Beating Broke

Capital One 360 Review

April 20, 2013 By Shane Ede 3 Comments

For many years, I was a user of ING Direct and their online banking products. When word went out a while back that the US branch of their online bank was being sold I began to worry that a good thing was about to be ruined. When we learned that the company that was buying them was Capital One, it didn’t exactly help me not worry. I’ve had a credit card from Capital One for longer than I’ve had an account at ING Direct, and while I’ve never had a terrible experience with them, I’ve never really felt that I was anything more than just another cardholder; easily replaced and nothing worth going out of their way for. If that level of service came to the online bank side after the purchase of ING Direct, I might have had to find something else.

The prospect of having to move my accounts at what was ING Direct to somewhere else upset me a bit. I’ve tried several of the online bank options, and so far, haven’t found one that was as easy to use as the accounts were with ING Direct. Now that ING Direct US is no more, and it’s been sold to Capital One, and re-branded to Capital One 360, what has my experience been?

Surprisingly, I have no complaints. I truly expected that they’d start squeezing in some new fees, or making it harder to get things done, but the experience so far has been very similar to what it was with ING Direct. There’s the obvious rebranding that came with a change of logo and color scheme, but for all intents and purposes, they’ve done a very good job of keeping the function and service levels where they were when it was ING Direct.

I suppose there may be some things behind the scenes that I don’t see that are different. And they may just be biding their time before they start implementing some new fees and roadblocks, but if so, they are taking their sweet time doing it. In the mean time, many of the features that I really loved about ING Direct are still resident in the Capital One 360 system. It’s still super easy to create a new account, making it simple to have an account for each purpose and being able to segment your money by purpose. Every other place I’ve tried this at, make it much more difficult to create a new account and that process becomes a roadblock to use.

The interface of Capital One 360 is very easy to use, with all of the major functions and features that most bank customers use right at your fingertips (or mouse pointer I suppose). The rates that they pay on their savings and CD accounts still aren’t the best around, but they remain competitive with most other online banks, and they are double and triple what my local banks and even Credit Unions are paying.

The connection between Capital One 360 and Capital One Sharebuilder remains, making it easy to transfer money to investment accounts and IRAs at Capital One Sharebuilder. Does that make a huge difference? Not really, but it is convenient.

Overall, I think Capital One has done a really good job of bringing the Capital One 360 accounts into the fold and not rocking the boat. I hope that they remain dedicated to keeping the excellent service and system in place. Even with a new name, Capital One 360 is still my favorite online bank.

Rainbows on the Road

April 19, 2013 By Shane Ede 8 Comments

The other day, as my daughter was on her way to the car when I picked her up from daycare. Along the way, she noticed something on the ground. In the excited voice of a 4 year old, she said “Daddy! Look! A rainbow!”, and then pointed at the spot on the ground she was looking at. As I got closer, I found that she was looking at a spot on the wet ground where some sort of oily fluid had likely leaked out of the bottom of a vehicle. Of course, oily fluids, on wet ground tend to separate out into what you and I would probably best describe as an oil slick. But, to my 4 year old, it was a rainbow on the ground. As we drove off to pick up her brother at school, I began thinking about what had just happened.

The thoughts were amplified when she noticed another “rainbow” on the ground on the way into the school. On our way back out of the school, with her brother, she excitedly called her brother over to show him what she had found. My son is 6 (nearly 7), and so has a slightly more advanced knowledge of the world than his sister. I fully expected, in the way that only a brother who doesn’t understand a 4 year old is likely to do, that he would quickly dismiss it for what it was, an oil slick on wet ground, and that her excitement would quickly dissipate. Instead, as she pulled him over and pointed it out, saying “Look!”, he quickly said “A rainbow!”. He saw it too.

As parents, we’re always so excited to teach our children new things. We’re often quick to correct them when they don’t get something right, or don’t understand it. They saw a rainbow. I didn’t. All I saw was an oil slick. Obviously, I saw the resemblance. But, I knew what it really was, so the wonder that my children had for it was lost on me. But, it kept me thinking.

