Chase’s $125-ish Sign-Up Bonus for Checking has been Extended

Chase has extended its $125 bonus offer for opening an eligible checking account to October 7, 2011, though to be eligible now you have to set up direct deposit and deposit $100 into the account within 60 days from opening. Again, the Chase Total Checking account qualifies for the promotion, but the Chase College Checking [...]

$125-ish Sign-Up Bonus for Chase’s Total Checking Account

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed checking options from the bigger banks out there, and while I strongly recommend PNC’s Free Checking and Bank of America’s eBanking accounts over any Chase checking option, this deal still deserves a mention since it’s the only sign-up bonus currently being offered for any of the 7 checking [...]

Check Again: A Look at Current Checking Account Options

After finishing a harrowing first year of graduate school, I finally have time to pick up Money Under Your Futon again. Kathy and I both had crazy (academic) years, but we are glad to be back here, learning and writing about personal finance tips for people with entry-level jobs (or stipends) who want to live [...]

Early Bird Gets the Worm

If you own a Discover Online Savings Account, you might have received the good news by now.  Discover Bank has sent out letters notifying certain select customers that they have been upgraded to a Premium Savings Account as of Jan. 31, 2010.  The Premium Savings Account has the same features as the Online Savings Account, [...]

Rewards in Checking: Bank of America

Barring the rare interest-yielding accounts, it is hard to get much out of your checking account besides the money you already deposited into it and some checks.  But using programs associated with you bank may get you a little more.  Two weeks ago, I wrote on how to make the most of your Citibank account [...]

Rewards in Checking: Citibank

This is Money Under Your Futon’s 101st post!  To celebrate this occasion and thank our readers, we are announcing our new e-mail address: moneyunderyourfuton [at] gmail [dot] com.  Please feel free to send us your money-related questions, and we will try to respond to them in future posts. * * * It is hard to [...]

Better Save Now than Later

The recession might have ended, but we are still a long way from recovery.  Back in July, we wrote about some of the better online savings options that were available.  We hope that you took advantage of those “high” interest rates then, because since then all the institutions covered have reduced their savings interest rates. Here are [...]

Tip of the Week: Do You Check Your Statements?

How often should you check your bank, credit card, and other account statements?  The answer is ‘at least once a month, before you pay the balance.’  It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while a charge might appear for a product or service that you never authorized.  Here are a few common errors: Bank [...]

The Solution to Social Lending

You have probably been warned of the dangers of lending money to family and friends.  For the most part, this is sound advice.  According to a Money survey, 43% of readers who lent to family or friends weren’t paid back in full and 27% hadn’t received a dime.  There is obviously risk, but at the same [...]

Tip of the Week: When is the Smartest Time to Pay Your Bills?

Everyone knows that it is important to pay your bills on time, but did you know that it pays to pay your bills as close to their due dates as possible? Your money works best for you when it stays in your savings account collecting interest.  Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to pay your bills [...]