM fees.
Along with reading your bank statement each month, balance your checkbook as well.
This means recording every transaction you make and then balancing when you get your statement to make sure everything lines up with your ending balance.
Don't forget debit cards charges and ATM withdrawl or deposits.
Do this even if you don't use your checkbook very often.
Then ask your employer if they offer direct deposit.
If they do, sign up right away.
Your check will be deposited directly into your bank account and your funds will be immediately helping to avoid bouncing checks and incurring insufficient funds charges.
There are many ways to govern your finances and take charge of your cash flow.
Start out by reading your bank statements.
Most people simply open the envelope to see the total ending balance and then move on with the next piece of mail.
If you are not taking a few extra minutes to go over the details of your monthly statement, you could be missing vital transactions that are actually costing you money that you didn't plan on spending.
Make sure all of your deposits have been credited to your account and that all the withdrawals made are legitimate and were authorized by you, the account holder.
If not, contact your bank immediately.
Tally up the insufficient fees you have paid, if any, along with any ATM fees you incurred because you didn't conduct your transaction at your own bank ATM.
With $25 for each NSF fee and anywhere from $1.
50-$3.
00 to use another banks ATM, you are throwing away quite a bit of your hard-earned cash.
DON'T write check or pay bills online until you know you have the money in the bank to cover them.
often times people make a deposit and then write checks against it the very same day.
When the check doesn't clear, they are charged for lack of funds.
Don't cave into your bank's offer for "free" bounced check protection.
While they will cover any insufficient funds that may occur, they will charge a hefty fee for the courtesy of doing so.
With that, make an effort to visit your own bank's ATM so that you don't pay extra for withdrawing your own money somewhere else.
If the closes branch ATM is too far or too inconvenient, consider switching to a bank that is closer.
You will save time and money in driving and ATM fees.
Along with reading your bank statement each month, balance your checkbook as well.
This means recording every transaction you make and then balancing when you get your statement to make sure everything lines up with your ending balance.
Don't forget debit cards charges and ATM withdrawl or deposits.
Do this even if you don't use your checkbook very often.
Then ask your employer if they offer direct deposit.
If they do, sign up right away.
Your check will be deposited directly into your bank account and your funds will be immediately helping to avoid bouncing checks and incurring insufficient funds charges.