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Old 11-01-2009, 04:51 PM   #3 (permalink)
GreyWolf
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Location: Eastern Canada
Unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with American banking regulations or banks, so I can't help with your OP question. What follows is a bit of generic advice.

In Canada, a chartered bank, MUST, by law, offer an account which has no fee associated with holding the money. It may charge you a modest fee for withdrawals, but there may not be a fee for having the account, nor any minimum amount. They pay no interest. They do not advertise those accounts, and will only offer them to you if you specifically ask about them. There may be similar accounts with US banks, I honestly don't know.

As for your credit card debt... once you have found a bank you want to deal with, see if you can borrow the money from them to pay off the credit card. It will likely have a lower interest rate (but probably a higher monthly payment). If you have someone to co-sign the loan, you may get an even lower interest rate.

When I did financial counseling, I always gave a half-hour talk on the appropriate use of a credit card. They are deadly, and you should learn to use them only for emergencies. Among other things, if you are going to use them, you should only do so if you actually already have the money in your pocket at that time (if you want to buy a $50 shirt, you must have the $50 in your wallet when you buy the shirt with the credit card). Never spend the same money twice. The talk went into a lot more detail, but there was one thing I soon learned. People who were concerned about their credit card usage seldom got into nearly as much trouble as those who didn't worry about them. It sounds like you at least understand the risks.
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