Count the pennies and avoid a payday loan
Do you have a jar somewhere in your room filled with spare coins? Most of us do.
While it can be a painless way to let cash accrue and save for things like a vacation or debt snow-flaking, turning that change in can be a real pain, especially if you are hit with fees.
That’s not the only annoying aspect of having a tonne of change that you need changing. But you really can save yourself some money in the long-run and avoid having to use online services like payday loans or credit cards, simply by depositing your change into a piggy bank or jar everyday.
Loans online - see here for all info, have a time and a place. But if you can save on the sunny days for the rainy you will be avoiding fees, charges and the responsibility of paying a short term loan back.
As said the fees are a pain. However, there are ways to avoid the fees and the inconvenience of counting and rolling your own change.
Your bank may have a change counting machine. All you need to do is lug in your change and the bank employee runs it through the machine and gives you your dollar bills back. Before you load up the car with pounds of pennies, make sure you call your bank first. Our bank has a change counting machine at one branch only, so I have to drive a bit to turn in the change. Then, the change machine is often full thanks to restaurants and bars that bring in their change, too, so I always have to call ahead to make sure the change counting machine has been emptied recently. Most credit unions still offer this service as well as a handful of banks.
2. Get gift cards from CoinStar.
CoinStar has little green change counting machines conveniently located at many grocery stores. However, if you opt for cash back, you will get hit with a whopping 9.8% fee, meaning if you cash in $100, you will only walk away with $90.20. However, there is a simple way around this fee–just opt for a gift card instead. CoinStar offers plenty of gift cards including Starbucks, Papa John’s, Cub Foods, Jewel-Osco, Gap, and JC Penney, just to name a few. They have 40 gift cards to choose from. Use them for yourself or save them to buy holiday presents for others. Check CoinStar’s website to determine what locations have the gift cards you would like because not all gift cards are available at all locations.
3. “Sell” your change to a friend.
Have a friend or co-worker who has to use the laundromat or needs to feed parking meters frequently? Why not sell him your quarters? You get paper cash, and he gets change for the washing machine and dryer or meters without having to make a separate trip to the bank. Win-win for both parties.
4. Turn them in to a small business you frequent.
This may not work for everyone, but if you have a small business you frequent, the business owner may consider taking your rolled change in exchange for paper cash. You would need a good relationship, and the business owner would need to trust you. Also, you will have to take the time to count and package the change, too.
Keeping your spare change can be a good way to save for a long-term goal such as a vacation or money to apply to your debt down payment. While it used to simply be a matter of counting and rolling your coins and taking them to the bank, turning in change is a bit more difficult now, but there are still ways to do it fee free.
Find free checking accounts
A few years ago, during the depths of the credit crisis and new legislation, banks were scrambling for ways to generate more revenue. With there long time friend Mr. Overdraft gone (and the ability to re-order it to increase fee revenue), many experts predicted the death of the free checking account. Now that we’ve exited the credit crisis, was the prediction of the death of free checking accurate?
Some banks instituted fees but then offered easy ways to get out of them, which is like not having them in the first place. So where do you need to go to find free checking?
Online banks like Ally Bank, ING Direct (now Capital One 360), and others like them have always offered free checking with no minimums (or $1 minimums). These are usually your best options if you don’t mind not having a local branch. They often refund ATM fees or don’t charge them in the first place (the bank that owns the ATM may charge a fee and the online bank may refund them).
The best part about online banks is that they often pay you interest as well. It won’t be a lot but it’ll be close to their savings account rate because they know you can just move between the two accounts or opt for free overdraft protection. For example, as of April 2013, Ally Bank pays 0.40% APY on balances of less than $15k and 0.75% for balances above that. They pay 0.84% on their savings account – so it’s pretty close.
Love high rates but really need a branch you can walk into? Look for a reward checking account. These are checking accounts that offer a higher interest rate when you meet their reward requirements (usually 15 transactions on the debit card, online statements, and other similar requirements). One reward checking account we profiled many years ago is still going strong – Evantage Bank offers a 2.00% APY checking account on balances up to $10,000 with a $1 minimum and just 10 check card transactions a cycle. The days of 5.00% APY may be gone but 2.00% is at least twice what you’d get from major online banks.
Brick & Mortar for DD or Min Requirement
If you really want a national brick and mortar bank, you can often avoid a $5-$15 fee if you maintain a minimum balance or have a direct deposit each statement cycle/month. For example, Bank of America will not charge you a $12 monthly maintenance fee if you maintain an average daily balance above $1500 or make one direct deposit of $250+ each month. Wells Fargo waives their $9 a month fee if you maintain a balance of $1500 or make direct deposits totally $500+.
One “hidden” cost is the loss of interest on that money because those checking accounts don’t pay interest. On $1500, 0.4% is approximately $6 a year. So there may not be a fee but there is a cost associated with it.
Free checking is not dead and, if you compare it to what existed before the crisis, it hasn’t really changed that much despite what the experts predicted.
