View Full Version : Which Bank?
MilkOnTap
09-02-2006, 08:47
There are so many banks out there in this jungle of interest rates and credit cards, and I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any recommendations/advice?
DH and I have our pay both go into the same account with CBA. DH has a c/c with both CBA (15.2%pa) and GE (27.5%pa:eek: ) and I have a c/c with NAB (17.5%pa). I am currently rolling my NAB over to Virgin which will be 12.5%pa.
We have another CBA a/c that is a Savings Plan (large bills ie, rego, insurance, etc) and then yet ANOTHER a/c with INGdirect which is a Savings a/c for our Honeymoon (bring it on!) Every fortnight I have scheduled transfers to make sure that a minimum of $100 goes onto each a/c and c/c, and schedule another payment for our rent to be deducted automatically. I then pay the bills (which are kept on our fridge so I cant forget about them) and then what we have left is our shopping/spending/general living.
Does this sound like I am doing way too much? Am I going overboard or do other people have a similar 'system'?
Also, does anyone know of any other cheaper c/c's? We still both need the c/c facility (buying things online, DH o'seas etc) but 27.5%pa on the GE is absolutely shocking!
Do Virgin still have that introductory rate of 5.65% for 6 months? If so i'd be transferring balances from all your c/c onto Virgin and try to pay a fair whack in 6 months to take advantage of the low rate.
I do the same Ally, transfering to bills accounts,now im going to start bpaying direct every fortnight to the companies...ie i know my phone bill is always around $140 a month so will bpay Optus $70 a fortnight, and pay the difference if any when its due. Same with Power etc.
Don't you hate bills :mad:
cheers Jen!
Hi,
Is you Ge credit card a normal credit card or a store card?
If it is a store card then it isn't designed to be used for everyday purchases as you don't get an interest free period unless you go into a participating store and purchase an item during a promotion. The store crads are there mainly for large purchases such as furniture, appliances etc. I used to work for GE and often saw people pay ridiculous amounts in fees and interest using their store card as a normal credit card.
I would keep the GE card if it is a store card and if you use it as a store card but if not then get rid of it as there are much better interst rates out there with other companies.
MilkOnTap
09-02-2006, 10:03
Yup! They have still got the introductory rate going! I figured by the end of 6 months DH will still be away and we will be paying off everything. I am sad that he has to go away to the gulf for 6 months, but the $$ is going to make us debt free and with a nice little deposit for a nice little home!!! Yay!
Unfortunately rolling over HIS accounts is difficult with him away... I may just have to leave his put until he gets back, but concentrate on paying THOSE off really quickly...
MilkOnTap
09-02-2006, 10:06
Is you Ge credit card a normal credit card or a store card?
The GE is a store card which we had to use for cash advances when we got married *gulp* - thats why the interest rate is massive! The first $1100 is no interest til the end of this year, but the rest is at 27.5%pa :eek:
I'm not too bothered about closing the c/c's and/or GE a/c. They really are quite handy if we do get to a point where we just need that extra bit of cashola; and if we use them WISELY then they can be a great way to avoid excess bank fees. My main concern is getting rid of the debt ON the c/c's...
We only have one bank account (IMB) and no other accounts at all! (not credit card people) It cuts down on alot of fees!
Shazbutt
09-02-2006, 16:22
I have a c/c with Aussie which is a Mastercard, and their ongoing rate is only 9.99%. I haven't had any troubles with it and i use it a fair bit. You can apply over the net and get a response within 60secs. I didn't even put a limit in, and with a pretty modest income, i got a $6000 limit! :eek:
www.aussiecreditcard.com.au
Bank of Queensland just came out with one at the same interest level i think...but don't quote me on that....
Good Luck! :)
Avoid the Commonwealth like the plague... 16 years I have banked with them (roughly half my life) and they still can't treat me like a human being... Plus you are not even welcome inside the branch anymore, they have no forms to fill out for counter service... Also not enamored with Westpac either
I have my CC with St george and pay 8% interest and I think the yearly fee is $65 but don't quote me on that lol
They are very good ;)
http://www.emailjokes.co.za/images/360my%20bank_596_360_1.jpg
Ally, if you want a Credit Card without having a credit card, try a credit union. Most of them have Visa Debit cards (work exactly the same as credit cards) and, in my experience, most of the time the normal bank fees are less. :)
MilkOnTap
11-02-2006, 19:47
You know, I used to have one of those Visa Debit cards - and it was the best thing! Unfortunately cause now I have a debt on my credit card I need yet ANOTHER one to roll it all over to...
