Simplicity Prevails with Finances

Last week I got a coupon in the mail. It was from my bank, Chase, offering me $100 to open a savings account. I called the bank and they said that I needed to maintain a minimum balance of $1500 in my account, but that was it. I went to the bank and opened the account.

Then I learned through Dave Ramsey about CheckingFinder.com. Through CheckingFinder.com, I found out about Grand Bank of Texas in Grand Prarie, which is offering 4.52% interest on their checking accounts on balances up to $25K. That's up to $1130 in interst a year! That's better than any rewards credit card could do, provided that you carry a high balance. The fact that we're a month ahead from using YNAB, are saving for yearly expenses, and will be building up 3-6 months of expenses as Dave Ramsey's baby step 3 very shortly means that we'll have a high balance, so that makes sense for us.

So this morning, assuming Annie feels up for it, we'll go to the new bank and open our account. But what about the $100 from the savings account? I read the fine print and you have to have the account open for six months to keep the money. And you have to have it linked to a checking account, which needs direct deposit.

So what am I going to do? I'm going to give them back the $100. If there's one thing I learned through my 2010 finances revolution, it's that banks and credit card companies will play games with you, making you think that you're getting ahead. This happened last year with a Banana Republic Credit Card. "You'll save 10% on every purchase!!!!" They didn't mention that we would spend more AND that their site was a confusing maze that left you not knowing when the bill was due. They kept sending us coupons "if you'll use the card this month we'll give you $20 off!!!" We would comply, focusing on our $20 instead of the fact that we were broke and going nowhere financially.

I say no more to that. No more games. My finances are MY finances, and I'm not going to be controlled by these companies any more. That's NOT how you get ahead with finances. You keep it simple, maintain a good budget, and focus on one thing at a time. It's not through credit card points, shopping discounts, bonus coupons; those are just ploys to keep you broke.