Fees, Fees, Everywhere!

The cost of living is on the rise. Just look at gas prices, the grocery bills and home heating bills that have skyrocketed. Most of us shop and look from one gas station to another to see which one is lowest for the day when we need to refuel. For groceries, we read the sales fliers and try to buy our food items when they go on sale.

When trying to maintain a budget, there’s another area we often overlook but it’s present everywhere we turn. This area is the ridicilous amount of fees we pay for services from money transfers to payment to payment of bills.

Here’s a list of a few examples that effect almost all of us. ATM fees, the amount you pay to use an ATM at another bank, is usually a surcharge of $1.68, with Fifth Third topping the list at $2.50 for a non-customer. The way to solve this is to simply ask for cash back when making a debit card purchase. Usually, there is no fee.

Another example we are all familiar with is the over the limit fee for overdrawing your checking account with your debit card or surpassing your limit with your credit card. The way to solve this dilemna is to request that purchases and ATM withdrawals only be approved when they are within your limits.

For credit card payments, if you pay on the due date and are still on time, you may be charged a same-day payment fee. Washington Mutual charges $15.00 for this. The best way to solve this fee problem is to take your business to a company that won’t charge you for this situation.

Here’s a fee that costs you money when you’re trying to save on interest charges. It’s the balance transfer fee or the money you’re charged to move your credit card balance to another card to lower your interest rate. It can be as high as 3% of the balance transferred. Solve this one by asking about fees prior to transferring your balance.

The list of fees are almost endless. So, before doing business, ask questions and get answers. This way, there will be fewer surprises and hidden costs to your business transactions.