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Staci

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Happy 2009! Have you made any New Year's resolutions? 

I'm not a particularly successful resolution-keeper. Last year, I vowed to eat healthier, and for six weeks it was nothing but oatmeal for breakfast, salads for lunch, and Lean Cuisine®  for dinner. By the time Valentine's Day rolled around, I felt so deprived that I consumed a two-pound box of See's Candies®  in one sitting.

All bets — and subsequently, all resolutions — were off.

Looking back on it, I know my resolution was too general — not to mention highly unrealistic! I'm guessing that many resolution-makers find themselves in similar situations.

Depending on what stage you are in your student life — soon-to-be-student, current student, recent graduate — here are a couple of specific, achievable New Year's resolutions you could adopt in 2009:

1. Apply for at least one scholarship. Remember, free money for college means less money you'll have to borrow, and plenty of scholarships are out there for those willing to do a little work. Find one that's right for you by checking with your high school guidance counselor, your college financial aid office, your employer (or your parents' employer), or a scholarship search.

2. Before you apply, read the fine print. Know exactly what you're getting into before you sign a credit card application or a student loan promissory note, because your signature indicates that you agree to the terms and conditions. Pay attention to interest rates, fees, grace periods, and repayment periods. If you don't understand anything, ask — before you sign.

3. Make an extra student loan payment. Student loans don't have prepayment penalties. At least once this year, scrounge up enough cash to throw an extra $50 at one of your student loans, preferably the one with the highest interest rate. Just be sure to communicate with your lender and let them know exactly which loan you want the extra payment applied to.

My one resolution for 2009? Not to eat an entire box of See's Candies in one sitting. Sounds pretty doable, right?

Kathy

To me, there's almost no bigger financial fear than the thought of bouncing a check or overdrawing an account. On top of potential embarrassment, there are also usually fees that go along with having insufficient funds. I normally try to keep plenty of money in my checking account to avoid any such concerns, but recently I've had more bills to pay than usual — I just finished grad school and began paying my student loans — so my checking account balance has gotten uncomfortably low. Adding to this stressful situation, my husband and I recently decided to move, which is an always unpleasant and expensive undertaking.

We spent a few weeks looking at apartments and finally found the one. It had the right mixture of price, amenities and location for our budget and lifestyle, so after speaking to the owner we were ready to submit an application.

As my fellow renters out there may be aware, most landlords require a security deposit to hold an apartment, and in our area that deposit was equal to an entire month's rent (that's a lot of money in Northern California!!) I had my checkbook with me and was halfway through writing out the check when the thought struck me: Do I have enough money in my checking account to clear this check?!

Just when I was about to panic, I remembered that I had signed up for Wells Fargo Mobile^SM Banking. so my balance and account activity are always at my fingertips. I pulled out my phone and texted "bal" (for balance) to "93557" (that's "WELLS" in mobile speak). Within 10 seconds — I kid you not — I had a text message response from Wells Fargo giving me my available balance.

Thankfully, I had plenty of money in my checking account to clear the check, so I let out a sigh of relief and finished filling it out.

I've played with the Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service a bunch since then, and I think it's actually pretty cool! There are a number of pieces of information you can get via text message, and there's a mobile browser option as well which lets you transfer money and find nearby Wells Fargo ATMs. I've used Mobile Banking everywhere I go — at the grocery store and even at the mall — to keep me on top of my money and under control.

BTW, I'm happy to report that we got the apartment thanks to the security deposit and my strong credit history...more on that topic later!

Mobile Banking works for me — does it fit into your lifestyle?

Barbara

I just got back from the airport. Unfortch, I was not returning from a fabulous trip to a tropical location . However I was buying a ticket to one...well, Florida's not quite the tropics, but I'm sure it will seem that way when leave the frozen tundra (a.k.a. South Dakota) to visit there in January.

I've decided to celebrate living a quarter century (a.k.a. my 25th birthday) surrounded by white sand while visiting a good friend in Daytona Beach . Luckily, certain airlines are offering great deals from Sioux Falls directly to the Orlando area, and my entire airfare is less than $300 — $282 to be exact.

However, while beginning to book my flight online, I found some interesting fine print on various fees. It turns out that by purchasing your flight online or over the phone you are charged a convenience fee for using that service — $11.50. That's a meal while I'm in Florida!

To be fair, this is a pretty common practice among online ticket purchases. Customers pay for the handiness of not having to leave their home to get their tickets. But for me, a trip to the airport is a mere five-minute jaunt from work. So I decided to go directly to the ticket office over my lunch hour and avoid a convenience fee. Subtract two quarters for the airport parking meter and I saved $11 on the trip! Woot!

On any purchase you make or agreement you enter into, it is very important to understand the fine print . It could end up saving you much more than $11.

Take student loans, for example: When you accept the loan, you get details on paying off their interest before it's added to the principal balance — also known as capitalization  — when you enter repayment. If you understand the impact of paying that accrued interest before capitalization, you could save hundreds of dollars over the life of your loan.

So read up!

Caroline

One of my great pet peeves in life is late fees. Whether they're at the video store, the library or on my credit card bill — it drives me crazy to have to pay extra just because I'm disorganized.

Recently my Gap  credit card bill arrived with a $20 late fee attached. Oops, I forgot to tell my husband that I applied for the card — he thought the first bill was junk mail and tossed it.

Fortunately, I was able to explain the circumstances to the nice people at the Gap, and they reversed the charge. But that only works once in a great while!

Then my stepdaughter found a $20 late fee on her credit card bill. Her bill comes to our house, and she ended up paying it a few days late. This was the first time she wasn't able to pay off her credit card without carrying a balance, so seeing the late fee in addition to the accrued interest is not something that she's likely to forget soon!

It seems like I'm always paying late fees on silly things like movies we rent or books I check out from the library. While these aren't much, they do add up over time. My new system to avoid these fees involves leaving myself a Post-It note  on our back door to remind me when things are due.

Hey, whatever works!

How do you stay organized to avoid late fees?