Is the bank just a storage space for your money or an important tool for managing your finances?

It should be both.

Over the years, I’ve found some important tips for better managing money through smart banking.

Separate Savings

Is your paycheck direct-deposited?

Can you choose more than one account?

Then I suggest setting up a certain amount to go into a completely separate bank account for savings.

This account needs to be one that you hardly ever access because the funds in there are for emergencies only! Set up the account at a bank that is out of the way from your home and the routes through town that you usually take. Make it so that it is an inconvenience to you to withdraw funds.

This way, that money is easy to forget about so that you can focus on staying within your budget while still building up your savings.

Analyze Your Bank Statement

How often do you just toss your bank statement into the “to file” box and move on? There are a few reasons why you should take a moment to scan through it:

1.You need to have an idea of where your money is going! It will make you more likely to stick to a budget if you open your statement and think “Ouch! I didn’t realize I spent so much at (insert favorite store here)”! (Especially if you usually pay by debit or check.)

2.You need to check for any fraudulent charges. If you see a payment you didn’t make, call your bank right away!

3.You need to check for any mischarges. One time my bank charged me for checks I didn’t order. I called and after they looked into it and figured out what went wrong, my money was refunded.

(And I still received a package of useless checks with my maiden name on them!)

Automate Payments

For regular expenses, I’d suggest setting up auto bill pay with your bank account or debit card. I find that this works best for bills such as utilities and car insurance.

Also, it works well for anything that tends to be “Out of sight, out of mind.” Just make sure you still take a look at the statements to make sure there aren’t any surprise charges!

Join a Credit Union

I grew up going to a small credit union – without a drive through and where everyone knew our name. Later I switched to a larger credit union – WITH a drive-through. 🙂

We have always been very pleased with the services at our credit unions. As with anything, there are pros and cons. But a major pro of credit unions is that they usually have lower to no fees and better interest rates.

Auto Transfer Money Into Savings

Set up an auto transfer every month or every two weeks to move your allotted budget of funds into your savings account. This way you don’t have to remember to do it every time and knowing it moves automatically will help you stick to your budget.

Check Your Bank Account

Log into your bank account online most mornings so you can keep track of the balance. This is a good way to make sure you are on a budget, to see what checks have cleared, and also monitor for any fraudulent activity.

Use a Cash Back Debit Card

This is a super easy way to earn a few extra dollars a month. Just by using my debit card (and running as credit) to buy groceries and pay a few bills, I usually earn an extra $5 or so a month. Granted, that’s not much – but since I was going to use it anyway, that adds up to around $60 a year that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

With some smart banking, you can use the services provided to save your family money!

Are you already using any of these tips? Which one are you going to implement? Let me know in the comments!