Debt Dumpers 2020

[barkley]

No. At least not for my Amex savings account which is similar to Ally.

i cannot believe all the changes to the no fee amex cards that were instituted this year- most all the purchasing protection benefits to having it have disappeared. have they made substantial changes to their banking products?

 

[StacyStrong]

i cannot believe all the changes to the no fee amex cards that were instituted this year- most all the purchasing protection benefits to having it have disappeared. have they made substantial changes to their banking products?

Honestly, no idea. I don’t really take advantage of any of it, so I don’t pay attention.

 

[DLgal]

Is there a minimum balance required?

Nope. Also no direct deposit requirement. You can literally open an Ally savings account with $100 and just let it sit there. No fees.

 

[DLgal]

with the virtual aspect-when you make a withdrawal or transfer from the (for lack of a better term) 'base account' can you make a notation in the individual virtual of what the transfer was for, and then at a later date do a printout on each of the virtuals?

i ask b/c i use the same principle but w/ individual separate accounts-

income gets direct deposited to checking,
checking has set transfer dates to individual accounts (xmas, short-term savings, long term savings, and a 'reserve' which is 1/12th of my annual expenses for property taxes, insurances paid annually/bi-annually, lawn/pest service, hvac service contract, yearly propane, sirius renewal, car registration). checking is used to pay utilities and household expenses (though i use the same credit unions credit card to pay most for the points then transfer the amount from checking at the end of the month). the only manual transfer i have is at the beginning of the month if i have anything leftover from the household budget for the prior month it goes into a separate 'household rollover' account for those months i have additional expenses. if i need to transfer something from one of those individual accounts i can note it in the transfer details so periodically i can pull up the history of say 'reserve' and see what it's been spent on so far/if an expense has increased such that i need to tweak the budget.

if the virtual allowed this kind of detail i could see the advantage to it, esp. if the banking institution has tiered savings such that maintaining a higher single balance resulted in higher interest (though interest these days is pitiful).

Honestly I don't know as the "buckets" feature has not yet rolled out. However, I suspect it will include this functionality, otherwise what would be the point? I expect that it will be set up such that when you want to make a withdrawal/transfer, it will ask you which bucket you would like it to come from.

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

can someone help me? after hearing some of you talk about ally's interest rates, it got me curious, and i found out my bank of america savings is only .03%. maybe this is a dumb question, but if i were to open up an account with ally or discover, how do i put the money in there since there's no physical locations? can you transfer it from another bank, or bank of america in my case? i also don't have direct deposit since i'm mostly paid in cash. you guys are really opening my eyes to the world of finance haha!

 

[StacyStrong]

can someone help me? after hearing some of you talk about ally's interest rates, it got me curious, and i found out my bank of america savings is only .03%. maybe this is a dumb question, but if i were to open up an account with ally or discover, how do i put the money in there since there's no physical locations? can you transfer it from another bank, or bank of america in my case? i also don't have direct deposit since i'm mostly paid in cash. you guys are really opening my eyes to the world of finance haha!

You would transfer it electronically from your banks checking account to the external savings account. You would just link the two with routing and account numbers. It’s pretty easy, but yes you wouldn’t be able to go to a physical location.

Transfers can take 2-3 days so keep that in mind.

 

[jen7233]

can someone help me? after hearing some of you talk about ally's interest rates, it got me curious, and i found out my bank of america savings is only .03%. maybe this is a dumb question, but if i were to open up an account with ally or discover, how do i put the money in there since there's no physical locations? can you transfer it from another bank, or bank of america in my case? i also don't have direct deposit since i'm mostly paid in cash. you guys are really opening my eyes to the world of finance haha!

I would look through bankrate or other websites to get more information on rates at various banks and the criteria you have for savings. There's more that may meet your criteria than Ally or Discover, so worth the look. Go to the bank websites you may be interested in to get more direct information when you have some in mind you want to look into more detail about. Is having a physical bank you can go to an important feature for you, and is online banking something you're comfortable with? But for the question on how is money put in the online bank, the bank you want to transfer to and from you just set up that bank account profile information online on the account. You could also do that with your other bank, though some just allow transfers out and not in, and you may have to go about that differently in those cases. I don't have a BoA banking account, so I can't say how they work with transfers.

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

You would transfer it electronically from your banks checking account to the external savings account. You would just link the two with routing and account numbers. It’s pretty easy, but yes you wouldn’t be able to go to a physical location.

