Cheyenne: Thank you for joining us for this episode of What the Finance. There are a few things we like to mention at the top of each episode.
Rachel: First, if you want to get in touch with us, you can email What_the_finance@protonmail.com or join the What the Finance Discord server.
Cheyenne: Second, it would mean a lot to us if you could support our show through Patreon. Starting at $3 a month, you can get episode shoutouts, access to topic polls, and get to listen to some pretty hilarious outtakes.
Rachel: Third, as we seek to be a more inclusive show, we want to acknowledge that colonialism is an ongoing process and capitalism, which we regularly decry, is part of this process. We are recording this episode on the ancestral land of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, and we recognize our sovereignty and express our gratitude at being here.
Rachel: Alright, alright. Welcome to another episode of finance.
Cheyenne: Yeah, my last one for a couple of two, three weeks.
Rachel: Yes, I will stay here at the outset if, uh, you struggle to find any guests. So if you want to join us, or me, I guess, more specifically, please reach out, that would be great. Otherwise, uh, you might just be getting some Rachel solo episodes for a few weeks. And that could be interesting too, but.
Cheyenne: Could be it's funny that that comes up too, because we had mentioned at the very beginning, we talked about doing some little mini series type things that we were going to do as like, significantly shorter little bonus episode type things, like five minute ones. And actually I was just thinking about these last night because, you know, what else would you do when you can't sleep but think about all kinds of stuff, right? And I was thinking about them. I was like, we had some really cool ideas for those and some of them we just fully developed into episodes, which was awesome, but some of them are still sitting on our little to do. And I was like, well, we should do this. Those are cool ideas.
Rachel: Yes. So in season two, we did an episode about avoiding banking fees, mhm, which would very reasonably have led our audience to believe that we think that banks are evil. And some of them totally are. Uh, mhm mhm. But I guess as I was thinking about it, I thought it might not also be a bad idea to talk a little bit about how banking can also be like an asset to you. Uh, because unless you want to live a lifestyle where you keep cash in your mattress, I got to be honest, I don't know that I think that's a great idea.
Cheyenne: I wouldn't recommend it.
Rachel: No, banking is kind of just a regular and totally appropriate part of modern living. Mhm mhm. And of course, I think at this point, everybody knows I work in public higher education when I'm not doing podcasting stuff. And uh, at my institution financially, just, uh, finished dispersing. So I've been talking about banks and perhaps more specifically the bank that my university uses to disperse funds. Uh, and I think that they're fresh, um, for a lot more than is typical recently, so seemed like a good time.
Cheyenne: I think it was in season one or season two, I had talked about, um, a certain well known, very large bank that I loathe. I believe that you have and uh, we do or do not, we won't give name recognition to products, services companies that we don't like. So if you want to know the name of that bank, please feel free to reach out on our social medias or anyway, but we won't give them the name recognition here. But it took me a very long time after that experience to come around to the idea that not all financial institutions are like that and that there are some benefits. The thing that's coming to mind the most this morning is our high yield savings accounts.
Rachel: Yes.
Cheyenne: That's like something that ten years ago I would have been like, no.
Rachel: Right.
Cheyenne: Because I also just really hated all things at that time.
Rachel: Yeah. I also really just like the idea of a good high yield savings account.
Cheyenne: I do as well. Yeah.
Rachel: Apparently we're both just elderly people. Um, this is what happens in your mid thirties.
Cheyenne: You talk about the weather, uh, as like an actual conversation point. You're not just filling time awkwardly like you're genuinely discussing the weather. Um, you appreciate a good yard maintenance. And uh, high yield savings accounts are interesting now.
Rachel: Yeah. And there's actually been a little bit of conversation in our discord about highly old savings accounts because it is something that pixel. Nick is also very, uh, passionate about mhm and I appreciate that about him. Mhm. But funnily enough, so I think a lot of people, myself included, appreciate the convenience of a physical bank if you need to go talk to somebody or mhm. Actually, this just happened to me a few days ago. I somehow managed to overpay my clinic and so they sent me a refund check in the mail, so I stopped over to deposit the check. But those types of banks actually is pretty atypical for them to have a high yield savings account option because their overhead is so high. Like, all of the high build savings accounts that I see are with online only.
Cheyenne: Yeah.
Rachel: So that's something that's interesting and important to note if you want a savings account that's going to earn you more than a few pennies every month. And I feel like online banks have also come a really long way since they were first introduced, mhm. Because I personally have two separate high, uh, yield savings accounts through online banking institutions and I feel like it used to be really difficult to link those accounts to maybe, uh, like your checking account that you would use more, uh, regularly. And it's super easy now, just compared to a few years ago.
Cheyenne: I agree. I also feel like there are significantly more options. I feel like ten years ago I knew of one online bank and that was the one that I used. Simple. Yeah, it's the only one I could think of from that long ago.
