PerkStreet vs. Ally: the fight is on! Let’s review both of these online financial institutions and compare them apples to apples. You might be surprised by the results.

PerkStreet and Ally Benefits Compared

In order to compare PerkStreet and Ally side by side, we’re going to look at the standard criteria:

• Cash back debit cards and how much you can earn.
• Cost to open an account.
• Minimum balance requirements.
• Interest rates.
• ATMs.

Let’s take it step by step looking at these standard banking features. Then, we’ll compare the two companies as if you’re a customer . . . and see who wins the match!

First, let’s look at the cash back debit card!

Cash Back Debit Cards

Ally and PerkStreet both have cash back debit cards, but they aren’t created equal. Each has their own payment structure and requirements.

PerkStreet offers the following:

• Earn 1% cash back on non-PIN debit card purchases if your checking balance is below $5,000.
• Earn 2% cash back on non-PIN debit card purchases if your checking balance is at $5,000 or above.
• Earn 5% cash back on non-PIN debit card purchases when you shop at recommended vendors (new vendors every month are announced).

As you shop, you will accumulate perks in a special section of the website where you can also redeem your perks. As you can see, there are several options for you to choose from.

But you will also be able to get music or coffee perks from iTunes or Starbucks. Simply choose if you prefer those perks and you can redeem your cash for those.

Ally offers the following:

PerkStreet isn’t the only one to offer cash back, however. Ally decided that they needed to compete and have specific offers that will entice customers to buy certain items or services.

Obviously, this isn’t as all-encompassing as PerkStreet’s offer (PerkStreet gives you cash back on every non-PIN purchase), but there is one benefit that stands out . . . .

Ally will put your cash back from offers directly into your account. No waiting to receive prepaid cards in the mail like you have to do with PerkStreet. Zero wait time!

Cost to Open an Account

PerkStreet requires at least $25 to open an account. Not very much.

Ally doesn’t require a minimum amount to open an account.

Simple as that!

Minimum Balance Requirements

As noted above, PerkStreet has a minimum balance requirement to get 2% cash back: $5,000. But they do not have a minimum balance requirement to maintain an open account.

PerkStreet does have an inactivity fee of $4.50 if you don’t use your account at least once a month. You won’t be assessed this fee if you: make a transaction with your debit card, write a check that clears the account, use online bill pay, initiate a withdrawal, or make a deposit to the account.

Ally does not advertise that they have a minimum balance requirement . . . at least I couldn’t find it! They say that there is no monthly maintenance fee.

Interest Rates

PerkStreet does not offer an interest rate for their checking account. However, for someone who spends $2,500 per month while maintaining $5,000 in their checking account, they will earn $600 per year in cash back. This simply blows away the competition . . . even those who offer interest on their checking accounts.

Let’s compare that with Ally. Ally does indeed offer an interest rate. Currently, on $5,000, they offer 0.40%. That’s $20 a year. PerkStreet wins this battle.

ATMs

After looking over Ally’s ATM policy, I have to say it rocks. Ally allows you to use any ATM you want. If the ATM is not in their network of free ATMs, then they will reimburse you the ATM fee at the end of your monthly statement period.

PerkStreet is still a good deal, but they don’t reimburse you ATM fees. That being said, they do offer 42,000 STARsf ATMs. That’s a lot. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to find an ATM near you.

Our Experience

Personally, we’ve never been with Ally before. But if we were to sign up, we’d do so because of the waved ATM fees and zero maintenance/inactivity fees. We’d also do so because Ally offers a variety of other financial products: CDs, Savings Accounts, and more. PerkStreet only currently offers a checking account, but they say that a PerkStreet Savings Account is on the way.

We have much more experience with PerkStreet, and although they do have an inactivity fee, we’ve never run into it. Even if we did, it would be worth keeping the PerkStreet checking account. Why? We estimate that we make over $550 per year from PerkStreet. That’s a lot of pizza . . . or a car insurance payment for those of you who are more financially responsible!

Remember, you have to do what’s in your best interest. Compare PerkStreet and Ally for yourself. Visit their websites at PerkStreet.com and Ally.com.

Have you been with either bank? Let us know in the comments what you think and help our readers make a decision for themselves!

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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Looking for an exhaustive review of Bluehost? Are you thinking about starting your own website? I trust that this full review of Bluehost.com will help you determine if their web hosting service is right for you.

Bluehost Review: Our Experiences

Many of you out there are looking to make a little extra income by creating your own website. You’re not sure where to start, and you might need a little help along the way.

The first step to creating a good website is to get reliable web hosting. Is Bluehost right for you?

I remember when I started my first website. It was an exciting time, full of anticipation of what a new job online might bring. I searched online for some discount prices on web hosting and found Bluehost to be relatively inexpensive. I bought three years worth of hosting from them, blindly, and wasn’t sure if I’d have a great experience or not.

