I remember it like it was yesterday. New job, new salary, new dreams. Danielle and I, fed up with our current bank, walked into our local "Stagecoach Pulled by Horses" branch to open a new account (names have been changed to protect the innocent). We even had some savings to deposit!
"Welcome to the family." The super-friendly and unassuming personal banker greeted us. "Let me ask you a few questions to make sure you get the products you need."
I should have stopped her right there. I should have gotten up and said, "Hold up. We just came in to open a checking and savings account." But I didn't. My ego was sufficiently stroked as she asked us what our gross monthly income was and, oh, did we know that they offered a free consult with a wealth manager for clients like us.
You can guess what happened next. We walked out of that bank with the largest personal line of credit we had ever had! To top it off, it was already open and we left with checkbook in hand...for emergencies, of course! At least we passed on the free consult.
If you couldn't tell already, the most convicting moment for me in today's Super Savers lesson was Dave's well-told story of the marketing machine I had just fed with my $500 savings account deposit. Who had a plan? I thought I did but clearly the bank had a better one.
Driving by those billboards on 101 I always thought that I would be riding in the stagecoach, not pulling it. Two and a half years later, my nearly tapped out personal line of credit suggests otherwise...
Got a story to share prompted by today's lesson? How are you planning to get to Baby Step 1?
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Just did my quickie budget! Can't wait to see what to make of it as the weeks progress.
ReplyDeleteLast week's lesson was a real eye-opener for me. I've never saved up for big furniture or a car, to pay the whole thing up front with cash. Definitely some food for thought.
'Flash the cash' - that's my new motto.
Vanessa
P.S. I think I need to revisit my clothing budget and maybe my cell phone plan. Can anyone relate?
I've hit a speedbump. I lost my job yesterday which threw my last budget sheet off.
ReplyDeleteI do have the payment details of that sheet but I do not have any information in terms of my future income which I may or may not get through unemployment and maybe disability. Is it okay for me to make some income guesstimates?
~anita
Just ran through itemized reports on Quicken and compared them to budget I got down. What in the world were we thinking?
ReplyDeleteWe could have saved so much in the last 2 years. It's amazing what you learn when you do itemized reports.
I've called around to all the company's I owe recurring payments to for their services and was able to lessen my mobile bill by $30/mo (guess that will be going to my savings now), I went to the dollar store and picked up a bottle of soda (that thing is HUGE -- 3 liters for $1), called up lifelock to go over my coverage of $9 month and found that in my electives I've requested them to block pre-authorized credit card offers from getting to me. For a bit I thought creditors were hating me and it turns out, I was the one telling them to go away.
ReplyDeleteI will be cancelling my gym membership of $30/month since the office will not be covering the charge anymore; instead, I'll be looking into the $10/mo gym to be sure they can accomodate me.
I am cutting corners left and right to build up my savings to my $500 goal. Oh yeah, I've also taken a second look at my taxes and found there was a mistake that prevented me from getting a return.
There are lots of ways to save some money, you just have to look for them.