Next week when DH gets home we are going to see someone about debt consolidation. We're not in any major probs, not any probs at all really, but it will be SOO much easier to be able to just pay ONE debt rather than about 7 or 8 separate ones...
carls888
16-02-2006, 11:54
We have an ANZ savings and business accounts, but we are with Citibank for a credit card. Have been for years.
They are fantastic.
You can pay it off over the net or go into a Post Office.
We put everything on it every month and acrue points. We have used these for numerous flights (QFF points) and holiday packages (they have a points system with Harvey World Travel).
We have a Gold Card and that gives us free o'seas travel insurance as well.
They also have a transfer from another card interest rate that is very low. (5% or 6% for the life of that balance)
But the fees are reasonable compared to my mum and Dad's ANZ cc.
Also the points can acrue with no cap. A lot of the cc companies now are capping these at 1500 per month or something low. So it takes ages to acrue enough to go anywhere.
I have been with citibank for 14 years and would not change.
Hope this helps,
Carla
Okay, I work in the industry, so feel free to listen to the following or just ignore it ;)
There are so many banks out there in this jungle of interest rates and credit cards, and I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any recommendations/advice?
Try and avoid having anyone money on a credit card, if you've got a homeloan redraw some money to pay off your credit cards.
DH and I have our pay both go into the same account with CBA. DH has a c/c with both CBA (15.2%pa) and GE (27.5%pa:eek: ) and I have a c/c with NAB (17.5%pa). I am currently rolling my NAB over to Virgin which will be 12.5%pa. We have another CBA a/c that is a Savings Plan (large bills ie, rego, insurance, etc) and then yet ANOTHER a/c with INGdirect which is a Savings a/c for our Honeymoon (bring it on!) Every fortnight I have scheduled transfers to make sure that a minimum of $100 goes onto each a/c and c/c, and schedule another payment for our rent to be deducted automatically. I then pay the bills (which are kept on our fridge so I cant forget about them) and then what we have left is our shopping/spending/general living.
First thing you need to do is get rid of the highest interest rate cards, and preferably all of them, if you're making more than the minimum repayment of any of the cards, make it the minimum repayment and direct all excess funds to the 27.5% card.
Preferably, you should get rid of them all, either by the above homeloan redraw I mentioned if that is an option, or alternatively there is the BankWest Lite credit card at 8.99% which will save you a small fortune. If you had $5,000 alone on the 27.5% GE card and changed it to the BankWest Lite c/c at 8.99% you'd be saving $925.50 which can do to paying down the credit card further.
There is however an annual fee of $49. But when it's going to save you that much it's worthwhile to do.
Secondly, I gather you've not got employee bank accounts and are paying bank fees? If so, seek out your local credit union(s) and compare their fee structure. Are you or anyone in your family a teacher? If so seek out the state Teachers Credit Union, I'm a member of the NSW Teachers CU and there are no fees for anything and 60 days interest free on their credit card as well as the option of a visa debit card, which would possibly be a good option in the future as it eliminates the possibility of getting into debt as you're using your own money.
Oh disregard the homeloan thing, I just read you rent... it's early in the morning :P
If you have any excess funds, direct them to the credit cards, don't save anything for a rainy day (keep saving for your honey moon however) put it all on the credit cards, worst case scenario you can use them if you urgently need to purchase something.
If there's anything you can cut out in daily life (morning coffee, afternoon donut et cetera) it's a good idea to do so as cutting out one coffee now will save you the money to buy atleast two coffees later on when the credit cards paid off. Small sacrifice now for benefits later on if you know what I mean.
Btw, to find out about the BankWest card go here: http://www.abetterdeal.com.au/BankWest_Lite/index.asp
(If anyone wishes to know, no I don't work there)
Does this sound like I am doing way too much? Am I going overboard or do other people have a similar 'system'?
Nope. Do what's required to make ends meet.
Also, does anyone know of any other cheaper c/c's? We still both need the c/c facility (buying things online, DH o'seas etc) but 27.5%pa on the GE is absolutely shocking!
