“I don’t want to work 12-hour days. Why would I work all of the time? I want passive income. I want to enjoy life and not work.”

Does this sound familiar?

Ever since the 4-Hour Workweek book came out a few years ago, everyone that read the book has been chasing passive income. I personally enjoyed the book and have it on my desk for reference. I just don’t like the philosophies it has instilled into 20-somethings that are now chasing this passive income dream.

I wanted to take some time today to tell you why you need to stop wasting your time chasing after passive income:

You need to make some money first.

I introduced a freelancing challenge last week for a reason. Before you can make passive income or create a muse, you need to make some money first. This means that you need to increase your active income before you do anything else. If you’re not making any money now as a college student or your income is low in your years post-college, then your primary goal should be to make more money in general.

When starting an online business or getting income from freelancing, you need to work for it first. Once you work for your money, get a service that people care about, and build some savings, then you can worry about passive income.

You won’t get rich quick.

“Our goal is simple: to create an automated vehicle for generating cash without consuming time. That’s it.” — Tim Ferriss

If you’re trying to get rich quick, you should probably stick to trying to win the lottery or to hit it big at the casino. The idea of starting a business that makes thousands of dollars per month passively while you can focus on your sand castle building passion is inherently flawed. When trying to build passive income, you need to immerse yourself in the field.

For example, for you to help someone with freelancing, you have to first become a successful freelancer yourself. You can’t build sand castles all day while you passively grow your freelancing business. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just saying that you won’t get rich quick from chasing passive income. Especially if you’re afraid of a little work.

You need to stop being delusional.

“The week that Tim actually works a four-hour work week will be a cold week in hell. Tim got to where he is by being an insanely hard worker.” — Penelope Trunk, a critic of the 4-Hour Workweek

The other problem with passive income is that there are far too many delusional people. There’s nothing wrong with a little work. You need to stop being delusional about creating $20,000 a month in passive income. You need to make $20 first.

You have to take action.

Instead of chasing perfection, it’s important that you take action. There are many passive income opportunities that don’t require a ton of money to get started. You might have to work a little harder though.

A perfect example here is publish eBooks on your own blog or submitting content to Amazon for Kindle. You have to take action. You have to research a topic, write the book, format it, publish it, and then promote it like crazy,. Action is needed.

At the end of the day I totally support passive income. I’ve already established a few sources of passive income that I’m proud of. I just want to stress that you need to work a little first. When you build yourself up, you can invest your time and money into passive income sources.

Are you chasing passive income blindly?

Are you one of those people that gets caught up with planning and ends up doing nothing? Do you do too much and plan not enough?

We all fall under one of those categories when it comes to starting a business, making money on the side, or crushing student credit card debt. They say that an ounce of action is worth more than a ton of theory. Then there’s also the argument that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

One thing that I’ve struggled with is creating an actual business plan. I’ve always been a fan of working hard and making money. I just never outlined a clear process for doing so. I guess you could say that I treated free as a business model. In reality, free is not a business model by any stretch of the imagination. You don’t have to ready any sort of business plans for dummies book to realize that you need a clear outline for how you plan on making money.

I always figured that if you build it, they will come. I thought that starting an online business was about putting out a well-designed blog and propping it up with high quality articles. Then somehow the money would come on. Right?

In late-2010 I had to create a formal business plan for a course that was coincidentally titled, “Creating a Business Plan.” I was supers-stoked about this because at this point I had been blogging for a few years and I had already dabbled in a few business ideas. I had always wanted to prepare a business plan. The opportunity never came along.

My excitement quickly turned into the same mundane feeling that I got with every random random business project. We were forced into groups of four by the professor (chosen randomly) and then given topics on a first come, first served basis. I didn’t get to work on anything cool in other words.

I’ve written about excelling in tough college courses before, so I wasn’t a stranger to doing well in courses I didn’t care for. However, one of the main reasons that students fail college is that they choose the wrong courses. This is what happened to me. I thought that I was going to get to create an innovative and useful idea that I could share with the world. Instead I was stuck with some arbitrary product with a group of people that just wanted to get by. At the end of the semester, I learned how to put together a 100 page business plan for the sake of getting a decent mark in the class. I didn’t know how to create a business plan that actually made real money.

How can you design a business plan that leads to real money?

I realized that the whole business plan came down to a few key concepts. I ended up taking online courses, attending conferences, and reading every single book on the topic and related areas. I eventually came to an understanding of what a true business plan is all about.

