Saturday, July 26, 2008

Consolidating Checking and Savings Accounts

I close on my house in 5 more days and one of the things that I felt I needed do before I started paying a mortgage is to consolidate my checking and savings accounts. Right now I have a checking and savings account with my local credit union, a td ameritrade account for my emergency fund, and 2 ing savings, and 1 ing checking accounts. That's just way to many accounts. I applied for a student checking and savings account with bank of America which included the keep the change program and no monthly fee.

The process was quite simple and I did it all online. At the end of the application you have to deposit some money into new accounts and you can do that by transferring money one of three ways: from another bank of America account, another bank or credit union account or by using a debit or credit card. I used my credit union visa debit card and deposited $50.00 into savings and $75.00 into checking.

Next week I plan on closing my ing direct checking account and after my closing my credit union credit account. I will continue to keep about $2000.00 in my td ameritrade account for emergencies. I will keep my ing direct savings open because the money in those will be going to specific purposes (Christmas/vacation and investment property down payment).

A great thing about consolidating my accounts is that I will actually know how much money I have. Right now one paycheck goes into my ing direct checking and the other goes into my credit union account. Now all paychecks will be direct deposited into my checking and all bills will be paid through one account.

My next step is to get my paychecks direct deposited and I will be doing that as soon as possible!!

until next time, think prosperous thoughts

YBP

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