There have been many times I’ve called into customer service with questions – mainly because I was inexperienced with designing and maintaining a website. I have quite the track record with Bluehost – it’s been three straight years now – and I intend on telling you all about the good, bad, and the . . . well there isn’t really anything too ugly!

How Did Bluehost Start?

Bluehost began as providing web hosting solutions to businesses and individuals since 1996. Their goal was simply to try and provide the best possible web hosting services for the best price possible (of course that’s their goal)!

One of their founding beliefs was that they should innovate and build benefits into Bluehost they go – without raising prices for customers. I like that!

Matt Heaton, the founder of Bluehost, maintains his own blog has regularly written about progress they’re making over at Bluehost. This gives me the sense that the Bluehost team cares about their customers – they want to connect and make sure they are providing a reliable platform for all of us to advance our online businesses.

Bluehost Benefits Explored

The “Unlimited” Benefits

There are some features that Bluehost advertises on their website that are pretty standard. For example, unlimited domain hosting is very common amongst web hosting services. After all, many times the web hosting company is getting a sale when they sell you an extra domain.

However, unlimited file transfer and hosting space are not very common. I can’t stress enough how important these are to any growing online business.

You’re going to want to join a web hosting company that doesn’t care how much traffic your website brings. Trust me, the last thing you want to do when your website traffic explodes is deal with switching your web hosting company or paying more for the privilege of more file transfer.

Are you thinking of starting a photography website? Well, remember that images take up a lot of space. With Bluehost you get unlimited space.

Another great thing about Bluehost is you get one free domain hosted for the life of your account.

That’s huge.

For an entire list of Bluehost’s unlimited features, begin at their homepage.

The Customer Service

I estimate I’ve called Bluehost at least 10 times in the past three years. Why? The reasons varied, but here are a few that I can vividly remember:

• I called regarding a temporary outage of service. They reassured me they had technicians working on the issue and that The Christian Dollar would be up and running in approximately an hour. They were right! Not bad!
• I called asking about changing my primary domain so that it would be renewed for free year over year. They were very helpful and walked me through the steps needed to make TheChristianDollar.com my new primary domain.
• I called wondering how to backup my website. Fortunately, I learned that my website is automatically backed up by Bluehost and there was no regular action I had to take on my part. Nevertheless, I still backup my website to my computer just in case something would go awry (although I know deep down in my heart it won’t)!

Each time I’ve called Bluehost they have been quick to answer (usually within less than 2 minutes, although they advertise less than 30 seconds).

The real value is found in the knowledgable customer service agents. Wow, they really know their stuff! When I don’t know what I’m talking about they help define terms like “Hotlink Protection” and “cPanel.”

They have extraordinary patience and I don’t know where I’d be without Bluehost’s superior customer service. A+!

The SimpleScripts Advantage

For those of you who haven’t heard of SimpleScripts, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. SimpleScripts is integrated into the core of Bluehost, allowing you to install a variety of different blogging platforms such as WordPress and other programs such as e-commerce carts.

I’m not the best tech out there, and SimpleScripts truly helped me get The Christian Dollar up and running. I suggest you check it out on Bluehost’s website.

Your Mission Control: The cPanel

I love how simple Bluehost’s cPanel is. What’s the cPanel? That’s the area where you control every aspect of your web hosting.

Bluehost makes it very easy and clear to edit and manage your:

• Software and Services
• Databases
• SEO
• Preferences
• Mail
• Files
• Security
• Domains
• Logs

Not sure where to start? Bluehost has a link in the cPanel to video tutorials. You can learn everything from the basics of adding domains to your account to more advanced topics such as enabling stats.

Prices

I want to make sure you get the best price on Bluehost web hosting possible. Click here or click the banner below to get the best current pricing available to potential customers:

When you click on the link, you might even find that the pricing for Bluehost is less than the advertised price on the banner. When I first signed up, I got a killer deal. Still, $6.95 is a great price for hosting considering all that you get with their service.

Last Thoughts on Bluehost Hosting

I’m going to tell you up front: Bluehost is not the perfect web hosting solution. But then again, what is?

There have been a few times where The Christian Dollar crashed, but things were resolved very quickly. I’ve found their 99.9% uptime quote very accurate.

If you’re looking for a web hosting solution that allows you to expand your online business, Bluehost is it. You’ll get unlimited domain hosting, unlimited space for storing all of those web files, and more.

I suggest you give Bluehost a shot.

How has your web hosting worked out for you? Do you have Bluehost currently? What do you think? Meet us in the comments!

We want this review to be as accurate as possible. Please submit any corrections in the comments, and post your questions as well! Thank you!

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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The ING Direct Orange Savings Account has been used by many for various reasons, and has proven to be a great place for us to store our emergency savings. Having had an Orange Savings Account for about a year, I can tell you a few of the ins and outs of it and help you decide if it’s the right place to put your money. Let’s start by looking at two important reasons to have a savings account.