If you want to create your own business plan that makes you real money, you need to answer the following questions:

• What will your product be? This can be your time (consulting), a physical good, or a digital item.
• How will you sell it? You have the option of selling online, in person, and through various channels.
• Who will you sell it to? Someone has to be willing to buy this product (target market).
• How will your potential customers find out about it? You need to find a way to get the word out there (marketing).
• How much will you charge? Have you determine your price yet? Free is once again not a business model.

You just have to be able to answer these questions if you want to write a business plan. If you want to prepare a business plan for yourself and not any formal funding, you just have to be able to answer these questions on your own. Once you answer these questions, you’ll have yourself a slick one-page kickstart for your brand new business idea.

I just wanted to mentioned one more thing before we part ways today. As I’m reading through the $1000 Startup book I found an interesting line on taking action:

“There’s nothing wrong with planning, but you can spend a lifetime making a plan that never turns into action.”

To make money with any freelancing idea you need to solve real problems where people are actually looking for solutions.

I wrote about online business tools to help you get started a while back. I never really got into the most important tool of them all. That tool is your laptop.

I don’t know about you but I’ve brought my laptop everywhere and I use it all of the time. I’ve found myself blogging in Budapest, Cracow, Puerto Plata, and many other random places. I use my laptop to make the majority of my income, to connect with friends/family, and to help young people with their finances. In other words, my laptop is really important to me. I now own an expensive MacBook Air that I never imagined buying prior to actually doing so.

Allow me to share a quick story of how I got my current laptop…

When I was a student I lived on a student budget as you could imagine. At this time in my life I was interested in cheap laptops. I spent $500 on a laptop in 2008 and I thought I was set. I don’t play video games or anything, and I really just needed something for web browsing and school work.

When I was travelling through Europe last September I kept on experiencing the same problem consistently. My damn laptop was too heavy. This $500 laptop was a brick that weighed more than a stack of textbooks in my travel bag. It was annoying, but I didn’t want to spend more money on a new laptop. That is until the day I had to.

One day in Budapest I went to the coffee shop to get on and do some blogging. My laptop wouldn’t start. No problem, right? Wrong. The laptop completely died. Some dude at my hostel took a look at it and explained to me that I was out of luck. I knew that I needed a new laptop. I just wasn’t sure of what to do.

Instead of doing the smart thing and shopping around for bargains, I did the complete opposite. I walked to the Apple Store in town and bought myself a brand new MacBook Air with my credit card without even thinking twice. Not a wise move for someone that writes about dealing with your student credit card.

As much as I love my new laptop I do realize that I could’ve been a lot smarter about it.

How much should you spend on your laptop?

I’ll say that it depends on what you use it for. I don’t know anything about gaming. I do imagine that you might want something a little more expensive if you plan on playing games though. On the flip side, as a college student looking to go on Facebook and get some last minute assignments done, you can easily just buy a cheap laptop and save your money for something else.

I don’t want you to convince yourself that you need an expensive laptop just because you plan on starting an online business. If you want to start freelancing or making money on your own, you don’t have to buy anything right now. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you need an expensive laptop with fancy business cards. A cheap laptop with a strong work ethic will get you further ahead.

I’m just curious…

How much did you spend on your first laptop? What’s the most that you’ve ever spent on a laptop or any other piece of technology?

Motivational quotes. I love them. Daily motivational quotes are just a simple reminder that you need to stay focused.

I wanted to share some inspirational quotes that I turn to when I need a quick pick up. If you want to enter our challenge to increase your freelancing income or if you just want to get some momentum going, I recommend you continue reading on.

What are the best motivational quotes?

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” — Steve Jobs

When you’re worried about going after your goals, you need to remind yourself that you’re going to be gone one day. This really helps me put things into perspective. No mater how badly your fail or fall on your face, it won’t matter. There’s nothing to really be afraid of. For example, if working a second job helps you pay down your student credit card debt, then don’t let your pride get in the way.

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” — Walt Disney

I’ve been guilty of not being full behind my ideas. In the end, others can tell and my results suffer. If you want to start an online business or get an A on your final paper, you need to be behind your argument all of the way. Why go half way? The only point of starting anything is to finish.