Rachel: Uh, so I had a savings account with ING for a while. Yeah, they were an online bank.
Cheyenne: I forgot about that. Um.
Rachel: Yeah, that was actually my first ever high yield savings account.
Cheyenne: Okay.
Rachel: I guess this is a mixed blessing because at the time I wanted to have my savings and my checking separate so that I could actually save something. Ah, and that remains true. So I guess, like, the ease of accessing your money, it's a mixed blessing, right?
Cheyenne: Mhm.
Rachel: It's a very human thing to admit on air. I don't actually remember what happened with that savings account. Did I actively close it? Did I just spend all the money in it and it closed automatically because it was empty for so long? Yeah, I have no idea.
Cheyenne: Interesting.
Rachel: Your early 20s are a wild time.
Cheyenne: True.
Rachel: I think that's really all I can say about that. Uh, but I did have a good experience with them, which is why I don't hesitate to say that I had a savings account with Ing. We're definitely not. At least based on my experience, we're in a bad company.
Cheyenne: Well, that's good.
Rachel: Yeah.
Cheyenne: I used Simple. Loved them. Um, only stopped using that as an option because at the time they didn't have the joint account option. They later got it, but they are no longer in existence. Which I guess kind of makes sense because they were I think they were start up type thing because part of what made them different from other banks was that they had essentially a digital envelope system that you used so you would take what your balance was in your account and you would put money into envelopes for specific things. It was amazing. It was really good. I liked it. Um, which actually reminds me, if anybody has been following along the saga of me trying to find a different budgeting app, stay tuned for the end. I may have found something. Um, I think Rachel is the only one that's kept up with that over the years. But that's okay. I'm still going to tell you.
Rachel: We're just going to welcome you into the journey.
Cheyenne: Give you a little recap. That's been an ordeal. Anyway, um, so I think after simple came like quite a few others I'm thinking of like Chime was one and they're still around and I don't know much about Chime, so maybe we should look into that before I just start throwing that name around.
Rachel: I feel like I hear them advertise on a lot of podcast hosted by women. M, so like, that gut tech just feels good to me.
Cheyenne: My initial thought was like, people on the finance realm that I know and trust talk about this. So either they sold out, which whatever, or it's like good enough that they'll mention as well. And I don't think that they sold out. So I think we're good. I don't know. I'm trying to think of any other smaller ones and I can't really think of any smaller smaller ones. I know Capital One has an online bank and I'm always a little like, torn on that because I don't love large bank corporations. But also there is something to be said for being able to link multiple of your accounts in one spot. Right.
Rachel: And Cheyenne, ah, you know that if you go to a physical Capital One location, they'll give you coffee.
Cheyenne: That is true. And anybody who knows me knows that that is in fact a selling point. I would choose a Bake solely on that. All of the other information I know about everything be damned. If they give me coffee, I'm going. I forgot that they have physical locations now. I forgot that they went from just online to they have physical locations now. That was stupid on their part.
Rachel: Yeah. Uh, I don't know. So they have a, um, Capital One if you want to sponsor us. Um.
Cheyenne: I do actually like Capital One as far as, like, large financial companies go, I don't yes, the same.
Rachel: Um, so they have a physical location in the Mall of America, uh, which is the closest mall to where I live. So if I need to go to a mall, that's the biggest one in the country. Um, and once in a while, you do. It's just more convenient to go to the mall.
Cheyenne: Um, I would always go, but that's just me. I have zero control when it comes to, like, uh, iced coffee, regular coffee and cookies. Donuts I'd go all the time? I would, um.
Rachel: But I was there not that long ago. Uh, because here's a little side tip for listeners. Sketchers shoes are really, uh, comfortable for neurodiverse people who struggle to wear tennis shoes. So I was there to get shoes from the kids because that's how their brains work anyway. And so I walked past actually, I took them all individually. So I walked past the Capital One physical location three times just a couple of weekends ago. It's really cool. It doesn't look like a bank, which I think is what they were going for. It just looks like a cool spot to hang out right there's. Like little seating areas like you would see in a cafe. If you have to go and build a bunch of physical locations, capital One did a pretty good job.
Cheyenne: I do appreciate that they didn't make it feel or look like banks. And I agree. I think that that was very purposeful. I do.
Rachel: Yeah. Also, they apparently pipe the smell of the coffee out into the hallway. It m sounds great for somebody. I think either one of us would totally work to lure you in if you weren't walking past with a small child.
Cheyenne: True. Depending on the right moment. Even if you had a small child, it might work because, um, I appreciate what they've done. Uh, I am curious as to what it will make banking look like. I still think that now is an interesting time to start opening physical locations after having been an online only bank. Uh, I do wonder about that business decision. Uh, maybe I'll look into that a little bit more because I'm not sure what the thought process there was, to be honest.
Rachel: I would also be interested to know.
Cheyenne: So.