ING Direct Orange Savings Account

Savings accounts are good for two basic money management tasks:

1. To store an emergency fund or reserves for a business.
2. To save for short or long term goals. If you’re going to save money for long term goals (5 years or later), you might want to invest the money instead into mutual funds.

The Interest Rate

Currently (as of August 12, 2011), ING Direct offers a 1.00% annual interest rate on their savings account. Not bad! Compare that with their rates on CD’s (.75% to 1.25%) and you’ll find the Orange Savings Account to be a great deal!

On ING Direct’s website, they compare their 1.00% annual interest rate to the interest rates of a money market account (they say is at .18%) and other savings accounts (they say is at .15%). Those rates are APYs based on a deposit of $10,000 for one year from savings and money market averages from Bankrate.com as of 04/13/11.

Online Banking Experience

If you’re the type that loves to walk into a physical banking branch, then this account isn’t for you. However, if you love the ease of use of banking in your pajamas from your recliner, you’re going to love ING Direct.

The menus are crisp and clear. It’s simple to navigate and you don’t have to wonder if you’re going into the right menus.

You simply click “View My Account” and you’ll be transported to an area where you’ll have to get through several security panes.

ING Direct obviously takes security very seriously, as I can think of four safeguards:

1. You must enter your customer number.
2. You’ll have to answer 2 security questions (but you can choose to have your computer remember these for you).
3. You’ll see your security image (if you don’t recognize it, you’ll know something is wrong).
4. You’ll have to enter your online PIN code.

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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As you know, I’m a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. He rocks. Seriously. So I had to go visit him up in Portland, OR to catch up on the latest Dave sayings, advice, and more.

Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Live Event Review: The Best Takeaways

We saw Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Live, and it was awesome. Sure, it was a lot of the same stuff I heard before, but there were some interesting takeaways that I’d love to share with all you readers of The Christian Dollar.

1. Live on less than you make.

Dave comes out, thanks us for being there, and says he’ll go ahead and sum up personal finance for us: “Live on less than you make!” Then he pretends to walk off stage, as if there’s nothing more to say.

It was very funny, but made a great point: people must work on their income and expenses if they want to get ahead in personal finance.

2. Personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge.

He really drove this home. Dave explained how all the information he was teaching us was good information, but would do nothing if we just sat around and thought about it. We must DO what we KNOW. It’s all about changing our behavior.

This compelled me to work harder in life and strive for a higher standard.

3. Get focused like a gazelle!

Dave uses a great example of how to win at life – not just get out of debt. When the gazelle tries to escape the cheetah, he has to have determination and weave in and out to outwit the cheetah’s speed.

You have to get intense to win at life. There’s no exception. You have to be better and do better than those who are looking to sap all your energy and take your money – trust me, they’re out there!

Last Thoughts . . .

If you have Dave coming to your area, you must go see him! His enthusiasm will help others you might bring convert to a better way to handle their finances.

What do you think? Have you seen Dave? What were your impressions?

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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PerkStreet Financial℠. You’ve seen the PerkStreet℠ ads all over the web. Blogs are abuzz with the hype. PerkStreet.com says you can earn thousands* in cash back (*thousands over the typical lifetime of a checking account, 10 years), earn up to 5% cash back on debit card purchases, and can rest assured that deposits are protected against fraudulent activity.

PerkStreet Financial Review: Our Experiences

Wow. That’s amazing! But is PerkStreet Financial for real? Because it sounded almost too good to be true, I decided to give you – the readers of The Christian Dollar – a thorough review of the company after I had some time to try them out for myself. In October of 2010, my wife and I signed up for an account. What did we discover? Well, you’ll have to continue reading for the pros and cons.

This 3,100-word review of PerkStreet Financial is intended to be straightforward and honest. I’m not leaving any of our noteworthy personal experiences out of this review, good or bad. This is the PerkStreet Financial Review: The Ultimate Guide from Real Customers. These are our experiences. There’s a lot to learn here, so let’s jump right in!

How Did PerkStreet Financial Start?

Dan O'Malley, PerkStreet Financial Chief Executive Officer

Glancing through the pages of their website, you’ll find a few key motivations behind the beginnings of the company. Dan O’Malley, the CEO of PerkStreet, saw the need for change after working as an executive in the banking and credit card industries. Dan believes that there are incentive problems within those run-of-the-mill institutions, encouraging customers to take on tremendous amounts of debt through the use of credit cards. The PerkStreet website states:

Before PerkStreet, Dan co-founded Capital One’s Payments division, where he created the industry-changing decoupled debit card and launched the company’s prepaid business. Dan loves launching breakout new strategies, which he did in Capital One’s corporate strategy team and at Oliver Wyman, one of the world’s largest management consultancies. He also loves math (even if that makes him a dork), with a background in quantitative analysis and a BSE in Operations Research from Princeton University. Other loves? Baseball, cooking, and lightly roasted African coffees.

