When I first started Studenomics I thought of posts to write about saving money. As I was reading any book and article that I could find on personal finance, I realized that I was still spending money on a checking account. I always thought that you had to pay for a checking account and that’s just the way it was. I learned real quick that you should strive to find a free checking and that it’s an easy way to save at least $100 per year. If you’re still paying for a checking account we can change that today.
A great checking account offer…
Do you want $50 for free? A new offer came to my email the other day. ING Direct is offering a free $50 for anyone that signs up for an Electric Orange checking account. This is a free checking account and for a limited time comes with free cash.
How do you get the free $50 from ING Direct? You must make 3 signature-based purchases with your new checking account within the first 45 days. On day 50, you’ll be given the fifty bucks straight into your account. Pretty straight forward.
Full Disclosure: I have a free online checking account, as long with a savings account with ING Direct. However, I also get compensated for promoting the product.
Other tips for finding a free checking account.
If you don’t want to jump on this offer there are a few other ways you can find a free checking account:
Use your student status.
About two years ago or so my bank was giving me a hard time about waiving my checking account fees. I was totally done with getting nickel-and-dimed by them. The bank representative wouldn’t give me a free checking account until I finally proved that I was a full-time student. Your student status should usually land you a free checking account.
Hold out for the offer.
A common trick that banks use is that they simply don’t offer you the sweet offers. Why would they give you a free checking account if they don’t have to? For the longest time I would just accept this. After doing my research and speaking with others on the topic, I found that it’s always worth holding out for a better offer.
Be prepared to walk away.
To add on to the previous point, you need to be prepared to walk away. When the bank sees that you’re ready to walk away, they’ll likely throw in the offer at that point.
To conclude, I want to say that this is a great offer, but if you’ve built a long tern relationship with your current bank then it’s not always worth switching banks. If you feel that your current bank is screwing you over with ridiculous checking account fees then this is the perfect opportunity to get out.
If you want a free checking account with a $50 bonus, sign up here.
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I currently have a free checking account with U.S. Bank for my sandbox account (I don’t let credit card/debt companies anywhere near my primary account…I’ve been burned in the past). But they are getting rid of of their free checking, so now I have to find a new bank.
How does ING handle deposits of checks? or via debit card? I have one income source that comes via a prepaid debit card that I currently pull the money off by buying a money order and depositing that in my account.
Yeah, I have BofA’s MyAccess checking for free, I am a full time student and they said it was free for me. Surprisingly, they have been pretty good to me; I had over $1500 in fraudulent debit card charges from a Tommy Bahama store in Hawaii (I’m in TX) and I called them, they money was back in my account within an hour.
That’s good to hear David. What will happen with your account when you graduate from school?
I’m a Canadian student currently in the UK for my grad program. I keep my Canadian account (with RBC – student account is actually pretty good and they treat me very well), and I wanted to open a student account here as well.
Well, due to what basically amount to money-laundering/terrorism laws in the UK, you can’t open any time of decent bank account unless you’ve lived here for 3+ years! (And that includes people like full professors, lawyers, etc.) I thought about opening a “passport” account, but these charge upwards of 7 pounds a month for a STUDENT account, let alone a full-fledged account. After about 6 weeks of hassling and making a formal complaint to the head office, HSBC let me open a regular no-frills account. I don’t even have a UK debit card (let alone a credit card, even though I have very good credit), but just a cash card. This causes some issues when signing up for things here like gym memberships or ordering things online, which require UK debit or credit cards. So I just use my Canadian account for my credit card, and the UK account for cash and – no fees!
In general, being a Canadian student in the UK is pretty good. There is a very good support community since the Canadians are almost exclusively at the same schools (Oxford, Cambridge and LSE). The (Canadian) High Commission and other bodies often organize events just for us Canadian students, so that’s nice.
As for financial matters, it has taken some getting used to here in London. As mentioned above, it’s a different mentality where in Canada and the US, banks compete for your business, whereas here it’s almost a privilege to have a bank account. The cost of living is certainly higher, but likewise I find that fresh fruits and veggies are cheaper than back home, for the most part. And getting some culture is often cheaper with half-price student movie tickets, and almost all free museums.
Regarding your latest post on graduate school, unlike in the US and Canada where a Masters or PhD program usually waives your tuition and provides a cost-of-living stipend, European students pay a ridiculous amount of money out-of-pocket for tuition. Taken together with the cost of living, had I stayed in Canada I could probably save around $10K this year (beyond expenses), whereas here in the UK I am probably spending $30K. Financially it seems like a stupid decision, but I think it was actually a great decision to come here (especially since it’s only for a one-year Masters), then return to Canada for work as planned.
You can’t always look at the bottom line dollar figure Maya. You’re apart of a rare once in a life time experience. How many people can say that they got to study in the UK? I stayed at home while studying. I’m jealous of my younger brother who also took the leap and left town for school.