Got my student bank account today :)

[Specter]

I opened a Bank of America student checking account thing. Came with a savings account with "Keep the Change". I put most of the money i had (which wasn't much- $62 out of $67) in the account and was given a temporary card until i get my permanent one in 1-1.5 weeks.
I'm going to be going shopping tomorrow for school clothes (pants) (yay ) and theres a store right nearby that my friend told me is hiring because college kids are heading back to school and they're hiring HS kids. I'm going to try to apply for a job there and if i get accepted than whohoo! I can then add more money to my account and start spending some. And no I'm not one of those people that get money and then blow it right away, I save my money and keep it untill there's something i actually want. (for example SOCOM:Confrontation, Little Big Planet, and Ghostbusters:the Video Game come out in October)
Wish me luck in getting a job. (i wish i was more enticed to get one earlier in the summer )

[cantab]

GL with it - and with finding decent pay, the US min wage sucks.

Don't blow your overdraft all at once! (or don't you have one, are US 'student accounts' different to UK in that respect?)

[Silence]

Good luck with your job, and make sure you don't commit to too much time if you don't know how the school year will be.

Or even better, don't spend more than you have. At all. If you really don't want a negative balance, you might as well go for a credit card and improve your credit score for all that trouble. Your parents probably wouldn't let you do that for good reason, thanks to the risk of serious debt.

[Specter]

Your parents probably wouldn't let you do that for good reason, thanks to the risk of serious debt.

Yup. They decided that a debit/checking account is better because its real money and you have an actual limit to know what you can and cannot spend.

make sure you don't commit to too much time if you don't know how the school year will be.

It shouldn't be too bad. It only becomes hell when we start building the robot starting the 1st week of january and have to be in school till 10pm every day and 9am-10pm on saturdays and for me ~1pm-9pm on sundays.

Don't blow your overdraft all at once! (or don't you have one, are US 'student accounts' different to UK in that respect?)

Don't know what that means, but I technically only have $62 (US) to spend. Which I don't plan on spending any until I have more in my account.

and with finding decent pay, the US min wage sucks.

Yes it does. My friend just got a job at the place I'm going to try to apply and he's getting min wage. And it's a varying schedule too, Some days he works 4 hours, some 5 hours, some 7 hours(like today 3pm-10pm) and some days he doesn't work at all.

I'm waiting on the news of where I can pre-order Little Big Planet to get the extra swag. And I have to wait till the 11th or later to preorder SOCOM to get into the Beta test starting sept 1st.

[cantab]

Don't know what that means, but I technically only have $62 (US) to spend. Which I don't plan on spending any until I have more in my account.

An overdraft is when you're allowed to basically have a negative balance on your bank account. Most overdrafts get charged interest - in the UK, the rate is usually lower than credit cards but higher than loans. However, UK student bank accounts (by which we mean university students) almost always have about £1000 interest free overdraft. It's kind of needed since Student Loans can get delayed, but most end up finishing with their overdraft maxed out. I'm about £700 overdrawn myself, with one year remaining.

[Specter]

Oh. What Bank of America does is if I spend more than what I have in my account they slide it from the savings to pay for whatever. But they only do it in increments of $50, so if I overdraw by say $13 they pull $50 out of the savings to pay for the stuff.
At least thats what it sounds like the way the person at the bank explained it.

[DX]

Overdrafting is totally different in the US. If you overdraft, your payment may bounce. My bank only transfers funds from my savings account for protection - I still get hit up for a $35 overdraft fee [and whatever penalty the entity I was paying charges]. You can get in a lot of trouble if a check/e-check bounces...

So basically it's better to never overdraw your account, period. Most stores will simply decline your debit card if you haven't got enough funds.

[Specter]

The nice thing about this account is that there are no extra fees (except non-Bank of America atm fees) everything is free. The bad thing is that it is only free for 5 years when it gets switched to a standard checking account with fees. (I don't need to worry about any bounced checks because I'm not going to be using checks. Just as a debit/money card)

Another benefit of the account is that it comes with the "Stuff Happens" card. With the student account the first overdraft fee is waived and the "Stuff Happens" card covers an additional overdraft fee if you make the same mistake again.

Knowing me, however, I will probably always have $50 or more in my account at all times to be safe. I'm not a big spender and when I get money I keep it for a while.

I applied at the store today. I hope I get called back for whatever is next that they do in their application process.
(wish me luck for part 2 )

[DX]

Yeah, always keep a reserve. I have $20 that I always have and ignore like it's not even there. Not much of a reserve, but a poor starving college student needs his money...

I have a normal account and while there's no monthly fee, there's no mercy for overdrafts [the first is waived, but I already used it hehe].

Jobs. I moved mid-summer, so there was no opportunity for anything this season. All I can say is don't be disappointed if you hand in a dozen apps and never hear back from any of them. At least in this area, competition for even the most trivial jobs is frightening.

[cantab]

The bad thing is that it is only free for 5 years when it gets switched to a standard checking account with fees.

Oh yeah, I forgot that was the norm in the US, to have to pay bank account fees. In the UK, as long as your account is in credit (ie not overdrawn), banking is free. Though you usually get no or neglible credit interest (on current accounts, what we call 'checking accounts'), so it's not truly free.

[Silence]

I'm not sure I'll even go with a brick and mortar bank when I get an account. What exactly are the advantages of using one of them instead of, say, ING Direct? ATMs are everywhere so even cashing money isn't a problem.

[cantab]

Making deposits, for one. Say you've written out a cheque and you realise there aren't enough funds in the account, you can just go into your branch and deposit cash over the counter.

Sometimes it's useful to be able to go in and actually speak to a person face-to-face, instead of having to deal with phone lines.

Getting money if you want an amount that the ATM's won't give. OK this only really happens if you want the very last bit out of your account.

And if you find yourself wanting change, you can just go in and ask for a bag of such-and-such coins. At my college 20 pence pieces are in high demand since they're used in the washing machines, tumble driers, pool table and bar football table, so I normally just get a load and then I'm sorted.

[Specter]

just an update:
Today(8/14) I got my permanent card. Its not a big deal, but I was disappointed that it was MasterCard instead of Visa (lol)

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(sorry for the crappy phone picture)
by the way my Mets are beastin. won 12-0 and 9-4 against the Nationals and won a couple games before that. (i think against the marlins)

[Silence]

I got a debit card recently. Mainly to pay for gas.

The Jets interest me more than the Mets...too bad they won't very good anytime soon.

[Specter]

I have a feeling that having Favre isn't going to help them that much. As I heard some sports guy on tv say that the team isn't going to protect him, Green Bay had a good team and they would protect him so he could get a pass.
(it was something like that.)