Out of these experiences, Dan set out to create something new in the banking world – something innovative. Whether he and his team have created something innovative is up to you! Let’s start by looking at some PerkStreet advantages and why you might want this account in the first place.

The PerkStreet Financial Benefits Explored

There are a number of PerkStreet advantages that do indeed position it well ahead of the competition. The most prominent advantage is the PerkStreet Financial℠ Debit MasterCard® (previously offered was a PerkStreet Financial℠ Visa® Debit Card).

The PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard and Free Checking Account

Here’s how the cash back perks work. By using your PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard, you’ll earn:

• 1% cash back on all non-PIN* purchases if your checking balance is less than $5,000 at the start of the day.
• 2% cash back on all non-PIN* purchases if your checking balance is $5,000 or more at the start of the day.
• 5% cash back (called PowerPerks) on all non-PIN* purchases when you shop at select retailers announced on PerkStreet’s blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

* Note that you must NOT use your PIN during a transaction in order to receive your perks. Using your PIN deducts money directly from your checking account, whereas not using your PIN (online purchases and signing a receipt, for example) processes money through the MasterCard network and earns you perks.

You can choose from various ways to redeem your perks, including gift cards to some top retailers. I love the MasterCard® (soon switching from Visa®) gift card option, as I can choose to spend my perks on everyday purchases. I was pleasantly surprised to see that for a limited time PerkStreet also offered a way to donate the money to disaster relief to help the people of Japan recover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

There are also coffee and music perks available to those who are interested! You can get gift cards for iTunes®, Amazon.com®, Starbucks®, and Dunkin’ Donuts® just to name a few.

The cash back debit card that PerkStreet offers is different from other banks in that they provide more opportunities for cash back, such as 5% cash back in new categories announced every month on their blog!

So, how much can you earn in cash back annually from a PerkStreet account? PerkStreet Financial estimates this in the following typical budget:

What do you think about this estimate? Is it accurate? Unfortunately, I feel that the monthly expenses listed above have one flaw: the housing payment category. Many people have mortgages where a debit or credit card can not be used. Even renters might have a difficult time paying for their housing with a debit card. If they can, usually there is a fee to do so which wipes out any cash back rewards earned from this category.

However, our cash back results have almost lived up to PerkStreet’s claims in the end. Check out our cash back results below!

Our Cash Back Results

Here are some real world results from what we have earned in cash back since we activated our debit cards:

• We earned an average of $49/month cash back from our PerkStreet debit card over 4 and a half months of using the cards.
• Therefore, we predict we will average $588/year or a bit less in cash back by using PerkStreet.
• We spent money using our debit cards on some extras during this time such as flights, a new computer, and college.
• We still decided to use the envelope system with cash for categories where we might overspend (groceries, fun money, clothing, and date money).
• We had a few extra perks (see Additional Required Information section below) for the first month of using PerkStreet, and then just a straight 2% cash back thereafter.

In conclusion, our results lined up closely with PerkStreet’s cash back estimate of over $600 cash back every year*.

* PerkStreet comes to the estimate of over $600 a year in cash back using the following formula:

Making $601 in weekly non-PIN purchases will earn you $625 in perks annually (when you maintain a balance of $5,000). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American household spends $601 per week on purchases that could be put on a debit card, including stuff like utility bills or rent.

Limited Pending Non-PIN Transactions?

I’ve heard from a friend who also has a PerkStreet checking account that their debit card purchases were once denied for the following reason: they had over $1,500 of pending non-PIN transactions at one time. This is concerning if you are, say, going on vacation and have to purchase flights, hotels, etc.

I emailed a PerkStreet representative who explained that the pending non-PIN transaction limit can be raised if requested by phone.

Most people will not be affected by this. It’s not a deal breaker, just somewhat of an inconvenience. Besides, pending transactions only take a few days to complete, so it shouldn’t be a big deal for most folks.

The Most Free ATMs Nationwide

As mentioned, we used cash for certain discretionary expenses that we felt we might overspend on otherwise. We were pleased to see that PerkStreet offers unlimited access to 42,000 ATMs nationwide. This is definitely more than the majority of banks out there!

I recommend using PerkStreet’s ATM finder tool (on PerkStreet’s website) to find surcharge-free ATMs. Sometimes the labels on the ATMs themselves can be deceiving, so only use the finder tool to find ones that will work with your account free of charge.

However, we found out there is a catch. We tried two ATMs in our area and found that there was a $200 cap on how much cash we could withdraw per day. We choose to spend over $500 in cash every month to support our envelope budgeting system. By using cash, you can get great deals through negotiation with small businesses, feel the pain when you’re spending so you don’t spend as much, and make certain merchants happy by allowing them to skip paying debit card fees.