As above :)
bronny-jane
20-02-2006, 07:08
ge store cards are the worst, and the only thing worse than the interest rate is trying to make sense of there customer care people, we waited a week waiting for a fax of a payout figure, they lied to us and said it would be sent within an hour about 5 times so i rang the head office got a contact number in sydney for complaints, the chick there was nice and sent the fax in 10 mins. we cut our card up and closed the account. it still makes me mad at how useless they were.
kiwibird27
20-02-2006, 08:57
Virgin Credit card is fantastic (I have one)- no fees, and there normal interest is 12.65 % (really cheap for new customers and balance transfers)but they don't charge u anything else, Can always get ahold of them if u need to as well!!!!ANZ had a low rate one, but they charge yearly fees and are shocking if u pay a day late they charge HUGE fees!!!!!, Only ever use GE for there interest free period on big purchases,- get rid of it asap, there fees are shocking too!!!!!!!!!!!! Had huge problems with citibank - horrible to deal with, I made a general enquiry at a shopping mall stand, name, address - that was it, and they issued me a 8,000 credit card, 4 months later, during that time we had shifted and it was sent to my old address, I found out 6 months later when i went to change phone companies and i had a bad credit rating from them - The card had never been activated and had been sent back to them and they still tried to charge me late fees and interest, took about 6 months to get it sorted!!!!!!!!!!! Funny thing is they had my moble number and never bothered to even call me!!!!!!!!!
Good luck
ThomasMum
20-02-2006, 15:58
We are with NAB and Amex. NAB is the best one by far, they even provide us our personal finance advisor whom we meet on monthly basis to discuss our mortgages, insvestment, private funds etc. Avoid Dinners Club as their fee are too high and useless. When I was still at uni I was with The C'wealth bank oh my lords don't go there, they know nothing about money except taking the money from you!
Unfortunately I don't know the fees involved, but all is good at the end of the day because we use them to accrue points. With Amex itself we had so many points that not so long ago we managed to upgrade our economy flights from London to Sydney to business!
And their services are EXCELLENT which is rare these days :D
maybe1more
21-02-2006, 13:20
Avoid the Commonwealth like the plague... 16 years I have banked with them (roughly half my life) and they still can't treat me like a human being... Plus you are not even welcome inside the branch anymore, they have no forms to fill out for counter service... Also not enamored with Westpac either
I reckon, i pay 8 dollars a month just to have my account on going with them, i hear ANZ dont have this so i might swap banks, its just hard when you have been with them for soooo long and they dont try and help you!
MilkOnTap
21-02-2006, 13:36
Wow! Thank you so much for all your help and suggestions!
I am in the process of rolling my NAB c/c over to the Virgin c/c (much cheaper interest) and DH is rolling his CBA c/c over to the Bankwest Lite c/c (also cheaper interest). The GE card is gonna get paid off ASAP so I can get it back to being no interest, but we will still keep it cause I want to buy a laptop in a couple of weeks. If I get the balance back down to nil then I can use it for the laptop at 0% interest.
With DH off to the gulf for 6 months our income should increase quite a bit, so the plan is to get both our car's and all the c/c's paid off and THEN save for a home deposit.
Barry - You mentioned that your in the industry. Any suggestion on the best way/bank to save for a home deposit? We dont plan on buying any time soon - probably not even for another 3 or 4 years, but we want to begin saving now so we have an oversized deposit to start off with.
Okie dokie, I'll bust out a few suggestions for you.
The GE card is gonna get paid off ASAP so I can get it back to being no interest, but we will still keep it cause I want to buy a laptop in a couple of weeks. If I get the balance back down to nil then I can use it for the laptop at 0% interest.
Do you need a new laptop? You can pickup second hand pentium 2 & 3 laptops on ebay for a couple of hundred which are ample for word processing and internet usage. Less money spent is more money saved.
With DH off to the gulf for 6 months our income should increase quite a bit, so the plan is to get both our car's and all the c/c's paid off and THEN save for a home deposit.
I'm assuming that both cars are needed and judging by what you've said you've got a few c/c's and car loans on the go, so I'd suggest comparing all the interest rates then having a look if there are any personal loans out there that have a lower rate. (Car loans are usually higher than PL's... usually).
Uhms.
Any suggestion on the best way/bank to save for a home deposit? We dont plan on buying any time soon - probably not even for another 3 or 4 years, but we want to begin saving now so we have an oversized deposit to start off with.
