Keep more $ in your bank accounts with this trick

[Joseph Young]

I had trouble with minimum balance fees at my local bank and it was driving me nuts.  With accounts at multiple banks and minimums different at each institution, I could never remember what the minimums were until I came up with this little trick.  I gave each of my checking accounts a nickname that was the minimum balance required to avoid fees.  So instead of naming my checking account "checking" I named it "keep above $1500".  Once I did this to each of my accounts I rarely ever let it drop below the minimum balance, keeping more of my money in my account by avoiding fees.

  This new nickname worked great for a while until I realized the power of what I had just discovered.  Once I was faced with this minimum balance staring me in the face through the nickname I had given it, $1500 became the new $0.00 in my account.  It was like a superpower, I now had money I couldn't spend, money I wouldn't spend.  My "keep above $1500" nickname grew slowly to become "keep above $2000".  it wasn't about the minimum balance fees anymore, now it was about setting my own minimum standards.  Sure the bank wants me to keep some money in the bank, but shouldn't my minimum standards be better than theirs?

Now I have added my largest monthly transactions (my mortgage and student loan amounts) to that minimum and my account reads "keep above $4,000".  Now I rarely drop below the bank minimums even after paying my largest bills each month.  Nor do I have to "time" paying my bills because the money is always there.  These minimums are helping me with gather my 6 month emergency savings,  and growing my net worth overall, and I don't find myself wondering when the next paycheck is coming.  Set your own minimum standards, don't let the bank decide that for you, and you may find yourself not living paycheck to paycheck.

Oh and don't be surprised when the bank teller makes a funny face when they read your account nickname next time you are at your local bank branch.