Because of this cap, we have decided to keep our credit union checking account open so that we can have access to fast cash when we need it. This does add to the complexity of our banking methods, but it is well worth it so we don’t have to make several trips to ATMs.

Free Online Banking and Bill Pay

A very attractive part of PerkStreet Financial is their online banking capabilities. You can pay your bills, check your balance, find an ATM, see your transaction history, transfer money in and out (with some caveats listed below), and set up mobile alerts.

The online bill pay system is very intuitive. You can simply type in the name of the company or organization you want to pay, and set up the system to pay them at certain times. It’s what you’d expect from online bill pay.

The mobile alerts feature comes in handy for us, as we want to know if our checking account ever dips below $5,000 (which moves us from 2% to 1% cash back). So we set up an alert to tell us if the balance goes under $5,500, so that we have some time to fund the account before it goes under $5,000.

The Ability To Move Money

Withdrawals

You might be wondering how you can withdraw money from your PerkStreet account. There are two ways:

• ATMs (see The Most Free ATMs Nationwide section above).
• By using your PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard when you use your PIN at select locations and request cash back (keep in mind that these transactions DO NOT generate perks).
• Online transfers. See the Online Transfers section below!

Deposits

How do you deposit a check? Excellent question. This will take a little explanation.

• Free standard mail. You can request postage-paid envelopes anytime and simply drop your checks in the mailbox. They send several at a time so that you don’t have to request envelopes every time you have to send a check.
• Free overnight delivery. You can use UPS Stores® or Mailboxes Etc.® locations to get your check to PerkStreet faster.

How do you deposit electronic funds?

• Direct deposit. Very easy to set up, and highly recommended.
• Online transfers. See the Online Transfers section below!

How do you deposit cash? Yes, you can deposit cash! Here’s how:

• MoneyGram® ExpressPayment℠ where you can deposit cash free of charge at 18,000 locations. I haven’t tried this method yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes if I ever do.
• Outside accounts. Remember, if you have an outside account you can deposit cash there at your local branch, and then move money via ACH.

Online Transfers

The most common type of online transfer is through the ACH system. Unfortunately, I’ve found that there are initial limits to how much money you are able to transfer through ACH. For me thus far, they are the following:

• From PerkStreet to outside account: $500 per month.
• From outside account to PerkStreet: $1,500 per month.

This can make it difficult when you are, say, signed up with PerkStreet for direct deposit and need to transfer funds to an outside account to pay your mortgage. Keep a healthy amount of money in your outside account, and you’ll be fine. Once you’ve set up auto-pay with your mortgage company through PerkStreet, this becomes a non-issue.

I’ve heard that these transfer limits are raised after PerkStreet has had some experience with you as a customer. This is to protect against people using the PerkStreet account in fraudulent ways. I’ll be sure to update this review if those limits are raised. One way I’ve gotten around this is to use outside accounts to “push” or “pull” money from the PerkStreet account. In other words, if you don’t use the PerkStreet transfer system, you’re only limited to what your outside account capabilities are. Another work-around is to simply send a check to PerkStreet or send a check from PerkStreet! Yes, you can write a check from yourself to yourself!

24/7 Customer Service

I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent customer service PerkStreet had to offer. I’ve called in four times. Three of the four times they picked up the phone (after the concise automated system) in under 30 seconds. However, one of those four times they took over two minutes – still pretty fast!

For every question I asked I received a throughly explained answer. They were friendly and knowledgable, and easy to communicate with.

Low, Straight-Forward Fees

I’m impressed by PerkStreet’s low fees. Most of these won’t affect the responsible customer. For example, who would ever pay the inactivity fee? Any normal person would make at least one transaction per month! Please check PerkStreet’s website for any updated fee information. Here are the current fees as of the publishing of this review:

Standard Stuff You’d Expect

PerkStreet’s rewards checking account also comes with features you’d expect from any bank, such as:

• FDIC insurance up to $250,000 (Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, member FDIC).
• Two books of free checks to start you out.
• Free PerkStreet Financial Debit MasterCard.

Coming Soon: A Rewards Savings Account?

PerkStreet has announced that they are releasing a rewards savings account soon that includes:

• A competitive interest rate.
• Unique opportunities to earn extra perks based on your saving behavior.
• Alternate options for debit card overdraft protection.

When the rewards savings account launches, you can be sure that I’ll do a review of it right here.

Signing Up For A PerkStreet Checking Account

Are you ready to sign up? Click the “Sign Up” button below. Not so much? Read on.

I first heard about PerkStreet Financial from Peter over at BibleMoneyMatters.com, later from Bob at ChristianPF.com, and finally from Dave Ramsey on his hit radio show. Since PerkStreet received such a tremendous backing from knowledgable and reputable people, my wife and I decided to get a joint checking account with them and try it out.

It has been said of PerkStreet that it only takes 5 minutes to sign up for an account. While this might be true, it certainly took longer to have the account approved. But in the end, I think it was worth it! Check out the timeline below.

