Open a Bank Account - enjoy many ways to save

Go ahead and open a bank account. It's easy and it will help you save money in several ways. I find it difficult to believe that many adults have never opened an account at a bank. To me, that sounds very much like someone who has never shopped at a grocery store.

For many thousands of people across the country who don't have a bank account, they do their banking at check cashing services and keep their cash in their wallets. Let's look at three basic advantages you enjoy when you open a bank account.

First, with a bank account, you have a safe place to keep your money. Sure, you can have a strong box or safe at home, but a bank is a much safer place to keep your cash - it's insured.

Second, when your money is in the bank, it isn't in your pocket where you're liable to spend it. Out of sight and out of mind is a good place for your money to be.

The third and most important reason to open a bank account is to eliminate the need to pay a portion of your income for the privilege of cashing your check at some check cashing outfit in town. In Cheyenne, the figures I've seen range from 3% to 5% for payroll checks and 10% to cash a personal check. That's not on any list of money saving ideas I've ever seen.

When you cash your check at a check cashing establishment, you're making money for them, instead of saving it for you. Let's look at an state income tax analogy to see what it is we're doing here.

State income tax rates typically vary between 3% and 5%. That means cashing your check is like having state income tax taken out of your check in a state like Wyoming where we have no state income tax. And, in other states, it's like paying double state income tax.

Why in the world would anyone want to do that?

Let's assume you make $25,000 a year ($12 per hour) and you cash your weekly check at a 3% fee. That's about $14.50 a week to cash your paycheck. In a year, that's $750 you pay to get the money that is owed to you.

Another way to look at it is over 60 hours of your labor (1 and 1/2 weeks of work) is wasted just because you refuse to open a bank account so you'll have a wise place to cash your check. Implement this money saving idea and save those wasted labor hours for yourself - you've earned them.

Think about it. You're paying someone to give you money that you already earned. They didn't earn it, but you're giving them part of your paycheck anyway. It is amazing to me that there are many of these check cashing businesses across the country.

They make a good living simply based on skimming money off the top of paychecks that people gladly bring to them to cash.

Open a bank account. It's a simple and recurring money saving idea. You'll save money because banks don't charge account holders for cashing checks. Besides, don't you need a place to keep your savings?

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