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Capital One 360 Bonus – Free $50 and $25 Bonus

03.12.2012 by Matt Jabs //

Capital One 360 savings accounts present us with a very solid and useful savings platform.  In fact… I liked it so much I opened and account and have all our savings with Capital One 360.  My advice is for you to do the same.

Free $50 Bonus Links!

Capital One 360 is offering a free $50 bonus to all new customers who open an Capital One 360 checking account.

  • $50 bonus for Capital One 360 checking account

There are no ATM fees, no monthly fees, and no account minimums. All you have to do is open a new Capital One 360 checking account and make a total of 3 card purchases within 45 days. Your $50 bonus will automatically be deposited into your account on day 50.

My Capital One 360 Savings accounts

Use the Orange account savings for setting up savings goals for yourself and/or family.

  • Capital One 360 Savings account

Here are screenshots of my Orange account savings:

My Orange automatic savings plans

Another benefit you will want to take advantage of is the Capital One 360 automatic savings plan.  Use this feature to set up automatic monthly contributions to each of your Capital One 360 Savings accounts to put funding your savings goals on autopilot.

Here are screenshots of my Orange automatic savings plan contributions:

The Capital One 360 account savings is awesome.

My wife and I use accounts very actively and advise you to do the same… you will be happy with how much it helps you save!

Categories // Savings Tags // ing direct, Savings

How To Avoid ATM Fees

12.28.2011 by Matt Jabs //

Few things burn me more than being charged an ATM fee for withdrawing my own money… so I developed a system that enables me to avoid ATM fees altogether – here’s how I do it.

Use banks with no atm fees

When considering a new bank or credit union, look for one that doesn’t charge ATM fees.  If they do charge fees be sure they have a system in place that allows you to avoid being charged the fees such as belonging to a nationwide ATM network.

Betsy and I use Capital One 360 for our main checking and savings accounts and have been able to completely avoid ATM fees.  Capital One 360 is a member of the All-Point Network of ATMs giving us access to our cash at any Target store nationwide, along with many other locations in every part of the country.  If we need to hit up an ATM we can always find something close.

If you’re interested in Capital One 360, you can read more about their checking accounts here and more about their savings accounts here… or you can read my Capital One 360 review.

Update: Shortly after publishing this article Ally Bank contacted me to let me know that they reimburse all ATM fees our customers incur in the United States, including those charged by other banks!  If you’re interested you can read more about Ally Bank’s Fee-free interest checking here and more about their savings accounts here.  I also endorse them and have noticed they’ve really stepped up their focus on customers over the last few years.

If you are not looking for a new bank then you can employ the final two tactics to avoid or greatly lessen your ATM fees.

Use a cash envelope system

Back in November of 2009 Betsy and I attended Dave Ramsey’s 13 week Financial Peace University course – at our local church – which inspired us to adopt a cash envelope system for several specific budget categories.  For our situation we decided using cash would work best for:

  • Groceries
  • Dining out
  • Entertainment
  • Clothing
  • Miscellaneous

These categories may not be best for everyone so be sure to figure out what works best for you.

We each carry our own cash and manage it in a way that works best for us.  Betsy carries and uses the Dave Ramsey cash envelope organizer that came with our FPU kit, while I stick to a much simpler system of keeping a wad of cash in my wallet and journalling each transaction to keep track of each category.

I only recommend keeping all your cash together if you journal the spending; otherwise you can easily spend much more in a certain category than allotted.  If you’re not going to journal the activity it’s best to keep the cash separate for each category.

Withdraw money once per month

To avoid fees, simply withdraw your cash envelope money once each month rather than hitting up an ATM every time you need money.

Here is a detailed breakdown of how much Betsy and I use for each category:

  • Groceries – Betsy gets $260, Matt gets $100
  • Dining out – Betsy gets $40, Matt gets $20
  • Entertainment – Betsy gets $40, Matt gets $20
  • Clothing – Betsy gets $60, Matt gets $20
  • Miscellaneous – We both get $100

If you do the math you’ll see that we need $760 total, so at the beginning of the month Betsy and I head over to Target and withdraw the entire amount.  You may have noticed that she carries a bit more in several of the categories than I do; that’s because we’re usually together and it works out best for us.  I carry my own grocery money for when I have to run to the store by myself to pick up a few odds and ends.

It’s also worth noting that Capital One 360 has a $1,000 daily ATM withdrawal limit; keep that in mind if you use or plan to use Capital One 360.  Otherwise be sure your cash envelope amount fits within the daily ATM withdrawal limit of your bank.  If the amount needed exceeds the daily limit simply go to the ATM twice each month, once in the beginning of the month and once in the middle.

What tactics do you employ to avoid paying ATM fees?

Categories // Money Management Tags // banking, cash, fees, ing direct

Finance Reminders Worth Passing On

09.03.2010 by Matt Jabs //

$25 bonus for new Capital One 360 Savings Account at Capital One 360

Are you tired of your current bank?  I never enjoyed a bank until I opened my first Capital One 360 Savings Account at Capital One 360.  Since that day I have opened eight additional Capital One 360 Savings Accounts and one Capital One 360 Checking Account.  I can honestly say that I enjoy banking with Capital One 360.  I use their Automatic Savings Plan (ASP) to funnel monthly contributions to all my savings accounts.  ASP makes fast growing savings a no-brainer, which is how I like it.  Once you commit to automatic savings, you’ll never miss the extra amount from your budget.

If you are ready for a switch, would like $25 free money, and think Capital One 360 sounds like a good deal… visit the Capital One 360 Savings Account page and follow the instructions to open a new account today.

Lending Club – invest at 10% and borrow as low as 8%

I have both borrowed and invested with Lending Club.  My opinion?  I am impressed enough to promote them on both fronts.  Back in 2009 we borrowed from Lending Club to pay off our credit card debt and auto loan debt.  The loan was on a 3 year term and we repaid it in just 7 months.  w00t!  Since then, I have been investing with Lending Club to help fund the debt consolidation of other fellow debt haters.  I really dig it.  I am currently earning 10.86% return on about $2,200… and I keep investing every month.  There are currently so few options (if any) for the average Joe to earn high rates of return on his investments… making Lending Club another no-brainer in my book.

If you need to borrow or are looking to earn decent returns on investments, read my review of person to person loans with Lending Club and check it out for yourself.

Categories // Earn Money, Investing, Retirement Tags // banking, borrow, ing direct, Investing, Lending Club

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Content on Debt Free Adventure is for entertainment purposes only. Rates & offers from advertisers shown on this website may change without notice: please visit referenced sites for current information. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs or otherwise. We respect your privacy. Privacy policy.

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Disclaimer

Content on Debt Free Adventure is for entertainment purposes only. Rates & offers from advertisers shown on this website may change without notice: please visit referenced sites for current information. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs or otherwise. We respect your privacy. Privacy policy.

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