Timeline of Opening Our PerkStreet Account

Here is the timeline of my experience associated with the opening of my PerkStreet Joint Checking account (in calendar days):

• Day 1: Signed up for a PerkStreet account and received email notification that the application had been received.
• Day 4: Received email notification that more information was required to activate my account (see Additional Required Information below).
• Day 7: Additional Required Information sent via fax.
• Day 8: Temporary password for login received via email and account approved.
• Day 9: Received email notification that debit cards were manufactured.
• Day 11: Initial deposit deducted from former bank account.
• Day 12: User ID received via mail enabling login.
• Day 19: Debit cards were received by this day – perhaps a few days earlier (honestly can’t remember the exact date, but evidence puts day 19 as a great estimate).
• Day 23: We activated debit cards on this day (because we then had enough money in account).
• Day 26: Received PerkStreet checks via mail.

Overall, the entire process took a little less than a month. This was about what I expected, although PerkStreet could have been a little clearer in the arrival dates of the checks. The checkbooks took a long time to arrive, certainly longer than the about-a-week after account funding estimate PerkStreet quotes on their website. However, the process ultimately lived up to my expectations!

What You’ll Need to Open an Account

You’ll need several things in order to get your PerkStreet account up and running:

• First and Last Name.
• Social Security Number (plus the willingness to send a copy of your Social Security Card via fax; see Additional Required Information below).
• Date of Birth.
• Mailing Address.
• Driver’s License or Government Photo ID.
• The above information for any joint account holders.
• At least $25 for an initial deposit via debit card, credit card, or checking account.

Additional Required Information

There was some additional information required before PerkStreet would activate our account. This was unexpected, and I thought you might want to know about it.

PerkStreet required that we send our Social Security cards via fax to prove our identities. I was concerned about this because their website said nothing about it. However, they promised something in return (a few extra perks). Here is the email:

We’re very happy that you applied for a PerkStreet account; now there’s just one more step. We need a little more information to start you on your way to earning great perks. We’ll even give you [a few extra perks] for your help! Please call a member of our new accounts team at xxx.xxx.xxxx. Someone’s manning the phone between M-F 8:30am – 9pm and Saturday 10am – 2pm ET. We’d like to give you a special bonus to thank you for your time. Get us the required information within one week of the date of this email and we’ll give you [a few extra perks] on all of your non-PIN debit card purchases for the first month your account is open! . . . We’re very excited to have you as a customer. Have a great day. – Dan O’Malley CEO

Now, who knows if this happens with every customer. I was concerned about this and wondered if it was standard protocol, so I called customer service and they said that it “sometimes” happens especially if there was a name change, marriage, or other significant event in the recent past. We did get married within the last two years, so this might have caused them to want to verify identity.

PerkStreet has at several points offered me a few extra perks. I have no doubt they will offer you the same – whether it be in customer service or a few extra bucks cash back.

What It’s Like To Be A PerkStreet Member

Considering all the benefits, my wife and I love our PerkStreet account. You get a general sense throughout the signup process and day to day transactions that you are taking part in a revolution in banking.

Personally, I love not having to step foot into my credit union and be offered yet another credit card. If you’re the same way and loathe credit cards, you’ll love PerkStreet. The only reason we keep our account open at our credit union is to take advantage of their ATM which doesn’t have a cap on the amount of cash we withdraw (see The Most Free ATMs Nationwide section for more on this above).

The PerkStreet card design is sleek and attractive. My wife and I have both noticed how people do a double take and ask about the financial institution. Then we get to tell them how we receive 2% cash back on our debit cards . . . better than the credit card they just tried to sell me at the clothing store.

We’re happy customers, and believe you would be too. PerkStreet is innovative, revolutionary, and just plain awesome! You won’t be disappointed!

If you’d like to learn more about PerkStreet, visit their website or sign up now!

Tell your friends about this review of PerkStreet and leave a comment below! Maybe you’ve been a customer and have an experience you’d like to share! We’re waiting to hear from YOU!

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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Every time I’ve shopped online using my debit card, the fleeting thought popped up in the back of my mind that perhaps I should think twice. Should reconsider putting my sensitive debit card information on the internet? But then, I would quickly dismiss the notion because “identity theft would never happen to me.” Or could it? Of course it could.

What if there was an alternative? What if there was a way to securely purchase goods and services online without sacrificing your personal information? Well, now there is. It’s called “eBillme.com,” a truly revolutionary way to shop online.

To get down to the bottom of how eBillme actually works, I interviewed Samer Forzley of eBillme.com. Here are some of the questions I asked him and his responses:

Interview With Samer Forzley, Vice President of Marketing at eBillme.com:

Samer Forzley

John: What exactly is eBillme and how does it help consumers?

