Separate Bank Account for MSing

I started MSing in early June, and I have started getting my first payments in. I hadn't given any thought to what I would do with the payments until I had a handful of checks, but now I am thinking of opening up a new bank account to use specifically for MSing. I would basically pay personal account back for the costs I have already incurred, and then only use the new account for MSing. I only shop on the weekends and very rarely a weekday if there is something worthwhile that aligns with my full time work schedule, but I am hoping that within a year I will be able to afford a nice vacation!

My only problem is that the bank i have my personal accounts with will change a monthly maintenance fee if I don't have direct deposit or a minimum balance that is much higher than the amount of money I have made so far. Can anyone recommend a bank that has low/no fees for a simple checking account?

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Folks could recommend banks or you could make some more money to add to that account by shopping them yourself

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Folks could recommend banks or you could make some more money to add to that account by shopping them yourself

Unfortunately I work the same hours as the banks, so I am not able to shop them. The few that I have seen in my area that I could do on an early Saturday morning, require I speak Mandarin or Spanish, which I do not.

Aren't there any banks near your job so you could visit on your lunch hour? Another option would be phone shops. I only know of one company emailing for Mandarin or Spanish speaking shoppers. OTOH, I know of at least a dozen MSCs offering bank shops. ATH, Bare, Maritz, Second to None and Customer Service Profiles are among them. A search here changing the parameters to "all dates" should provide more.

Banks do have Saturday hours. If you want to avoid banks that require direct deposit, check out credit unions. And a lot of credit unions get shopped.

I'm lucky if I even get out of my building for lunch, much less get an hour lol. I work in a very busy and very understaffed industry/office. I keep hoping I can fit some of the available bank shops into my schedule, but at this point its just not possible. Thanks for the Credit Union suggestion. I will try there.

When I shop outside of my 9-5, I put the funds into a linked, high yield savings account. If I do a reimbursed shop, the money comes from my checking account. The payments will go to my checking account via check, direct deposit or PayPal. I then transfer the shopper fees to the savings account.

It adds up quickly! Just make sure you don't make more than 6 electronic withdrawals per month from the savings account. You can go into the branch to withdraw as often as you wish.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Here's what I do, for companies that pay with paypal, I have the money go in there and then use my paypal debit card to pay for shops that you have to pay upfront. For the MSC that only do direct deposit, I have a American Express Bluebird card. You can do direct deposit with them and then use the card anywhere they accept AE. You can also do direct bill pay from your AE account.

Edited to add: And you never have to set foot in a bank

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2017 12:44AM by crdurham.

I've got 2 checking accounts now, but in the past I had 4 because I got paid to open 2 of them. Yes, there are MS companies that will pay you to open a checking account and then at least one I know of will pay you to make teller deposits. And you can do some of them on Saturdays.

Edited to add that my accounts are with different banks and none charge monthly fees.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2017 03:24PM by JASFLALMT.

My finances are a discombobulated (sp) mess. I now have 5 checking accounts. Four were opened on shops with continued teller assignments. The other one I shop, but lie and say I do not have an account with the bank so they don't look me up. Three no longer are shopped and I still have the accounts. It gets very complicated trying to use the debit card ten times per month, make sure I have direct deposit to xx bank each month, make sure I have enough in xx bank to pay bills. I need to consolidate, however, the cards do come in handy when I have s slew of gas stations to do and some of the cards get declined after two uses. Anywho, I do wish I had set up a separate account for MSing when I started many years ago.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

crdurham, how do you track payments for taxes?

I just a spreadsheet that keeps up with each company. This is my first year of really getting into the MS, even though I have been doing it for several years. I'm still working on all that

It is interesting how different we all are. My preference is to run everything through a bank account and keep track of it using Quicken. At the end of the year I can run reports for my tax preparer.

I saw that chase has a liquid card for 4.95 a month. You can have deposits made to that. Capital one has an online account that looks like there are not any fees associated with it.

Selennalynn

Are there any fees with the American Express card

Selennalynn

IMO, Paying bank fees - of any time - is foolish. And on a checking account, no way. There are so many banks and credit unions that offer no-minimum-balance, fee-free accounts. Many can be opened online, deposits can be made electronically/by phone. Some even have nation-wide networks of free ATMs.

