Well I find it kind of shocking that a lot of my friends still depend on their parents to do their bills for them. I mean they still pay their bills with their own money, but when it comes to actually going online or writing a check, they are clueless. Paying bills online must be one of the easiest things to accomplish, all you have to do is take maybe a whole ten minutes to figure it out. However, there are still places that do not take money via the internet and still require you write a check. Again I was really surprised how many of my friends never even ONCE wrote a check. Well here is a quick video showing you how to write one.

So next time you have a check to write, why not give it a try yourself and if your still unsure have someone check it after your done. Till next time guys!

Cyber Monday was yesterday and if you’re all like me….you probably had no money to take advantage of the deal with. But that’s ok, if I had money I would have shopped from my computer chair in my underwear…and no one wants to see that. Obviously I’m joking, of course you want to see that.

The online sales for Cyber Monday this year were 20% from a year ago. That is a huge spike in terms of just one year. Last year, Cyber Monday was the heaviest online shopping day ever. With a 20% increase on top of that, we are really starting to rely on home internet shopping rather then getting up and going out to the stores, because honestly…who has time to put on pants these days. Shopping from your computer is safer and sometimes even a lot cheaper. Dealing with shipping charges can be costly but for certain products you can save big money on shipment. Not only that, but you can browse multiple stores at once. You save gas this way for your car and have time to do other things around the house you couldn’t normally do if you were out shopping. I believe online shopping is just gonna get bigger, and better. Such a shame…because we’re just gonna get lazier!

Many of us at the age of 18 start paying bills in someway or another. For instance cell phone bills, or if you are a bit older possibly even a car payment each month. An easy way to budget your money is paying your bills as soon as you get paid REGARDLESS when the money is due that month. By doing this you are ruling out the chance of spending some of your bill money, and falling short for that month’s payment. For instance I have a car payment each month and lets say I spend 1,000 dollars a month for it. What? Is that not believable to you? Whatever I drive a hover craft and here’s proof!

Told you! Anyway back to my point. So this is a $1,000 payment each month on the 26th. I get paid every two weeks for 1,200. If I pay that I still have $200 to pay for whatever I might need until I get paid again in two weeks! Alright so maybe I lied about the whole me having a “hovercraft” thing, but still a good point right? Consider doing this each and every month you have the opportunity to!

Alright so this is the second time this has happened to a friend of mine and I feel as though I should adress it. Craigslist is breeding ground from scam artests. As a matter of fact I wrote a blog a few months back about how I got scammed by them in a different way.

Last year My roommate got a job through Craigslist. He was given a $5000. They told him to cash the money he was owned then wire the rest of the money overseas for some reason.

Hmmmm sounds….SHADY!

And it was indeed shady. We did our research and discovered it was a money laundering scam. Had he cashed it and the bank found out it was bad he would have been charged.

Recently this happened to a guy in my class. He wasnt so lucky and had to spend a day at the bank trying to sort things out.

These scams are common and there are ways to avoid them. Craigslist has a page dedicated to show how now to get scammed. you can find that link here

Just remember If you get an email like this:

> Thanks for your mail,Since the cost of your bike is $800 i just contacted
my client about the cost of your bike and it present condition and he said
there is no problem about that.So my client said he will be issuing you a
Certified Check of $4000 while you wire 3000 to me through Western Union
Money Trasfer and you deduct the cost of your bike $800 and keep the
remaining $200 which my client said you should take for the terms of
Transaction and Agreement between you and my client.So i will like you to
send me your full contact information to where my client will be sending you
> the Certified Check like this:
> name………
> full address………….
> city……………
> state………….
> country……….
> zipcode…………
> cell/office/home phone number…………………..
> I will look forward to the requested information as soon as possible so
that the check can be sent out to you immediately And do get back to me
with the Pics of the bike so tha! t my client will be Able to see What he
is paying off.Get back to me immediately. Looking torwards your
> respond,
> Best Regards.

The person writing it probably looks like this…

For more info check this out.

Credit Unions have seemed to taken 2nd to banks when comes to people in big cities who have banks on every corner. Recently the ‘Occupy Wallstreet’ protests are giving Credit Unions a huge boost in activity. People have been opposing banks since the OWS protest have begun 3 months ago. Earlier this month, the Facebook-promoted “Bank Transfer Day” urged fed up bank users to move accounts to credit unions, after Bank of America and other national banks started monthly debit card fees.

While it is too soon to tell if the push has staying power, credit unions say they saw a spike in account openings in the weeks leading up to Bank Transfer Day on November 5th. Working for a credit union I find this awesome, hilarious, and empowering at the same time. Banks are not the way to go in my opinion. CU’s have the better member features, not to mention you feel like your part of an exclusive club instead of just a walking wallet like the banks love. I don’t like putting my trust into banks and when I stop being lazy, I may just swing down to Philly and occupy myself. Not myself, but Philly.

Fees fees fees! So much going on in the fine print that many of us are not even aware how much money is just simply taken away from us. There are fees for using ATM’s that do not belong to an establishment, thanks to Wawa’s and 7/11′s this issue has been brought down by a good percent. One of today’s biggest banks known for it’s fees is Bank of America, here is an interview a had with this customer.

Alright I accidentally called him Craig Ferguson the actor from the Drew Carry show.
Clearly not the same person, but the message is still the same! Can you believe that?! Just for talking to a representative he is charged a fee! Now if that’s not stealing I don’t know what is.