Samer: eBillme is a payment option that allows customers to shop online with money they have and without exchanging personal financial information. eBillme orders can be paid online using online bill pay, just like you would pay a utility bill, or at one of over 75,000 walk-in locations.

John: eBillme claims to be “safe, secure, and private.” How does eBillme protect customer’s information?

Samer: eBillme protects customers in many ways. To start with, it is inherent in the payment system itself. When you checkout with eBillme, you do not share with us or the merchant any of your personal financial information. You do not create an account with eBillme or create a login. You also do not give us card numbers, bank account numbers, your social security number, or your date of birth. We simply email you a bill that you pay using your own bank’s bill pay service, or with cash at a walk-in location. eBillme also has a full buyer protection program – we guarantee your protection and safety online. Not only do we offer customers a 100% guarantee, but we go beyond that. Because we like to offer consumers peace of mind when shopping online, we also offer a Best Price Guarantee and Satisfaction Guarantee. For example, if you pay for something with eBillme and you find it for less anywhere else – even offline – let us know and we will refund you the difference. Details of the buyer protection program are available on our site.

John: eBillme emphasizes living “debt free.” Why is living debt free important in today’s world?

Samer: For far too long we faked living the good life, many were over-extended and the credit crisis we faced brought us one of the worst recessions in generations. Managing your finances, savings, and buying with available funds are not only beneficial to your personal well-being, but help contribute to a stable economy.

John: How can consumers find products that are supported by the eBillme payment system?

Samer: eBillme is available at more than 800 websites including sites like Sears.com, TigerDirect.com, Buy.com, Shoebuy.com, and many more. If there is something you are looking to buy online debt free, you can visit the eBillme Debt Free Mall, search for the product, and buy it with eBillme.

John: Anything else we should know?

Samer: You can have your cake and eat it too. You can shop online and save without being in debt. Online shopping allows you to find products at a good price. The eBillme Debt Free Mall not only lets you find them, it also lets you find coupons and discounts that are exclusive to eBillme. Also, you can participate in the eBillme cash back programs and earn money towards future purchases.

I’m encouraged by the direction eBillme is heading. In this credit-addicted world, eBillme presents a viable alternative to the credit card – no interest, secure payments, and cash back! For those of us trying to live debt free, eBillme delivers.

Thanks to Mr. Samer Forzley for a great interview and taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with us today.

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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We’re all busy people. Between work, life, finances, and children (don’t know about that last one first-hand yet), prioritizing our time can be especially frustrating. In this distraction-laden world, we need something to keep our focus on one task. With so many options out there, it can be difficult to know what productivity tools are really worth our time.

I’m a Mac guy, so naturally I searched for Mac software that could manage my busy schedule. I’ve tried Lifeshaker, ToDoIst (not just for Mac), and now Things for Mac. All of these applications have their pros and cons, but I have to say that Things fits my lifestyle the best and really helps me manage all of my tasks – as well as my finances.

GTD Methodology

I’d like to discuss a few of the features of Things that really caught my attention and led me to buy the software. First, Things uses the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. This process intends that we collect tasks, organize them (by area of responsibility and by due date), and focus on those areas of responsibility to get them done (similar to Dave Ramsey’s concept of focused intensity).

Hense, within the Things application there is an inbox to collect tasks as they come to mind, a “today” list for things we want to get done today, a “next” list for things we have planned to do, a “scheduled” list for things that you want to do regularly (repeated tasks) or things that have a due date, a “someday” list for things you want to get to someday, and a “projects” list for things that might take a long time to complete or have several parts.

Things for Mac also has the ability to assign areas of responsibility. For myself, I have five areas: Home, Finance, Online (The Christian Dollar), Health, and Work (day job). Areas of responsibility help me focus on one area of my life at a time, ensuring that there are no distractions from other areas. When I’m working on home chores, that’s all!

Syncing Capabilities

Things is really a full-fledged productivity tool with its synchronization capabilities. I can sync Things for iPhone with Things for Mac, so if I have a task pop into my head on the go, I can put it on my iPhone and have it show up on my Mac when I get home. Things currently syncs via WiFi, and is very quick in doing so. Launching the application on both devices allows an instantaneous sync.

Things is now available for iPad, but you know I haven’t tested that out yet.

Tags and Other “Things”

Things for Mac also includes the ability to set tags on your tasks, so if you want to include how long it will take to complete a task, you can do so! Then, you can use the Things Search feature to sort your tasks by how long it will take you to get the activity accomplished.

For the manager inside of you, you can delegate tasks to other people. Now that’s productivity! Include various people in your Things list and tell them what to do (or ask politely, it’s your call).

Dock badges help you see how many things you have left to complete, which can be a real motivator. I recommend keeping this feature on so that you can feel the rush of exhilaration when you get something done.

5 Stars out of 5 Stars

Things is great. I love Things! Truly, if you have a Mac, I recommend buying this application. For those of us who are more financially-minded, Things provides a great way of keeping track of bills, due dates, and everyday life.

