Related Financial Services - The following list of company and services directories offer a wide variety of programs for consolidating bills and other similar services, such as a getting a mortgage refinance interest rate quote from a lender or an online quote for life or car insurance.

• Debt Consolidation Help - Learn more on how consolidating your credit card debts can work for you and potential pitfalls that you need to avoid. Also, review a list services that offer to help people lower their bills into fewer payments or even one payment.
• Debt Management Counseling - Having trouble keeping up with your monthly credit payments? Compare debt management companies in this online list that can try amd help you get a grip on your personal financial situation.
• Fast Personal Loan - This type of lending is most often structured as an unsecured debt. This means your personal property or house will not used as collateral. Your approval (or denial) will usually be based upon your payment / credit history and your ability to repay the loan. This type of credit is also often called a signature loan.

For Any Age or Stage:

Practical Advice for Everyone on How to Save and Manage Money

Keep banking costs down. With planning, you can sidestep some of the more costly fees and penalties. Examples:

With credit cards, try to pay the card balance in full each month to avoid interest charges. If you can't pay in full every month, send in as much as possible to keep interest costs to a minimum. "Think twice before accepting an offer from your credit card issuer to skip a payment," said Luke W. Reynolds, Chief of the FDIC's Community Affairs Outreach Section. "It's likely that interest will still be charged, so you'll actually be paying more in interest because you'll carry a higher balance on your card for a longer period of time."

In addition, pay your credit card bill on time. One reason is to avoid late fees. Another is that late payments can damage your credit record. If repeated, they could even trigger interest rate increases on your credit cards and loans.

With your checking account, avoid fees for insufficient funds and bounced checks. "Record every deposit and withdrawal in your checkbook — especially remember your debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals," said Reynolds. "It is important to know how much money you have in your account so you won't overdraw your balance."

Your bank may offer various "overdraft protection" services for your checking account, but be aware that these come with their own costs. Reynolds added that one of the least expensive options could be to ask your bank to cover insufficient funds by automatically transferring money from your savings account.

At the ATM, limit or avoid "surcharges" (access fees) by using your own bank's machines or those owned by institutions that don't charge fees to non-customers. If you definitely need cash when you're out of town or otherwise not near an ATM owned by your bank, consider getting cash back when you use a debit card to make a purchase at a supermarket or another merchant.

Don't be afraid to ask for a break. Bounce a check or send in a late payment for the first time ever? Think the fees for your mortgage application are a bit steep? Depending on the circumstances, your bank might be willing to reduce or waive a fee or penalty, especially if you've been a good customer and don't have a history as a "repeat offender."

FDIC Consumer News is published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDIC Consumer News is produced quarterly by the FDIC Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with other Divisions and Offices. It is intended to present information in a nontechnical way and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of FDIC or other government regulations and policies. Mention of a product, service or company does not constitute an endorsement.

Find current and past issues of FDIC Consumer News at http://www.fdic.gov/consumernews. Refer to this same index to locate the issues that are specially formatted for being reprinted in any quantity.

To receive an e-mail notice about each new issue of FDIC Consumer News posted on the FDIC Web site, with links to stories, follow instructions posted at www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Last updated on 05/13/2008

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