5 No Cost Things You Can Do to be Financially Stable

People that teach financial education often talk about lowering your expenses and increasing your income to increase your financial stability. Of course those things are good but today I want to focus on the five free things you can do to increase your financial stability.

For all of my personal finance tips, order my book “10 Things College Students Need to Know About Money“. If you already have a few challenges, order my Amazon Best Seller “Money Matters: The Get It Done in 1 Minute Workbook“.

 

#1 Open an Account at a Credit Union

One of the best financial decisions you can make is to open a checking account at a credit union. It costs nothing to open an account and the benefits are many: better customer service, often lower account fees, usually cheaper car loans, mortgages, and credit cards, and the opportunity to build a relationship with a financial institution with all these great benefits before you need to ask for a loan. Check here to find the credit union closest to you.

 

#2 Check Your Credit Reports

You may know that there are three credit reports and three credit scores for each of us but did you know that you can have free access to your reports? The credit bureaus have the right to control who has access to the scores that they’ve created the mathematical formulas to create, BUT the records …  the information that make up the data those formulas use is your data and is free for you to access. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get a free copy of your reports once every 12 months.

 

#3 Collect Your Change

For years I’ve told people that an easy way to find money to build up your Emergency Fund or invest in a no-load mutual fund was to throw your spare change in a jar. I still believe it’s true. On average, you’ll have about $50 per month is quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Instead of that spare change ending up under the couch cushions, in your car’s ashtray, and at the bottom of your purse throw it in an empty water jug or an actual piggy bank. Don’t believe me? Check out this blog.

 

 

#4 Open a High Yield Savings Account

Since I’ve been badgering you to create an Emergency Savings Account, I thought I’d help you out by providing you with the latest lists of accounts with the highest interest rates (you’ll earn more money than at your local financial institution) across the US. Check out the highest yielding savings accounts here.

 

#5 Choose You

This is the hardest free thing you might ever have to do: choose yourself over everything. Choose to save some money for an emergency instead of eating out. Choose to invest some money in a mutual fund instead of purchasing an extra excursion on a trip. Choose to think you’re going to create the exact life you’d like to have …   and then do the prep work so when your opportunity comes, you’re ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Loan Hero on Secured Credit Cards

StudentLoanHero.com has just released an article, What Is a Secured Credit Card, and Is It Right for You?, on secured credit cards. The article shares perspectives from several financial education professionals, including Shay Olivarria.

I share the pros and cons on getting a secured credit card to create a credit profile or increase your credit scores. Check out the article to get my insight.

 

Shay Olivarria is the most dynamic financial education speaker working today. She speaks at high schools, colleges, and companies across the country. She has written three books on personal finance, including Amazon Best Seller “Money Matters: The Get It Done in 1 Minute Workbook”. Shay has been quoted on Bankrate.com, FoxBusiness.com, NBC Latino and The Credit Union Times, among others. To schedule Shay to speak at your event visit www.BiggerThanYourBlock.com.

 

 

OneUnited Bank – A Black Owned Financial Institution

I am so glad that I found out about OneUnited Bank. According to the OneUnited website:

The Bank began almost 50 years ago with the opening of Unity Bank & Trust in Boston, Massachusetts. OneUnited Bank was established by combining Black-owned banks across the country – Founders National Bank of Commerce in Los Angeles, Family Savings Bank in Los Angeles, Peoples National Bank of Commerce in Miami and Boston Bank of Commerce (the predecessor to OneUnited Bank) – with the same mission, to create the fastest growing and premier bank in America serving urban communities.

They provide checking accounts, second chance checking accounts, savings accounts and secured credit cards. I love credit unions but since this is a bank that focuses on the Black community, I’ll make an exception and share about it.

5 Things You Might Not Know About Your Credit Card’s Interest Rates

I saw this article on BusinessInsider.com and thought it might be helpful to some folks. It outlines five things about the interest rates on your credit cards that you might not know including:

4. Your interest rate can go up for a myriad of reasons.

An increase in the prime rate isn’t the only thing that will make your interest rate go up. “If you become 60 days or more delinquent, you can be charged a penalty interest rate,” says Clements. “That means your rate could become very high on your existing balances.” The bank can also arbitrarily decide to increase everyone’s interest rates. However, in this circumstance, if the bank wants to change the rate on your existing balance, you have the right to say no. “You would then close your card and just make payments on the existing balance until it’s paid in full,” explained Clements. “If you want to keep the credit line open, you would have to keep the higher rate.”

To read the rest of the article, click here.

 

Average Rates for Credit Cards

 

Photo is from NerdWallet.com.

 

CreditCards.com sent out the current interest rates for different types of cards this morning. Find out if your interest rates are on par with the national averages:

Credit card rate report

As of 7/17/2014

National Average 15.03%

Low Interest 10.37%

Balance Transfer 12.64%

Business 12.80%

Student 13.27%

Cash Back 14.91%

Reward 15.00%

Airline 15.46%

Bad Credit 22.73%

Instant Approval 28.00%