Thanks for visiting Ultimate Money Blog! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. I am probably late to the game, but I just realized that Capital One has purchased ING Direct. Cue the sad violins. I have loved ING for years, and my hope with Capital One coming in and buying ING is that they leave everything exactly the same. I love the fact that there is no minimum balance on the savings accounts, you can have multiple accounts, and it’s just so easy to use. I love being able to log in and see all of my accounts right there, all displayed in one screen. I can transfer money between accounts and from my external bank. If Capital One starts changing things, I’ll have to look for a new bank. I’ve thought about just consolidating all of my accounts into one so I’d be able to meet a required minimum balance, but I don’t think that would work for me. I like it when they are separated on the screen and all have [...]

Last year, the goals I set were purely financial. It was hit or miss on whether or not we actually met them, but overall I’m happy with our finances and we’re debt free so that’s pretty much all that matters. This year, instead of making the goals all about money, I decided that I would set some different goals that included life experiences. After all, that’s the real reason we spend our money wisely: to enjoy life. With that said, here are some goals I’d like to work toward this year. 1. Keep up with the clutter and declutter 365 items from our house this year. I won’t be alone in this challenge, so that’s good to know! I’m a little intimidated by the number, but I am thinking once I get started it really won’t be too bad. 2. Pay at least $3,000 down on the principal of our mortgage. The mortgage is a debt that doesn’t hang over my head quite like the student loans did, but it’s still debt nonetheless. It feels really good to see the [...]

Since the Regulation E went into effect in August, Banks have taken a huge hit to their fee income. While the regulation is great for the consumers’ wallet, it hasn’t helped the banking industry. Before the regulation, banks were making a lot of money with fee income, and that went away when banks stopped allowing customers to overdraw their account without their consent. As an effect of the regulation and the drop in fee income, I’m betting that free checking accounts will soon become a thing of the past. I’ve got a couple theories of what will happen to free checking accounts. Current Checking Accounts Currently banks offer many different types of checking accounts. The most popular type is the free checking, which normally doesn’t require a minimum balance. Other checking accounts may provide benefits, such as free checks, free cashier’s checks and money orders, and bonus rates on certificates of deposit. While these type of checking accounts provide additional benefits that the free checking accounts don’t, they also normally require minimum balances. “Free” Checking Accounts in the future As [...]