Rachel: As we're getting close to time here. There were a couple of other rapid-fire things that I wanted to just throw out when it comes to picking a bank because there are a lot of banks that. Like we talked about last season. There's usually a lot of fees that kind of go into banking. But there are a lot out there that don't really charge any fees. Right. Um, so if you're looking for something, look for accounts that don't have like monthly maintenance fees. Uh, or if you're anything like me, you don't want to get charged a fee, like a minimum balance fee. Uh, but I guess I felt somewhat validated that like in a bunch of the articles that I read that this kept coming up. There's a lot to be said for doing a gut check with any bank that you're looking into. Right. Like, if you don't feel comfortable keeping your money with somebody, don't keep your money with them.
Cheyenne: Mhm.
Rachel: And if you're choosing a bank for convenience, that's totally fine. Don't make anybody feel guilty about it. Oh my gosh. Don't let anybody make you feel guilty about it.
Cheyenne: True.
Rachel: Because it should be convenient to access your money.
Cheyenne: Definitely.
Rachel: I think that was it. Just throw those out quickly here. So that it was off my chest and people knew. That's what I think.
Cheyenne: I like it. Um, and talking about a couple of those points, like the no minimum monthly balance, the no fees, that kind of stuff, we keep going back to Capital One because they have a pretty solid checking account option, as it turns out. Like, if that's what you are just in the market for a checking account, it's a pretty decent option. Their ATMs are located quite a few places. I felt like I had to reword what I was saying because nobody else knew what I was talking about. But they have quite a few ATM options that don't have fees associated with them.
Rachel: Yeah.
Cheyenne: Okay. So as we are reaching time and for those of you that have been keeping up with the saga of me trying to find a different budget tool because I did not like the one that I was using for the last eight years, I might have found a pretty decent alternative. I just started using it, I'm going to say last week sometime. So it's still pretty new, but so far it's going well. It does what I want it to. It does link to your bank account. I don't think that you have to let it do that if you don't want to, but you can it allows you to set up, uh, a zero-based budget, which for me, uh, is important. I like those. I'm not interested in other kinds. Like no, not saying it's the best and that's what everybody should be doing. It's just what works best for me.
Rachel: For you?
Cheyenne: Yes. Uh, transactions you can go through and you can edit that stuff. So if you want fewer or more categories, you can kind of change that up however you want to, but it will give you a breakdown of your spending monthly, uh, quarterly and yearly by category. There was one other, let me look really quick. Category group. And it'll also break it down by each specific merchant, which I really like. That's something that I think is super convenient. Um, it does appear that it only goes back for about a year at this point. But it is what it is. And I haven't found a way to export that information. But stay tuned. Uh, so this tool that I found is called Monarch. I have enjoyed, uh, it we're coming up on, I think about a week and a half at this point. So stay tuned. I will continue to update people, um, if it stays in the running. Because again, if you've been around for a while, you know that I'll get excited about them. And then I'm like, no.
Rachel: Yeah, well, I think one of the things that you told me that was great about Monarch is that it's also women-owned. Is that correct? Or am I making that up?
Cheyenne: This one might be cool. There's one that I was looking at called Much, which is women-owned. Um, I use that at the start of this as well. And I just didn't like the functionality of it. I didn't dislike it. Had I not found Monarch, I would probably have continued to use Much, but I did find it. So here we are. Um, yeah, so we'll see. We'll see. So far, like I said, I'm liking it. It's doing what I want it to do. Um, also, I'm going to put this out there. Uh, we've talked about is Undebt It. It as a debt tracking option if you're looking to pay off debt. I still use that pretty much always, in addition to whatever budgeting tool I'm using, because I can't find one that combines them the way that I want it to. I keep telling myself I'm going to build the spreadsheet to do it, and I never do because it is such an undertaking. But maybe one day there will be an amazing spreadsheet. Um, but right now, Undebt It has 25% off of their yearly membership. They're, um, celebrating their ten-year anniversary. So they have a little birthday special going on for themselves. So instead of $12 a year, you can get Undead premium ah, for $9 a year. Which is amazing. It is. And $12 a year is amazing. But $9 a year, it's an incredibly powerful tool. And the person that runs it, I am starting to fan girl over a little bit. So Jeff from Undead It, if you ever listen to our episodes, you, uh, don't know this, but you've got a huge fan in me.
Rachel: I mean, same.
Cheyenne: As always. Make sure to join our discord. We chat quite a bit there plan. Um, to more now that we're back from our break. We chatted a little bit throughout the week, but we're gearing up some and keep an eye on our socials. I have been scouring the Internet for templates because my brain was like, we have to have a bundle this year, and we don't. But here we are. Uh, it would look so pretty if they did. So I might have found some last night.
Rachel: That's exciting.
Cheyenne: It is. It's very exciting.
Rachel: All uh right. Well, until next week. Yeah, I think that's it. Until next week.
Cheyenne: Have a great week. Bye.