“Speak slowly. Such a simple thing, but it can have a big difference in how others perceive you. A person in authority, with authority, speaks slowly. It shows confidence. A person who feels that he isn’t worth listening to will speak quickly, because he doesn’t want to keep others waiting on something not worthy of listening to.” — Leo Babauta

Slow down. Why rush? This is one of the best motivational quotes because it forces you to be conscious of how you speak and interact with others. If you have something to say, then say it. Don’t be afraid.

“Know yourself. Choose the right medium, choose the right topic, create awesome content, and you can make a lot of money being happy.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

It really is that easy to make money doing something that you enjoy. You just need to get started, pick up some momentum, and continue on. My friends have told me that paying down debt is all about seeing results and then pushing harder to pay off more of it.

“In a race, sooner or later there’s a moment that separates the winner from those who don’t win. That instant is your chance, the moment you’ve been waiting for.” — Seth Godin

Your opportunity will come. You just need to be out there working and going after your goals. You won’t get a job if you don’t apply just how you won’t see results if you’re not testing out different ideas.

“The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.” — Kim Hubbard

You can try to make money fast. You’ll quickly learn that the only people that get rich quick are those that win the lottery and celebrities that make sex tapes.

“Innovation comes from entrepreneurs and others who are willing to accept risk and try new things.” — Chris Guillebeau

You know the deal by now. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.

“The more specific you are about what you want to do, the easier it becomes to develop a strategy to accomplish it. Part of that strategy, of course, is establishing relationships with the people in your universe who can help you get where you’re going.” — Keith Ferrazzi

It’s that simple to land your dream position. What you know is just as important as who you know. Don’t be afraid of meeting new people. Don’t let your pride prevent you from asking for help.

Those are the best motivational quotes that I found recently. Did I missed any?

Are you ready to grab control of your life this week?

Summer is almost here for high school students. That means it’s finally time to enjoy life without those boring classes and to sleep in until noon. Hopefully you pass all of your courses and don’t have to worry about summer school. Some high school students will want to use the summer to make some money to buy Diablo 3 or whatever you want to get your hands on.

When I was in high school I worked every single summer. I remember the summer after grade 10 I landed myself a few jobs and I worked pretty much every single day. I would work at the grocery store in the morning when I was called in, do lawn care work for elderly citizens whenever I was able to book the appointment for, and then referee soccer games in the evening. I rode my bike everywhere I went every single day. It’s safe to say that I got myself into pretty good shape that summer (I believe I actually had visible abs).

One of my regrets from working summers in high school was that I never started my own business or allowed myself to pursue any entrepreneurial plans. I always took the easy path and worked traditional jobs instead of trying to create my own job.

I wanted to share a few quick, yet highly profitable business ideas for high school students:

Go online.

I’ve said this million times and I’ll mention it again. You can easily start an online business with almost no money down. You can create logos, design websites, create your content, offer tutoring, or create something totally innovative online these days. The beauty is that we all spend so much time online that it only makes sense to attempt to make some money while we’re on the computer already. I’ve covered this enough so I’ll leave it at this, it only costs a few dollars a month to sign up with Bluehost.

Landscaping work.

Every single lawn out there needs to be taken care of.

I was pretty much an independent contractor when I did lawn care work. I signed up with this firm that worked with senior citizens and they would give me the contact information of the ones that needed landscaping work done. I would then be responsible to set up appointments, do the work, learn how to do additional work, and then get paid.

I remember I thought I had it made when I found an elderly gentleman that just wanted someone to WATER HIS LAWN. I would get paid $7/hour to water his lawn for 2-3 hours a few times per week, while I got to read or just listen to music on my mp3 player. I thought the was the good life at the time.

Tutoring.

One of the best business ideas for students is tutoring because usually the parents pay for this service. In the summer time you can find younger students that either failed in a previous course or want to excel in a new course. Either way there’s money to be made from tutoring.

I shared in the past how my friend made $2,100 from tutoring his peers. You can check that post out for a more detailed guide on how the process of getting paid to tutor works.

Babystting.

Anyone with little children out there knows how expensive professionally child care is. This is why many parents are willing to find a young person in the community that they TRUST to watch over their kids while they go to work. Babysitting for money has been around probably as long as kids have been around for.

These are all simple ideas to help you get started right now. There’s nothing Earth shattering in this post. These are all ideas that you’ve heard of before. The reason I kept it simple is because you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. You just need to keep the wheel spinning.

You also don’t necessarily have to start a business in high school or make money on your own. You can find a part-time job in your community at the grocery store (what I did).

“Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” — Vince Lombardi

I’ve seen a lot of posts go up about frugal gift ideas for Mother’s Day and the like. I’m going to take a different stance here and ask, why be frugal on Mother’s Day? I’m not suggesting that you give in to the marketing hype, because I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day or the idea of a Hallmark holiday. I obviously believe in saving money most of the time, but not always.

My parents have helped me out a lot in my life. From giving me a place to stay to helping me out with bills when money was tight. They came to Canada and always worked hard to give their kids a better life.

Now that I’m old enough and making money, I try to give them a better life in any way that I can. As soon as I started making money I’ve made an effort to give back to my family as much as I can.

Some of my favorite gifts for my parents include:

• Sending them to the Bahamas two years ago.
• Throwing a surprise party for their 25th wedding anniversary this year.
• Sending my mom to a spa for most occasions.

Yes I do realize that money doesn’t buy happiness. I don’t want you using your credit card to buy things that you can’t afford. With all things being equal, who wouldn’t enjoy a tropical trip paid for by their kid?

If you don’t know where to start this Mother’s Day, I suggest that at the very least you send flowers!

If you have no money, you can keep it simple with breakfast in bed and getting off Facebook for the day. If you have some money, why not spoil your mom this year?

Yesterday I brought up my challenge to make $5,000 from freelancing this summer. The truth is that I’ve come to enjoy freelancing and the freedom that comes along with it. I also go out of my way to support young people that are trying to make it in freelance work or anything along those lines. In doing so I’ve also noticed a few common mistake among new freelancers.

There’s one piece of freelancing advice that I picked up in online articles and through my formal education. I wanted to share this with you today so that you avoid making any foolish rookie mistakes.

What’s this quick tip for success in freelancing?

As a freelancer you need to do the work for your client and make their life easier. That’s what you’re paid to do!

You’re getting paid to get the job done. You need to do all of the thinking. You need to do the work. You don’t need to ask any pointless questions. You especially shouldn’t get your client to work any harder than they have to. They pay you to do the work, the thinking, and everything else in between.

Where’s this post on freelancing coming from?

I’ve had some poor experiences with hiring others to do work for me ever since I started an online business. I like to do what I can and then outsource the rest. When I outsource something I want that person to do the work for me. I outsourced the work because I don’t know where to start. I wanted to give you an example that comes to mind.

I recently wanted to hire someone to do some work for me. I reached out to them and told this person that I was interested. Instead of providing me with samples of work or past results, I get random emails with articles trying to convince me to take action. I thought to myself, “I was planning to take action. Why else would I ask you for your services!?”  I wanted this person to make life easier for me. I didn’t want to receive emails with articles that I didn’t feel like reading. I don’t want to do more work when trying to outsource something. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but I don’t care about useless emails. I want results!

As a freelancer you need to make life easier for your client. You need to do the thinking. You need to do the legwork. You’re getting paid for a reason. Don’t make your client think about crap that they don’t need to!

For a basic introduction to freelancing, you need to read my freelancing 101 piece. Good luck!

“I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.” — Walt Disney

I have a challenge for you. No I’m not going to ask you to stay off Facebok for three days or to do some crazy ten day fast where you don’t eat any food. I want us to make more money together this summer. I want us to work together to reach our goals. I want to see you with more money in your pocket.

I challenge you to try to make $5,000 from freelancing this summer.

A few months back I wrote about what you need to know about freelancing. Once the post went public I realized that I really enjoy freelancing myself and helping others get into freelance work. Aside from the “working for yourself” aspect, you also get to do cool stuff that you couldn’t do if you have a standard 9-5 gig.

How does this freelancing challenge work?

You have to find a new source of income and try to earn $5,000 before September comes around. You can’t count something that you’re already doing. For example, a blogger can’t blog more to make more freelance income. You have to try to do something totally different.

You don’t have to start an online business or get into blogging to make money here. You don’t have to buy blogs, sell blogs, or create your own eBook. You can do anything that you want. You can use your God given skills to make more money this summer. You can spend the next few weeks learning something new so that you can turn around and teach others how to do it for money.

What are a few examples of how you can make more money freelancing this summer?

• Do blog design work, something that was outsourced on this very blog.
• Start freelance writing like I do for over five other personal finance blogs.
• Give guitar lessons like my friend Justin does.

I’m sure that you can find at least one way that you can make more money using your skills.