I have managed to find two banks, one local and one regional, with absolutely free checking and absolutely no requirements to keep them that way. Plus they greet me by name at the branches closest to home. Just today when depositing a check the manager asked where I had been. After telling him I hadn't had checks to deposit for a couple of weeks he said I could come by for coffee and just to visit

Google for the moneycrashers website that talks about the best bank promotions each month, some of these banks have hundreds in promo fees for opening an acct. Personally I just keep the money in the account for the required amount of time, then close it and move the money to another bank with a promo. It's over $1000 a year now for me. Some require 6 months or 12.

But if your looking for a no fee bank, try out the Discover bank. I've never had an issue and all checks just get deposited through the app. Free ATM agreements with banks all over. Only down fall for me is the bank in my town that works with Discover only lets me withdrawal $500 daily from the ATM

I second Dongjuan, I have a Discover Bank account that works great - free checks, you get 10 cents back on transactions, easy access to cash via debit card or checks, no fees or minimum balances and super easy online set up.

@Dongjuan wrote:

Google for the moneycrashers website that talks about the best bank promotions each month, some of these banks have hundreds in promo fees for opening an acct. Personally I just keep the money in the account for the required amount of time, then close it and move the money to another bank with a promo. It's over $1000 a year now for me. Some require 6 months or 12.

But if your looking for a no fee bank, try out the Discover bank. I've never had an issue and all checks just get deposited through the app. Free ATM agreements with banks all over. Only down fall for me is the bank in my town that works with Discover only lets me withdrawal $500 daily from the ATM

And another suggestion as others have mentioned....try an online bank. I opened an account with Allybank because of a shop. No fees, better than average interest on savings. I deposited checks through the app without any issues. The MSC was shopping Discover Bank at the same time. I tried to open an account there, but you have to have a Discover Card, which I do not have.

As others mentioned, Paypal is a great alternative. Most MSCs offer Paypal as a payment option. It can be linked to a bank account or credit card and takes about 24 hours to move funds.

Pinnacle shops a bank that has very minimal requirements for direct deposit and low fees. Check them out as the client is everywhere and the shops are easy.

@LisaSTL wrote:

It is interesting how different we all are. My preference is to run everything through a bank account and keep track of it using Quicken. At the end of the year I can run reports for my tax preparer.

didnt i read in nother thread by another member that there is only ONE way to do things correct. we arent supposed to be different. were all supposed to be vanilla.

Chase offers their Premier Account for Veterans with no fee and no strings. It's a great account that comes with free checks, free safe deposit box, free money orders and other perks. You can also get a free savings account (no minimum required). If you or your spouse are a veteran and have Chase Banks, it's the best.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

No, You buy The AE Bluebird card at Wal-mart and set your account up online

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2017 01:46PM by crdurham.

US Bank giving away $200 for opening a checking account with them. Sure you have to meet some requirements, but it's $200 more pre-taxed dollar you had before and less than an hour of work total. All can be done online as well.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

The last time I went into a bank I had several associates vying for my attention so I would go to their window :-)

@LisaSTL wrote:

I have managed to find two banks, one local and one regional, with absolutely free checking and absolutely no requirements to keep them that way. Plus they greet me by name at the branches closest to home. Just today when depositing a check the manager asked where I had been. After telling him I hadn't had checks to deposit for a couple of weeks he said I could come by for coffee and just to visit

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Just open a savings account at a branch you can shop. There are banks that have no fees. I have three checking accounts (2 are personal) 1 for mystery shopping and several savings just for MS, no fees. I am over 65 helps.

A lot of banks offer free checking if you have a direct deposit to the account. Most do not have a minimum on the direct deposit. A lot of banks are open at least half a day on Saturday and some have late hours and Sunday hours. For example, Woodforest Bank, located in Walmart stores, is open until 7PM most days and they are open both all day Saturday and half days on Sundays. They used to be open longer hours but I think they realized the longer hours weren't necessary and cut them back.

Discover Bank is all online, but a $0 fee checking account. When I signed up, they gave away $300; not sure if there are any promotions right now though... Had mine ever since as a spare checking account. No monthly fees or monthly requirements.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I closed out my savings account at my bank where I have my checking because the interest was only .03%. I have two online savings, one with Goldman Sachs and the other with American Express. I think that one is at 1.05% and the other is 1%. No brick and mortar banks can match that with savings accounts. Maybe money market accounts where you have to keep a certain balance or relationship with the bank. Anyway, if someone were to have any credit card debt or loans that they were paying interest on, having a savings account makes no sense. Pay off the debt, then start saving money.

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