How to Save On Credit Card, Banking, Loans

1. Pay off your credit card with the highest interest rate first while paying the minimums on your other cards.  As soon as you’ve paid off the card with the highest interest rate, pay of the card with the second-highest interest rate while continuing to pay the minimum payments on any other cards.  This method of paying off credit cards minimizes the size of the finance charges you’ll have to pay.
2. Consider getting a loan through LendingTree.com, a site in which lenders compete against each other to offer you the lowest rates.
3. Find cheap credit on Prosper.com, a peer to peer lending network.
4. If you’re going to use a credit card, use a cash back credit card. You can compare different cash back credit cards here.
5. Do you make impulse buys with credit cards?  Here’s one way to stop doing this. Fill a cup with water.  Put your credit card(s) in it.  Freeze the cup.  That way, the next time you feel like you “need” your card, you’ll have it — you’ll also have a lot of time while the ice is melting to think about your potential purchase.
6. Never pay for a credit report. If you live in the United States, you’re legally entitled to three free credit reports per year (one from each of the major credit reporting agencies).  You can get your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.
7. Consolidate debt (especially with low or no-interest balance transfers) to your lender with the lowest interest rate.
8. Try using only cash and checks for a year. You’ll spend significantly less (not only will you pay less in finance charges, but there’s research to suggest you’ll actually buy fewer items).  Can you do it?
9. Never — really, never — get a payday loan or cash advance.
10. Call your credit card companies and ask about these two things: (1) Promotional interest-free balance transfers and (2) whether or not they can reduce your credit card interest rates and help you save money.
11. Look for credit cards that offer 0% APR balance transfers.
12. Never get a credit card that has an annual fee. There are 1000s of different kinds of credit cards, most of which don’t have annual fees, so you always have options.
13. When paying a credit card bill, do so online. Many credit card companies charge a fee if you call-in your payment. Paying your bill online is one of the easiest ways to save money.
14. Only withdraw money from your checking account when you can do so without fees. Most banks won’t charge you ATM fees if you have an account with them and use their ATMs.  Some banks will waive ATM fees for all ATMs (try to open a checking account with a bank like this).  Those convenience store ATMs always have hefty fees.
15. Set a personal rule about the minimum amount of money you’ll have in your checking account at all times unless your bank has cheap overdraft protection.  That way, you can be sure you’ll avoid accidental overdrafts and those awful fees.  When coming up with this number, be sure to consider all of your recurring automatic payments.  Also, a lot of banks will allow you to set an email reminder so that when you have less than a certain amount in your account, your bank will automatically send you a warning.
16. Pay off debt as quickly as possible (after establishing an emergency fund). If you can get an interest-free loan from a family member to pay off your high-interest debt quicker, do it.  Not only will this save you from having to pay interest, but it’ll improve your credit score, which means you’ll have cheaper access to money if you need it.
17. Use BankFox.com to search for a bank that offers checking accounts that pay interest.