My Two Dollars

New Bank Overdraft Fee Laws For Your Debit Cards & Checking Accounts

As of August 15th, 2010, there are new laws in place regarding overdraft fees from your bank. Up until that date, many banks and credit unions automatically enrolled customers in an overdraft service that could run as much as $35 each time you over-drafted your account. This service was there (in addition to padding the bank’s bottom line) to “protect you” from having your card declined due to having insufficient funds in your account. Granted, if they had just left the $35 IN the account, maybe you wouldn’t have gone over the limit, but still – this was an automatic enrollment and not something you could opt out of. Well, that all changed on August 15th, when the overdraft section of the financial legislation overhaul went into effect.

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banking

By David

Could Your Lack Of Money Be Your Own Fault?

About two weeks ago, I was having a pretty in-depth conversation with a good friend of mine when the topic of money came up. Normally, I try to keep talk about both money and politics out of my discussions with my friends, but this time I decided to go with it to see where it went. We talked about how much money we used to make in our twenties compared to today, and if we were doing better now than we were then. While I make about 50% of what I used to make at my highest earning level in corporate America, I am much happier than I was then – I make my own hours, work when I want, and have downsized my life enough that I can still live comfortably. My friend, on the other hand, makes a great deal more than me but yet wouldn’t stop complaining about not having any money.

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Lifestyle • saving

By David

How to Sign Up For the New Health Insurance Plans for Pre-Existing Conditions

Just this week, I applied for health insurance that I may actually be able to get. After going without insurance since last year, and being rejected by all the private companies I could find to apply to, a very important part of healthcare reform has started – the ability for those of us with pre-existing conditions to get some form of health insurance. This part of the law created a new program to make health coverage available to you if you have been denied health insurance by private insurance companies because of a pre-existing condition. Hands up – that’s me! Administered either by individual states or with assistance from the Federal government, anyone with pre-existing health conditions who have been turned down for private insurance in the past 6 months and is a U.S. citizen is eligible to apply. And apply I did.

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insurance

By David

Cost of Bottled Water vs Tap Water – Stop Wasting Your Money!

Are you still buying (what amounts to) filtered tap water in plastic bottles? Well, it’s time to stop wasting all that money! Approximately 40% of all water in bottles sold in the U.S. is just filtered water straight from the tap, which is exactly the same thing you can do at home for only a fraction of the cost. Filtering your own drinking water at home costs a little more than $0.002 per gallon, compared to the $0.89 – $8.26 per gallon that you pay for the same filtered water in plastic bottles.

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saving

By David

How to Save Money on Road Trips Using Inexpensive Hotels & Cheap Lodging

A couple of weeks ago I returned home from a 5,500 mile cross country road trip. Living in Colorado, with the rest of my family living in Massachusetts and Florida, it always takes a big trip in order to see everyone. And since I gave up flying 3 years ago, I now only travel by car or by train – and this summer’s trip was via my Mini Cooper. I drove from CO down to Florida via all back roads (no major highways) so I could see some great parts of the country rarely seen, then I drove up to Boston for a visit and to attend a wedding, and then I drove all the way back to Colorado. I was gone for just about a month, and I had a fantastic time both visiting people and just spending some of the summer on a road trip.

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saving • travel