You can buy a single license for $45.95 (at the time of this posting). I recommend you do so! You’ll become more productive by being able to focus on one “thing” at a time.

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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Tonight, Courtney and I will inevitably watch something on Netflix. We’ve had Netflix for quite some time now, and feel that it is a great alternative to the expensive rentals we might find at the video store.

If you like movies, Netflix might just be the ticket. For $8.99/month, you can get one DVD delivered to your mailbox at a time. But we find that Netflix’s real value is in the free streaming that is included. We don’t have a TV, so we just use our iMac as our television. This works great with Netflix’s instant viewing feature.

Maybe you’re not into streaming movies like we are . . . that’s okay! Netflix has some price plans that might suit your needs (although all of the plans below offer free streaming):

1. $8.99/month – 1 DVD out at a time.
2. $13.99/month – 2 DVD’s out at a time.
3. $16.99/month – 3 DVD’s out at a time.
4. $23.99/month – 4 DVD’s out at a time.

(See Netflix for additional plans if you need more than 4 movies at once; but really, do you need more than 4 movies at once?)

There is also a limited plan, but they do not offer free streaming:

1. $4.99/month – 1 DVD out at a time.

(See Netflix for a few more plans, but they do not offer the same value like you would get above)

We’ve found Netflix to be the perfect blend of DVD’s and streaming that we need. RedBox seems like a good idea, but it doesn’t offer us the variety that we like (documentaries are especially lacking).

DVD’s arrive quickly and on time. I highly recommend this wonderful service. If you want to save lots of money on entertainment, drop your cable and get Netflix! Remember, you can watch some full-length TV shows on Netflix. Just an idea. What are your movie watching habits?

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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For the past year, we’ve been using MoneyWell for Mac and love it. I thought it would be a good time to do a review, since we have found a lot of great features for those looking to make a simplified budget. One of the most difficult tasks when starting a budget is simply understanding how to get going. In this review, I’ll show you how to get your budget moving with a zero-based budgeting system using MoneyWell.

MoneyWell blends the benefits of the envelope budgeting system with great software.

There are so many financial applications on the market today that promise to make budgeting easier while providing comprehensive tools to get the job done. I have toyed with many of them, trying to find something that was suitable for our zero-based budgeting system.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the zero-based budgeting system, all it means is that your income minus your outgo equals zero. You are giving every dollar a purpose before the month begins. This is related to the idea that you should spend this month’s income next month. I use these principles within MoneyWell to balance my budget and ensure that I always have money in my checking account.

MoneyWell incorporates a virtual envelope budgeting system using “buckets.” At the beginning of the month, you can allocate your income from last month’s income bucket into your expenditure buckets for this month. “Smart buckets” also exist so you can see all your transactions, transfers, and so on.

Once a bucket is empty, you are no longer allowed to spend in that category – just like with actual envelopes! We keep most categories virtual, but a few discretionary categories we track using cash while inputing transactions into MoneyWell.

All of your accounts at a glance – including cash!

One of the strengths of MoneyWell is the ability to see all of your accounts in one clear user interface. The ability to have all of your money dealings in one window means a lot more than you may think. The simpler it is to see your financial standing, the more willing you will be to actually use the software. Other programs often have panels and add-ons that complicate transactions.

When I say you can have all of your accounts, I mean ALL of them. Checking, savings, credit cards (hopefully not), loan/line of credit (hopefully not), investments, and CASH! I especially like the fact that you can keep track of your cash. Cash tends to be spent quickly if it is not being tracked or budgeted.

Reconcile everything in a flash.

Another useful feature of MoneyWell is the ability to reconcile your transactions with your bank account. This can be done automatically through the use of MoneyWell’s extensive integration with banks, or manually if you desire. I find it pleasing to sync transactions manually, as it keeps me more fully aware of our financial situation.

Charts give MoneyWell a visual edge.

With MoneyWell, you can see how your income stacks up against your expenses. These charts help you understand short-term and long-term trends in your finances. It’s fun to see how your hard work is paying off. If you recognize that there is not much of a gap between your income and expenses, you can head over to your spending plan and make a few changes.

There’s still room for improvement, but MoneyWell gets an A+.

MoneyWell could improve by further simplifying the program, but I believe the new version (1.5) will be a home run. Customer support is amazing, and the forums on their site help beginners get started.

Overall, MoneyWell gets an A+. No Thirst Software is the producer of MoneyWell, and should be very proud of their creation. I know I’ll be a MoneyWell user for a long time, and recommend it to anyone looking to create a great budget.

John

John officially launched TheChristianDollar.com on January 1st, 2010 with the intention to provide an excellent financial resource for biblically-minded individuals and families. Influenced heavily by Dave Ramsey, John started researching how he might better handle his money and help others in the process. John enjoys reading, writing, playing with gadgets, and spending time with his wife Courtney.

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