Can you believe my vacation is over tomorrow.
Although I haven't been to work in about a week, I still don't feel that relaxed.
Hard as I tried, I couldn't stay off the internet. I finally convinced myself that reading PF (personal finance) blogs were the same as reading because it was what I wanted to read.
So I did alot of that and a lot of job searching. I just like to punish myself. I think as the housing closing date nears (next Monday), I have a bit of FOMO. Also, I find searching Indeed the closest I can get to a dating app. I just like searching and daydreaming about what my life could have been.
One more day of freedom, then put off packing for one more weekend, then it'll be crunch time.
I've also been thinking more about getting a phone for the next 6 months to a year. One, I'll probably be dealing with a lot of customer service reps as I get the new place set up (i.e. utilities, appliances, furniture, etc). General safety should probably make that list.
Secondly, it's getting more and more difficult with all the 2-factor authentication needed to just conduct everyday business without a cell phone. But because those instances are so sporadic, I've been reticent to commit to a phone plan until now.
So add finding a phone plan and a new checking account to my list of things to do in the near future.
I mentioned in a recent post that I've been devouring PF blog posts and came across a website that published bank account offers - you know, sign up for a new checking account and do this list of things and get $200.
Well I clicked around and spent most of Sunday applying and reading through the requirements. It literally took all day.
Here's my list
Potential Haul: $1100
Likely Haul: $800 to $900 after taxes (and mistakes)
Note, I did the math on storing the different amounts of money for the different amounts of time vs investing (6%) or online savings account (~1.7%), and the bank bonus wins every time by a large margin!
Small example
First Horizon
Requirement: $50 to open, must do 1 direct deposit ( I chose $5), keep account open 6 months
Free money: $200
The math:
Online Savings: $55 x 1.7% interest x 6 months; interest earned = $0.47
Investing w/ 6% return: $1.63
Bigger example
Wells Fargo
Requirement: direct deposit $4k in 90 days; keep account open 4 months
Free money: $400
The math:
Online savings: $4000 x 1.7% interest x 4 months, interest earned = $22.54
Investing w/6% return: $78.45
So even with some spotty customer service, I persisted. The numbers don't lie!
A couple things allowed me to be able to do this at this time
- Being on vacation, so more time for nonsense
- An extra influx of cash with tax refund and money sitting in my savings pending the house closing. Because usually, at this time of year my accounts have been swept for extra cash and moved to my brokerage account making them inaccessible.
- Having paid off my last bills for housing related matters until I find new housing, so I could be a little flexible with where my direct deposits go since I don't have to fund my Bill Pay account for the time being
- Generally on the prowl for a new checking account
- A more predictable direct deposit update schedule with Call Center 2 (vs Call Center #1)
Personal notes on the process
- Apparently at work, I can have a maximum of 6 direct deposits.
- For my emotional safety, I'd like to skip any accounts I can't open online, i.e. avoid going into a branch. Those salty customer service agents are really emotionally triggering. Yeah, I said it. I almost quit one of the sign-ups because they were so terrible to me. I just don't feel I should have any emotional reaction after a simple transaction such as opening a bank account.
- I need to find my "too many hoops" limit. After reading the fine print, setting up the transactions, it will not take just 5 minutes to set up one of these schemes.
- Some accounts are way easier to open than others.
- Zelle transfer is your friend.
- I really need to find a new local bank that makes transferring money between other banks a little easier (but still secure).
- Right now SunTrust has been the easiest in terms of opening and funding the account.
- Check with the bank (if you can stand talking to customer service reps) about how long you have to reach the minimum daily balance. The first answer they tell you is usually wrong, so ask about when the statement cycle starts. *Note, since I just opened these accounts in the last couple days, I actually still don't know if the answers I received from the reps are true. I'm sure that will be a future post in what is turning out to be my 2020 rant: not everyone is good at their job!
Have you ever opened a bank account just for the bonus?
Also, any recs for a free checking account? I'm really in the market for one!
IRT "new local bank that makes transfers easier"... it's actually best to use a hub bank to do your large transfers. Reason being, if your hub gets shutdown, you still have all your local banking hospitality, history, & bill pays intact. Recommended hub banks are Cap One 360, Ally, or Alliant CU. These are banks that don't frown on large transfers or put long holds on them. They also happen to trigger a lot of bank bonuses for the DD requirement, and you aren't missing out on new customer bonuses by having them left open. Some people recommend Discover, but as someone who got banned from there for failed trial deposits, I wouldn't use them a hub. They also tend to hold ACH's for a week for them to "clear". But be sure to check Discover out and get their bonuses, when available.
ReplyDeleteCall phone - I am coming to the end of my "one year free" plan on Sprint and seems like Mint mobile has the best deal for a low data use plan that's got decent coverage (uses T-mobile towers) and no contract. If you are only using a phone for 2FA, then you need almost no data. And, I'd definitely suggest buying a unlocked phone outright, rather than buying retail or adding it on to the monthly bill. My family has been perfectly fine with Moto G4, G6, E5 Play, X4 "budget phones" over the last 6 years... which if you find a sale, these phones are less than $200 easy. If you are only keeping a plan/phone 6 months... I would probably look for something even more basic/cheaper. Just make sure it works with the carrier you plan to use.
In-branch accounts - While in-branch is an annoying time-suck, it would behoove you to just learn to deal with it. Just small talk them... and if you are a good liar, you can tell them you only have a few minutes before you have to be somewhere and they tend to put a little urgency in completing the application. After you do one or two, you pretty much know what to expect them to ask or tell you. I usually find they are happy to help you get an account, as they make a commission typically. Opt out of overdraft, do get the debit card, etc etc. I even do account openings on vacation and trips out-of-state when I have time.
Hoops - There is a limit of hoops any person can endure. Two that I recall pushing my buttons a little are State Bank of India CA (SBIC), and Dollar Bank. This that may get your goat... having to do minimum number of debit transactions per month or high min balances, banks that don't waive the fee the 1st month (SBIC), taking a year to pay out the second portion of the bonus (Dollar). Then their are some that just don't make financial sense... Citi $50K balance for $700 bonus IS NOT better than $15K balance for $500, because with that other $35K you can be out doing other bonuses. Anyway, Best of luck!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteGood tip on the hub bank... I clicked around yesterday to investigate your recommendations. I settled on Alliant because of the fast ACH turnaround, but their plenty fees made me nervous. I went to sign up and I wasn't really eligible since i'm not part of any of their member organizations. Or I'd have to pay $5 as contribution to a charity. So i abandoned that idea for now.
Had not heard of mint so thanks for the rec. I have a simple mobile sim card and phone and it's handy because with prepaid I just activate as needed for the month. We'll see how the next months go, if I decided to carry a phone permanently, then mint provides the better price vs simple mobile. Hope i'll be able to bring the phone i currently use.
jury's still out on in branch accounts, but thanks for the vote of confidence. when i ever make the move to trying to open business checking accounts, i may not have a choice.
note on the phone... wells fargo is requiring a cell phone to enroll in online banking, so i'll need to figure that out sooner than later. they didn' t mention that when i went to the branch. *smh*
yeah, i put on the back burner one of the offers i saw that required 15 debit card transactions... it's possible...but i have to mentally prepare
i haven't gotten any bonuses yet, so we'll see how it all goes.
thanks again for your thoughtful insight!