How often do we take what we know, and use it as a filter for the world. Surely, that’s what knowledge is for, right? I know that 1+1=2, and that certain letters spell words, and that drops of oil on wet ground make a oil slick. Yes, it’s colorful, but it’s an oil slick, not a rainbow. How many times do we become so certain in our knowledge, and the filtering that we use it for, that we fail to see the rainbow?

How many people out there are so set in the knowledge that a bank is the lender, and use that to filter the idea of peer-to-peer lending as a sham, without allowing for a little of the rainbow to shine through?

The point is this: If you never question what you think you know, how will you ever know if you’re wrong? Sometimes the formula and constants change. Sometimes, the environment itself is what has changed. Heck, look at the newspaper industry. How long did they refuse to see the emergence of blogs (like this one) as a major change in the dynamic of how people get their news? Some of them still refuse to see that rainbow.

If you do one thing to improve your personal finance today, question what you think you know. Most of the time, you’ll still be right. But, maybe, just maybe, you’ll see a rainbow instead.

What are some rainbows that you’ve found by questioning what you thought was true? What methods do you use to find the rainbows in your life?

Original Image credit:Oil slick. @blackmetalbike by Growinnc, on Flickr

Looking for More Ways to Save? Try Asking for Discounts

April 15, 2013 By MelissaB 13 Comments

There are plenty of ways to save on a daily basis–clipping coupons, resisting the urge to buy something, packing your lunch instead of eating out, etc. There are many ways to live a more frugal life, and chances are, you incorporate the ways that are easy. You know, the ones that don’t cause you to change your lifestyle much. Things like giving up cable and getting streaming through your Xbox instead. That’s fairly easy and doesn’t change your lifestyle.

Another easy way to save that doesn’t change your lifestyle is to ask for discounts. Have you tried it?

Asking is surprisingly easy, and even more surprising is how often you actually get the discount. You just have to get up the nerve to ask the first time; once someone says yes, you’ll gain confidence, and it’ll be easier to ask next time.

Want proof that asking is as easy as I say?

Credit Card Fees

A few years ago, I made an online payment to my credit card on the day it was due, which was a Saturday. The web stated that any payment made on the weekend wouldn’t post until the next business day. Yep, my on time payment was counted late, and I was charged a $25 late fee.

I called the company and asked them to remove the late charge. They did immediately. Why? Two reasons. First, I asked. Second, I never make late payments, so they rewarded my good payment history by removing the late payment. I’ve had this happen to me 3 times in about 10 years of credit card usage. Each time I called and they removed the charge.

Credit Card Interest

We’re paying down debt, and one thing that slowed our progress was our credit card APR of 13.99%. I called to ask to have the rate reduced. I had to talk to a supervisor, but she lowered our rate to 9.99%, and she gave me enough reward points to cover the cost of our annual fee. I saved a few hundred dollars right there in about 10 minutes, just by asking. (But when I got an offer to move my balance to a 0% APR card a few months later, you better believe I did it.)

Grocery Store Purchases

Asking for discounts isn’t limited to credit cards. If I see something at the grocery store that is at the sell by date, I’ll ask someone in that department to discount it. I’m only successful here about 50% of the time, but still, that’s half the time that I save more than I would if I hadn’t asked!

Garage Sales & Craigslist

I love shopping garage sales in the summertime. If things are already priced dirt cheap, I don’t haggle, but if the price is too expensive, I have no problem asking for a lower price. Most of the time people will say yes because they just want to get rid of their stuff.

Likewise, people on Craigslist expect you to ask for a lower price than they have listed. Just don’t get ridiculous with the amount you ask. That can be insulting for the seller and usually won’t lead to a deal.

These are just a few examples of how I’ve saved by asking for a discount. However, any time I think asking might lead to a discount, I ask.

What was your most successful discount you got just by asking?