Banking+Needs

This page outlines a couple of ways to keep one's personal finances in order.

Personal Banking
Most banks offer discounted or free products to student. [|RBC], [|TD], [|Scotiabank], [|CIBC], [|BMO], and [|HSBC] all offer affordable, and quite often free, student banking accounts with various features. It is important to know exactly what features are included in your bank account to avoid unnecessary fees. For example, RBC's Student banking account is free, but only if you keep within 25 withdrawals per month. Any withdrawals beyond this limit are a $0.65 charge each and can be easily avoided with a little foresight. It should also be mentioned that using ATM machines result in not only a $1.50 charge through your own bank, but another $1.50-$3.00 charge depending on the machine used! These charges may seem small individually, but ten withdrawals in one month could cost $45/month or $520/year! That might be enough to cover one month of rent for a humble student. Most financial institutions have ATM locators on their websites as well as mobile applications to help find one at a close distance.

==Credit cards vs. Lines of credit == Credit cards can be an asset to a student because they allow access to online purchasing platforms and flexibility of purchasing in between pay periods, but can easily get out of control if not kept in check. Another feature of using a credit card is that the user is allowed unlimited purchases and will be charged no interest as long as the balance is paid in full on or before the due payment due date. If you carry a balance, however, most bank credit cards charge approximately 20% annual interest! Other retail credit cards mat also charge upwards to 30%! A sensible alternative to carrying balances on a credit card is to consolidate ones debt in a student line of credit. A student line of credit is an on demand loan where the user can take money at will and pay back whenever they like. The student is only required to pay the monthly interest which is generally prime plus a flat rate that is usually 1-2%. Carrying $5000 on a retail credit card will accrue $125 worth of interest in only one month! Carrying $5000 on a student credit line at 4% will only accrue $16.67 worth of interest in a month. It is important to be aware of exactly what one is spending and to avoid becoming trapped in a circle of debt.

Creating a budget
Many financial institutions offer online budgeting services. RBC has introduced a program called [|My Finance Tracker]that integrates directly with purchases made in your bank account to help one track ones spending. It is also possible to create a budget using this service and individually view amounts that have been spent in different categories. A simple truth is that many students are in debt because they live slightly beyond their means. Spending $1300/month while living on a monthly income supplemented from working and student loans of $800 could result in $6000 worth of debt within only one year or $24000 throughout a four year program! This does not even include student loan amounts! Taking the time to sit down and look at each aspect of expenses vs. incomes can prove to be monumentally helpful. Considering the potential debt one may come under is also a great incentive for cutting spending.

This is a simple model that can aid in creating a personal budget:

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 * Income from student loans || $000000000000000000000000000 ||
 * Income from employment || $ ||
 * **Total income:** || $ ||
 * Cost of rent || $ ||
 * Cell phone || $ ||
 * Utilities || $ ||
 * Groceries || $ ||
 * Clothing || $ ||
 * Entertainment || $ ||
 * Savings contributions || $ ||
 * **Total spending:** || $ ||
 * **//Gross income/deficit//** || $ ||
 * ~ Date ||~ Author ||~ Comment ||
 * More Revisions ||
 * Sep 24, 2011 6:55 pm || [[image:https://www.wikispaces.com/user/pic/1316783009/Rhysalexanderj-sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="Rhysalexanderj" link="https://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/Rhysalexanderj"]][|Rhysalexanderj] ||   ||
 * Sep 24, 2011 6:49 pm || [[image:https://www.wikispaces.com/user/pic/1316783009/Rhysalexanderj-sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="Rhysalexanderj" link="https://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/Rhysalexanderj"]][|Rhysalexanderj] ||   ||
 * Sep 24, 2011 6:48 pm || [[image:https://www.wikispaces.com/user/pic/1316783009/Rhysalexanderj-sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="Rhysalexanderj" link="https://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/Rhysalexanderj"]][|Rhysalexanderj] ||   ||
 * Sep 24, 2011 6:48 pm || [[image:https://www.wikispaces.com/user/pic/1316783009/Rhysalexanderj-sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="Rhysalexanderj" link="https://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/Rhysalexanderj"]][|Rhysalexanderj] ||   ||
 * Sep 24, 2011 5:22 pm || [[image:https://www.wikispaces.com/user/pic/1316783009/Rhysalexanderj-sm.jpg width="16" height="16" caption="Rhysalexanderj" link="https://www.wikispaces.com/user/view/Rhysalexanderj"]][|Rhysalexanderj] ||   ||