What does the winner get? Umm, $5,000? You’re making money for yourself and owning your finances. What further incentive do you need?

How do I plan on making an additional $5,000 pre-tax in freelance income?

1. Coaching services. I’ve really wanted to get into coaching online and helping others. I’ve done this pretty often when it comes to helping new bloggers get started or anyone that has any questions in general.
2. Personal training. I got my license in this field five years ago and never really did anything with it. I love to train and help get others into shape. I’m always looking for new ways to eat better, train smarter, and have more fun working out. My 15 year old brother has been training with me for only a year and he now weights 180lbs of muscle.

That’s all I could think of right now. I’m sure a dozen new ideas will hit me after I hit the publish button on this article.

If you’re sort of confused about the world of freelancing, you should read my post where I help you solve common freelancing problems. I don’t want to hear your excuses about time or anything else.

If you want to join in on the fun then please leave a comment below and bookmark this page. I will update it constantly throughout the next few months.

Do you accept the challenge to try to earn an additional $5,000 in new freelance work this summer?

Student loans.

What else can I say? The name of this site is Studenomics. Student loans is one of the most important issues that any of us will ever deal with.

Student loan information is all around you and especially on this very site. I’ve written about the best advice for consolidating your student debt and I’ve gotten into the harsh reality of student loans. I’ve put in my time to bring to you the information that you need to make the best decisions possible.

I wanted to put together the only post on students loans that’s worth reading. This is for anyone that’s applying for student loans or trying to get rid of student loan debt.

Instead of throwing out more of my own thoughts on the topic, I wanted to share what the readers of Studenomics have contributed on the topic over the past few years.

Tina wrote in with some eye-opening thoughts on being debt free after college…

I’m a junior in college and I will be graduating wtih no debt at all. in fact, it’s likely that I’ll be graduating with at least $10,000 in my savings account (plus whatever my roth IRA is worth at that point).

Here’s what I did/am doing to be free of student loans:

I worked at least 40 hours every summer, and at least 25 during the school year. In high school/beginning of college, I worked at a store in the mall. Now, I work in an office as a bookkeeper. My major is accounting, so it really ties in.

I saved as much money as possible. I don’t go out as often as my friends, but I get to enjoy my savings while they don’t.

Keep my GPA at around 3.6-3.8, which allows me to get scholarships (note: the scholarships I’ve gotten were relatively small, but any amount helps!). If you work hard, it pays off. If you slack off, it shows.

Chose to attend the local state university, where tuition is only around $9,000 per year. As a result of my constant working and saving, I’ve been able to pay for each semester in cash, with no loans.

Four years ago I purchased an old used car for $1,500 cash. It runs fine, and I don’t have to worry about car payments.

Charge less than 30% of my credit limit, and pay it off in full each month. I don’t want to graduate with credit card debt either.

The main points are to work, save money, keep your credit card debt to a minimum, and try to pay as much for school NOW as you possibly can. It’s easy to say, “oh I’ll pay for it after I graduate,” but when that time comes, paying your debt won’t be any more fun. Also, a few of my friends chose not to work during the semester, and it’s really doing them no good. While they say they want the extra time to study, they just end up wasting time.

Julie also chimed in with thoughts on future career plans and how they tie into the amount of student loans that you pick up…

One thing that I often mention to young acquaintances: pick the school that matches your intended career and future plans. I went to an elite private school because of my specific major, and the high profile alumni association attached. And yes, I still have the private student loans to prove it (though I refinanced several years ago and have an exceptional interest rate.)

But I was horrified at the time to see my freshman year roommates who wanted to become elementary education teachers spend $30K per year on their education! It just didn’t seem wise, when a close family member went to a state school with a very prestigous education department and probably spent less than $30K for her Bachelors, Masters and upper advanced degrees. She is now in a position where her successful career is flourishing (finalist for State Teacher of the Year award) and has not hampered her personal family life with truckloads of debt that couldn’t be paid off before she was ready to retire. Some positions, like teaching, have a cap on income potential, and once you reach it, what do you plan to do?

So pick the school for the specific department, and the quality of the alumni network. Then look at your assumed projected earnings, and ask yourself if that $35K per year in student aid is worth the stress. You can consult http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp for guidelines.

Jacob on making the right decision on what sort of school to attend…

I wish I would have paid more attention to reality when I was deciding on which college to attend. I had an opportunity to go to my local community college for 2 years, tuition free. That would have allowed me to save up the necessary money to finish school at another insititution, and be out of school with little to no student loan debt.