You're right on target with the first step of paying off all your debts first, you'll save much more that way... just put every single cent you've got towards extra repayments for the highest interest rate debt and as that's paid off move down the ladder paying them off highest to lowest, sounds stupid but depending on your outstanding debt you could save a few grand and in my opinion thats worth being a little pedantic for.
Once all your debts are paid off you then have to consider exactly (or roughly) when you're going to be buying the house.
Welp, bubba is up, looks like this is going to be a two part series, will post the next section in a little while :)
MilkOnTap
21-02-2006, 14:01
Do you need a new laptop? You can pickup second hand pentium 2 & 3 laptops on ebay for a couple of hundred which are ample for word processing and internet usage. Less money spent is more money saved.
Yep. I need a laptop. We dont own a computer to begin with! Plus its a really small unit so we dont have anywhere to put a full-sized PC, and I will be going i'state once a month while DH is away to keep me sane. I dont have any friends/family in Sydney - being a Navy wife sux!
I'm assuming that both cars are needed...
Actually they're not! I'm in the process of trying to sell MY car and we are keeping DH's. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be selling at the moment... I have tried e-bay and the carsguide but haven't had any success as yet. But I'm persistent!
Once all your debts are paid off you then have to consider exactly (or roughly) when you're going to be buying the house...
I guess we will either buy i'state at the beginning of next year as an investment property; or we will wait and buy in 3 or 4 years for ourselves.
Con to investment property is that we wont be entitled to our first home buyers grant. Pro to investment property is that the navy will look after it for us and always keep it full of navy family tenants.
I guess we will just see how much we have saved by the beginning of next year and decide then. Oh - and I am TTC at the moment too! Thats gonna swing things as well!
Sorry for the delay I came back then got distracted in another thread - I blame my medication!
Yep. I need a laptop. We dont own a computer to begin with! Plus its a really small unit so we dont have anywhere to put a full-sized PC, and I will be going i'state once a month while DH is away to keep me sane. I dont have any friends/family in Sydney - being a Navy wife sux!
Welp, I'd recommend ebay to save a motza, or go to the likes of Officeworks and you can pickup a more than adaquare laptop for day to day use for a grand or less with a dvd burner and all that jazz included then you've got the warranty if anything goes astray.
Actually they're not! I'm in the process of trying to sell MY car and we are keeping DH's. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be selling at the moment... I have tried e-bay and the carsguide but haven't had any success as yet. But I'm persistent!
Haha, I was going to suggest selling one but I thought that might be a bit obnoxious and presumptious so I didn't :P
I guess we will either buy i'state at the beginning of next year as an investment property; or we will wait and buy in 3 or 4 years for ourselves.
Con to investment property is that we wont be entitled to our first home buyers grant. Pro to investment property is that the navy will look after it for us and always keep it full of navy family tenants.
Well, the first home owners grant ranges from 7-14k depending what state your in and if you're in NSW (sorry I'm lazy and haven't read your profile) remember you'll get your stamp duty rebated which will save you a little bit (roughtly $500 on a $250k house... or so)
Also, in regards to my last post, make sure you check out the terms & conditions of your debts to make sure there are no penalties for extra repayments and/or early repayment/closure.
Now... onto the advice... I guess....
If you're going for a 4 year term, have a look at some managed funds to put your money in, say put half in the likes of an Esanda Online Saver which will pay you 6.55% interest then say a Colonial managed fund which would give you anywhere from 10-30% return, then put your savings half half into each one as you're going then when you reach a year to go close the managed fund and move it all to the high interest bank account to avoid any market fluctuations that may affect your deposit.
Things to remember: don't watch the balance of the managed fund everyday as it will go up and down... and don't try and guess when to put money in, just put it in every week/fortnight/month as you save.
Hmm, I thought this part was going to be longer but I seem to have compressed it!
Feel free to ask any questions btw. Anyone can, I don't mind. Just remember I'm not your financial planner I'm just some bloke on a forum with an opinion :)
MilkOnTap
22-02-2006, 08:17
Feel free to ask any questions btw. Anyone can, I don't mind. Just remember I'm not your financial planner I'm just some bloke on a forum with an opinion :)
Thanks for the help Baz! I haven't looked at Officeworks... I didn't know they had laptops! The navy also have some awesome schemes for building homes/investing in property - I think that down the track we will look at those as well - but thanks for the input!
Cheers,
Ally
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