http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/part-4-of-the-car-debacle/ Personal finance blog for college students, recent graduates and everyone else -- including entrepreneurship -- for getting rich. Featured in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:43:50 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/part-4-of-the-car-debacle/comment-page-1/#comment-4277 Spencer Fri, 02 Feb 2007 00:35:33 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/part-4-of-the-car-debacle#comment-4277 Credit unions can mean more than good loan rates and convenient services. If you are not currently a member of a credit union you really should look into applying, especially if you don't have your finances set up yet. Find a few in your area and look at their brochures and Web sites to see which has the services and online banking features most valuable to you. <br /> I am just learning about personal finance (and financial responsibility in general) and have made mistakes in the past 2-3 years. The first time I wrote a check that should have bounced, they covered the extra amount by putting my account at a negative value. Sure, they charged me an overdraft fee, but that's better than the check bouncing and being charged additional fees by that party. When I had no credit history and applied for my first credit card to start building some, they gave me a variable rate card starting at 6.50% (not introductory, no other tricks or catches). It has only gone up due to my irresponsibility (high balance, small payments) and is still significantly lower (11.50%) than my friends' cards even though they pay their balance in full, on time. I have made mistakes and and am paying for them now, but I'm paying a lot less than I would be if I had gone through a bank and one of those cards advertised on TV or in the mail. <br /> And about the not-for-profit member-owned aspect.. My CU overhauled their online banking system last summer and it had some problems. I got fed up with it and made a serious complaint. I got a (non-automated) response within 24 hours apologizing for the issues and acknowledging some of them were beyond her technical level, so somebody higher up would contact me soon. A few days passed and I received an email from the CTO asking when the best time to call me would be. That's pretty good service. Credit unions can mean more than good loan rates and convenient services. If you are not currently a member of a credit union you really should look into applying, especially if you don’t have your finances set up yet. Find a few in your area and look at their brochures and Web sites to see which has the services and online banking features most valuable to you.

I am just learning about personal finance (and financial responsibility in general) and have made mistakes in the past 2-3 years.
The first time I wrote a check that should have bounced, they covered the extra amount by putting my account at a negative value. Sure, they charged me an overdraft fee, but that’s better than the check bouncing and being charged additional fees by that party.
When I had no credit history and applied for my first credit card to start building some, they gave me a variable rate card starting at 6.50% (not introductory, no other tricks or catches). It has only gone up due to my irresponsibility (high balance, small payments) and is still significantly lower (11.50%) than my friends’ cards even though they pay their balance in full, on time.
I have made mistakes and and am paying for them now, but I’m paying a lot less than I would be if I had gone through a bank and one of those cards advertised on TV or in the mail.

And about the not-for-profit member-owned aspect.. My CU overhauled their online banking system last summer and it had some problems. I got fed up with it and made a serious complaint. I got a (non-automated) response within 24 hours apologizing for the issues and acknowledging some of them were beyond her technical level, so somebody higher up would contact me soon. A few days passed and I received an email from the CTO asking when the best time to call me would be. That’s pretty good service.

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