Money Saving Tips
Be sure to eat before going shopping. You\'ll spend less at the grocery and you won\'t need to stop for fast food because you are starving.-
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- Dragonfly Checks
- Hibiscus Checks
- Garden Gate Checks
- Display Your Garden with Personal Photo Checks
- Butterfly Checks
- Rose Checks
- Sunflower Checks
- Flamingo Checks
- Hummingbird Checks
- How to order checks
- Do I really need a checking account?
- Check Formats Explained
- What Is A Checking Account?
- Contact
- Terms and Privacy
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Do I really need a checking account?
Yes. You really do need a checking account. Let me explain why.
Anyone that has bills to pay, receives a regular paycheck, or even runs their own small business, needs to have a bank checking account.
There are three major reasons why you should have a checking account. Convenience for you, help in establishing your financial identity and safety.
1. Convenience
The most logical reason that you need a checking account is because of the convenience that it provides to you. The average person has about 7 or 8 bills to pay each month:
How would you like to spend a few hours on Saturday morning running around trying to pay cash for all of these services? Some businesses might not even take your cash. Or you could stand in line at the post office for an hour to purchase money orders and then run around paying them.
With a checking account, you can save yourself a lot of time, write a check when the bill arrives or quickly pay online when the mood strikes you. Many companies now offer direct payments by automatically making withdrawls from your account each month. That is the ultimate of convenience!
Keeping track of your finances with a checking account also makes record retention much much easier. Especially if your bank provides online banking and downloading of your transactions, which most do now.
Tax time becomes a bit less stressful as all of your records are in one place and not scattered about in boxes throughout the house.
Mistakes happen and some big business says you didn’t pay your monthly bill? Call your bank, get a copy of the check and wha-la, there is your proof. If you had paid with cash and lost your receipt, you are just SOL!
2. Establish Financial Identity
The second best reason to open a checking account is because it is the first step in building your financial identity. Want to get a loan to buy a car? Not going to happen without a checking account. Loan officers need to see that you are credible by paying your bills each month and a checking account will help you establish that.
Loan officers will look at your present balance, your average balance, the age of the account and whether or not you have bounced checks (been overdrawn). This, along with other factors will help them to determine what level of credit risk you are to them. (Will they get their money back?)
Having a checking account may also be a factor in getting utilities turned on. Utility companies want to know that you have an easy way to pay them and many times will want a deposit if you are a first time customer.
3. Safety
Your money is safer in a bank than stored in a shoebox or under your mattress. Theft, fires or even just forgetfullness puts your money at risk of being lost.
Keeping your money in the bank offers full protection when the bank is covered thru the FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created during the depression to protect consumers and the economy from financial losses. If the bank closes or burns to the ground, you will be able to get every cent back. (Presently the limit is $250,000.00 per account. Go to the FDIC website for more information.)
As you can see, having a checking account in today’s modern society is almost a “must have” just to function day to day. Checking accounts are convenient and an easy way to keep track of your finances. It is also a great way to manage your money and to see what you are spending your money on. You can also sleep better at night without that big lump under your mattress!