Transfers can take 2-3 days so keep that in mind.

thank you! that's what i figured but i wanted to double check lol

I would look through bankrate or other websites to get more information on rates at various banks and the criteria you have for savings. There's more that may meet your criteria than Ally or Discover, so worth the look. Go to the bank websites you may be interested in to get more direct information when you have some in mind you want to look into more detail about. Is having a physical bank you can go to an important feature for you, and is online banking something you're comfortable with? But for the question on how is money put in the online bank, the bank you want to transfer to and from you just set up that bank account profile information online on the account. You could also do that with your other bank, though some just allow transfers out and not in, and you may have to go about that differently in those cases. I don't have a BoA banking account, so I can't say how they work with transfers.

i've looked at discover before bc of the 0 fees, before i knew how bad my banks interest rate was lol. i'm pretty sure i qualify for discover, haven't looked at ally though. i really don't care about physical banking, especially for savings accounts. i mean i don't plan on opening a new account right this very minute, i was just curious how you deposit money lol

 

[DLgal]

thank you! that's what i figured but i wanted to double check lol



i've looked at discover before bc of the 0 fees, before i knew how bad my banks interest rate was lol. i'm pretty sure i qualify for discover, haven't looked at ally though. i really don't care about physical banking, especially for savings accounts. i mean i don't plan on opening a new account right this very minute, i was just curious how you deposit money lol

You use the routing and account numbers that are printed on the bottom of your checks. The first 9 numbers are the routing number. The second set are your account number. This identifies your account in online transactions so that money can be moved electronically.

FWIW, I have been banking electronically for 20 years. Never needed a physical branch. Our main bank is USAA. Anything a physical branch can do, you can do electronically (except safe deposit boxes, which I have no use for).

 

[jen7233]

i've looked at discover before bc of the 0 fees, before i knew how bad my banks interest rate was lol. i'm pretty sure i qualify for discover, haven't looked at ally though. i really don't care about physical banking, especially for savings accounts. i mean i don't plan on opening a new account right this very minute, i was just curious how you deposit money lol

Read the FAQ on Ally Online Savings Account. Can I deposit cash, how do I add money to my account, and how do I make a withdrawal.

 

[thiabelle]

Hello all! Took me awhile to catch up on 17 pages!
I have started the year strong with a no-buy January. It's day 12 and I have spent a grand total of $.99! To be clear I made up my own rules. I get $100 per week for the grocery store so as long as it can be purchased at my Giant and I stay under $100 it's all good. If I spend less than the $100, I am socking that money away for getting my toes and eyebrows done in February.
What I like best is that I don't have to think about money decisions. The answer is "not right now". Really has stopped me in my tracks. At least three times so far in 2020 I have not eaten out because of this. Of course I don't count things like co-pays or prescriptions. Basically if it is a recurring payment or something to keep me alive it's all good.

DD's second semester of college is all paid for along with her room. Board payment is coming up but I switched our address so I have to wait ten days to request the check from the investment account. She is required to have a meal plan at the sorority house but they will not charge me to use my credit card (unlike the university) so I have some time before the cc bill rolls in. I am grateful every day that she is happy and she is attending her school because we can write the checks and pay things as we go. We would not have been able to do that if she had made a different college selection.

I hope everyone has a great week!

 

[WeatherLights]

Nicely done with the no-buying, thiabelle!

My January has shaped up to be very pricey due to family needing a lot of additional support. I don't mind spending the money, but the lack of control over their situation is really weighing on me. I've made great strides on "letting go of control" but it still sneaks up on me leading to useless anxiety. We do have savings to cover this sort of thing, but the uncertainty is maddening.

 

[BrerRabbit66]

I'm almost afraid to post...I feel it could be tempting Murphy to pay me a visit. 2019 turned out to be a productive and good year overall. Paid off the mortgage early, paid off all cc debt, and paid all medical debt!! So, now remaining debt is the HELOC we used for home upgrades - expect to have that debt paid by the end of the year.

2020 Goals:

• Increased 401k contribution
• Max HSA contribution
• Fully fund Roth contribution
• Pay off HELOC

Personal Goals:

• Stop my addiction to drinking soda - last one was Dec. 30th.
• Drink more water

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You would transfer it electronically from your banks checking account to the external savings account. You would just link the two with routing and account numbers. It’s pretty easy, but yes you wouldn’t be able to go to a physical location.

Transfers can take 2-3 days so keep that in mind.

After a few months with Ally, transfers are next day if you schedule before 7pm ET. If I schedule a transfer tonight after work, it will be done (with both banks) tomorrow morning when I wake up.