Of course, me being the cocky 17-year-old kid I am decided that I was too good for community college. That led me to a private college; as well as about $45,000 in student loans.

The only good thing about the college I went to was the accelerated program, which allowed me to graduate with my bachelor’s in 2 years. It was also beneficial because I was able to land a pretty good paying job for my field, for graduates in my field.

I think weighing the opportunity costs of going to community college versus a 4-year university is well worth the time, especially if there are incentives to make your college education much more beneficial without the penalties of taking out massive loans. I just hope that parents can really drill into their childrens’ heads that they need to think things through before making a final decision about where to attend college.

Jeff on misconceptions with going to college…

I think that the amount of debt that students incur will become a greater problem as time goes on. I remember when I was 18, signing documents for student loans, I had a misguided belief that was fuelled by everything I had heard growing up. This belief was that if I went to college, I’d find a “good job” (whatever that means) and that while it would not be fun to pay down my debt, that I’d actually be able to do it. However, once I finished school, I found that going to college didn’t automatically allow you to get a job, as I had been led to believe throughout my life. College sure can help a person, but it’s not the one-way ticket to a job and a better life that some believe it to be. Sure it can help, but motivation and a strong work ethic will get you much further than college will. This is why we need to take college planning seriously. If you don’t know where to start, this may be helpful https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started.

Stephanie on feeling stuck with massive amounts of student debt…

I got trapped when my major turned out not to be something I was good at, but the credits in it weren’t going to transfer to anything else. I was already nearly $30,000 in debt at the point that I realized this, and wasn’t entirely sure what the path was. I ended up getting a multidisciplinary studies degree, and I probably won’t ever use my degree for what it’s intended for. Also, it looks like if I pursue the field that I love and have talent in (backstage theater work), I won’t ever make enough money to justify my $42,000 film degree because theater really only pays about $30,000-$40,000/year after you’ve been doing it for 10-20 years. For me an education was a debt sentence.

Edward on working with student loan companies…

If you are having financial problems, student loan companies WILL work with you. Mortgage and credit card companies are notorious for working against you, but student loan companies will do whatever it takes to keep you in good standing. During my unemployment, they’ve reduced my payments to more or less just the interest. I may not be paying down that debt, but I have an extra $100 per month to buy groceries with.

Once again, I need to thank you for making Studenomics what it is as a reader. I’m confident that there’s enough student loan information in here to help you out.

In case I don’t praise online banking enough I wanted to share a few more reasons why you should make the switch right now.

I keep a traditional brick-and-mortar account open for cashing checks and my retirement account (switching both shortly). The other day I went into cash a check that I cash every single month at the same time. I deposited the check and I went out of town assuming that everything was cool. When I checked my mobile banking app I suddenly realized that somehow the teller managed to input the wrong number. Seriously. I know that it’s an honest mistake, but I just don’t get how you can miss the actual number by that much. Turns out I was out of town and the last thing I wanted to do was deal with this annoying issue.

I realize that this type of stuff happens and that I shouldn’t be rude about it. The problem is that I was already not impressed with the bank because I was hit with some random hidden fee that’s apparently buried in my original agreement somewhere. I just wanted to clear the check and not deal with any hassles.

This ties into my next point…

ING Direct is now offering check scanning. If you have an account open with ING Direct you can scan checks by downloading the mobile app and using the new Checkmate feature. This is a sweet new feature that just provides us with another incentive to make the transition to online banking. You can now scan your checks from wherever you are in the world. You don’t have to make a trip to the bank, worry about lines, or delay depositing in your checks any longer.

If you’re tired of your bank account and the lame features, you can switch bank accounts and get some free money.

If you sign up with ING Direct right now you get $50 for free. You won’t have to pay any petty banking fees or get charged for going over your “swipe limit.” The idea of a limit on debit swipe for any 20-something is just absurd. It would be impossible for me to count how many times I use my debit card in a month.

You shouldn’t be charged to access your own money. You shouldn’t feel like you’re getting ripped off constantly just to keep your money stored. You work hard for your money and the last thing that you want to stress about is counting how many times you swipe your debit card because you don’t want to get hit with some petty fees for going over your “swipe limit.”

Don’t worry if you don’t know what to do because I wrote about how you can switch bank accounts in the past.