It's a bit of a silly rule but something like this, using Ally website to transfer $200+ in one direction, then wait 2 months, you then qualify for next day transfers. That only is for that direction. Transfer $200+ in opposite direction, wait 2 months, and it will be next day in that direction too. They say it's for security purposes for new accounts. Once they told me that, I just transferred $200 in both directions to start the 2 month wait time for both and be done with it.

I have Ally checking too so when I want to pay something from savings, I can schedule it or do instant transfer to pay it. Very convenient. Ally also triggers the $750 bank bonus for HSBC. Just push $5000 out, pull it back, rinse & repeat x3 months. Easy peasy.

Hope I'm making sense. I don't usually DIS in the early am.

 

[bellylaugh]

Well I wasn’t able to reduce the hospital bills but I did at least get them put on a payment plan (3 months for one, 6 months for the other). I also started selling again in FB collector groups. It doesn’t bring in a lot but it’s a little extra money I can throw at the debt (I’m thinking car payment). I did need to buy a new printer, but I Covered that expense with some of the things I sold this weekend.

Leaving for WDW on Wednesday night! Have $300 in gift cards which is about half of what I would like to have but will use CC points to cover the rest. I’m excited to see DD’a reaction. She’s 13 months and loves Minnie and Mickey on TV but not sure how she’ll feel about big, live versions. Santa was not a favorite

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hello all! Took me awhile to catch up on 17 pages!
I have started the year strong with a no-buy January. It's day 12 and I have spent a grand total of $.99! To be clear I made up my own rules. I get $100 per week for the grocery store so as long as it can be purchased at my Giant and I stay under $100 it's all good. If I spend less than the $100, I am socking that money away for getting my toes and eyebrows done in February.
What I like best is that I don't have to think about money decisions. The answer is "not right now". Really has stopped me in my tracks. At least three times so far in 2020 I have not eaten out because of this. Of course I don't count things like co-pays or prescriptions. Basically if it is a recurring payment or something to keep me alive it's all good.

DD's second semester of college is all paid for along with her room. Board payment is coming up but I switched our address so I have to wait ten days to request the check from the investment account. She is required to have a meal plan at the sorority house but they will not charge me to use my credit card (unlike the university) so I have some time before the cc bill rolls in. I am grateful every day that she is happy and she is attending her school because we can write the checks and pay things as we go. We would not have been able to do that if she had made a different college selection.

I hope everyone has a great week!

This is great! I did a similar thing while I was paying off my cc debt. For about one year I asked myself before buying anything, “Is this a need? Or a want?” I only bought what we needed and that year’s summer vacation time was spent getting our son’s wisdom teeth removed.
It’s a lot like giving up sweets & junk food; having the attitude, determination and mindset that you’re going to stick with it.

It’s amazing how much $ you save and how easy it is to get used to not buying crap.

 

[RamblingMad]

Looks like Marcus now has a no penalty CD at 2% with a $500 minimum.

 

[amalone1013]

That is true! I got a set of Travel bags from Amy's Small World. I have a similar bag that someone I work with made me and I love it for my toiletries and stuff when I travel. I can not travel with travel-size products of certain things (mainly conditioner because i'd have to bring like 7 of them.) So this helps me keep all my big items together and in one place. I also have a set of packing cubes that I got from Amazon and I love them! They definitely help to organize everything in your suitcase and when your suitcase gets thrown around all of your stuff doesn't get all jumbled. Highly recommend!

I should not have clicked this link I love travel bags and accessories! Packing cubes, organized travel purses, everything. I'm working on paring down to the stuff I actually use each trip...

I pulled a ton of stuff out this weekend to get rid of. Now I need to decide if I just want to haul it off to the thrift store to get rid of it, or if there is anything that could be worth selling... we have minimal space for storing stuff.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Plugging along here. First year we are going to file married but filing separately to reduce my student loan payment. I got my W2 and I am going to owe in $27- not bad, I think I can handle it. Waiting on husbands W2. I tried to put his numbers in off his last paycheck but they don't specify ss wages and such so I had to guess what was what. According to my (obviously wrong numbers) he is getting $1,000 back. I know that isn't accurate but I'm hoping we don't owe too much!

 

[jen7233]

Leaving for WDW on Wednesday night! Have $300 in gift cards which is about half of what I would like to have but will use CC points to cover the rest. I’m excited to see DD’a reaction. She’s 13 months and loves Minnie and Mickey on TV but not sure how she’ll feel about big, live versions. Santa was not a favorite

Enjoy your trip! Just curious on the cc points you mentioned, are you using these for hotel, tickets, flights, dining, cash back, or something else towards your trip? Interesting to hear different ways people are able to use points towards WDW. I've just been using points on SW flights, one AA coming up, and also towards a cruise through Chase travel.