I signed up with ING about 4 years ago and have had a great experience with them. They have been a model business that has worked very hard to satisfy and meet the changing needs of their customers. These are just a few of the ways they have helped me.
1. They are nuts about safety.
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. Guess who came out the winner. Yep, ING was rated the safest bank from that study. It is really no surprise to me, just going through their login process you become well aware that it would be a tough feat to hack into someone’s account.
2. Consistently good interest rates.
You may occasionally be able to find a better interest rate online, but ING consistently has good rates. And the rates still clobber any brick-and-mortar bank.
3. Free Bill Pay.
Yes, you can get free bill pay from just about anywhere. But, I have used a few different bill-payment services and theirs has been the easiest and quickest to use.
4. No overdraft charges
This is an a brilliant service that they offer. Most banks charge you about $30-$40 overdraft fee if you bounce a check. With ING, you don’t have to worry about that. Rather than charging that overdraft fee, they basically lend you the money at a competitive interest rate until you bring the balance back to $0. So if you are short for a couple days, it might cost you pennies rather than $30-$40.
5. They send paper checks for you
If you need to send a paper check to someone, you just go to their site and fill the check out like you normally would. They will then mail it to whomever you would like. How easy is that?
6. CDs with no minimum.
Not only do they have very competitive rates on their CDs, but they also have no minimums. This makes it very convenient to do a CD ladder and open up multiple CDs with different maturities to take advantage of the rates available. Many banks only offer good rates to customers with $10,000 or more. Not ING.
7. They make budgeting easy.
ING has been my budgeting tool of choice for the last few years. I am not sure if they created it to be a great way to budget or if it was an accident, but either way it is great. You can read more about how I budget with ING if you want.
8. They now own Sharebuilder.
I opened a Sharebuilder account about 5 years ago and currently have most of my stocks with them. They only charge $4 to purchase stocks, which was the best deal going at the time (Now Zecco offers free trades). I was happy with Sharebuilder before, but now that ING bought them, they have made some nice improvements to it as well. Lowered some fees, simplified some processes, improved the user experience, etc.
9. Great customer service.
I have called them about 5 times over the last 4 years that I have banked there and I have not had a bad experience. They still do NOT outsource their calls, so every time I have been able to speak to someone who speaks my language 
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.10. Bonuses for friends.
One of the things that ING has become famous for has been their referral program. New users get $25 if they are referred to open an account, while the referrer gets $10. Not a bad deal. So of course I will send you a referral if you are interested. Just let me know.
What did I miss? Are there other features or other banks that you love?
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I know that the whole “Mac vs. PC” debate can get almost as heated as the Obama vs. Clinton race, but nonetheless I will share my story…
I have had PCs since the early 90s and really didn’t ever consider a Mac as an option. I had heard that they were good for video and graphic work, but other than that all I knew was that the vast majority of computers purchased were PCs.
I figured that is was safe to be on the side of the majority, I mean if (almost) everyone else uses PCs they must be fine. I defaulted to following the crowd. Without getting into all of the reasons why you need to tread cautiously when following the crowd, I will just say that some of the greatest things that have happened to me have been a result of NOT following the crowd. I have to admit that I think my decision to switch to a Mac can be added to the list.
My frustration with PCs
There have been 2 main sources for my frustrations with my PCs:
- Lack of stability - crashing at random and often inconvenient times
- Lack of simplicity - I often had to take 5 steps to accomplish something that should be able to be done in one or two steps
Lack of Stability
As the Apple commercial eloquently puts it, “it’s not PC’s fault.” I actually feel bad for the PC guys, because with the thousands of new pieces of software being created each day - how can they possibly keep up with it all to make sure that it “plays nice” with the rest of the computer? Apple on the other hand has worked hard to keep tabs on the software designed for it’s system. This has resulted in a fewer options, but a better assurance that it will function properly.
Lack of Simplicity
I wrote about my interest in minimalist living and my longing for a simplified life. I don’t know how to describe this other than by comparing the two against each other. In less than one week of Mac ownership I looked at three tasks that I do on a regular basis that require only a push of a button on my Mac. On my PC, these three tasks require many more steps and ultimately a lot more time to complete the task. Things like setting up a wireless network took me hours of frustration with my XP and Vista machines, but was done with no effort on my part when I got my Mac. There are so many processes that I had just adapted to on my PC that I didn’t realize how difficult they were until I saw how simple they could be on a Mac.
The Mac Mini purchase
I ended up purchasing a Mac Mini mostly because it was the cheapest option and I was still a little skeptical of whether it was worth the extra money. But the other reason was that I could still use my PC monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
Once it arrived, it was just like you would expect from Apple - simple. It came with the Mini itself, a remote control, a power cord, and a monitor adapter. I plugged my old monitor and keyboard in and powered her up. It walked me through a quick and easy set up process that lasted maybe 2 minutes and that was it.
If you have more questions about switching check out this page - it will likely have some answers for you.
The Cons of Macs
Just to be fair and give both sides of the coin, here are some of the downsides of switching to a Mac…
- Macs are more expensive for the same level of performace as a PC. Apple products are generally more expensive than their counterparts. The thing I noticed as I compared the specs of my Mac to comparable PCs is that Apple seems to include more bells and whistles than low end PC makers do. For instance I mentioned the remote control that came with the Mac I got and it also came with a built in wireless card and Bluetooth. All things that don’t come with many PCs in that price range and no you probably don’t have to have it, but it is just a nice touch.
- It is still going down in value: fast. If you think cars depreciate fast , computers can become near worthless (in resale value) in just a couple of years. Again just like cars the more it costs, the more expensive ones go down in value quicker. That said, I would liken Apple to Honda. They still depreciate but not quite as fast as a PC (Chevy) and there seems to be a decent enough demand for them in the secondary market (craigslist.org).
- You will not have as many software options as with a PC. This seems to be gradually changing as Apple gains market share, but still needs to be considered. Although, I should mention that you can now run Windows on your Mac.
Ok, let me have it - Tell me why I am wrong and why I just wasted my money on a half-eaten apple 
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I love simple.
I would love to eliminate about 50% of my remaining possessions. Most of it is junk sitting on a shelf that I tell myself I will use again that I probably will not. Truth be told, if someone stole it (this refers to about 50% of my stuff) I wouldn’t notice for a long time, if ever. So why do I have it?
In the midst of our over-abundance of everything, I am longing for simplicity. I love my coat that goes with dress pants as well as jeans. I love Gmail because it simplified my email management. I love ING because it made my banking easy.
I am a work in progress. I have areas of my life that I am proud of my successes in simplicity (simplifying my closet) and others that are still quite a mess. But, it is a fun journey that is worth traveling.
I always thought that freedom came as a result of many options. I am finding myself feeling more liberated as I ELIMINATE my options. I don’t really understand it yet, but I like it.
Here are my 3 rules as a beginner minimalist:
1. Evaluate your possessions that sit on shelves. Think about how often you will realistically need the item. Think about how much it will cost to replace it if needed. Throw/give the stuff away.
2. Find a place for everything. Keys, pots and pans, neck-ties, toothbrushes. It all needs a home.
3. Enjoy what you have. Get rid of the junk and really enjoy those few items that are worthy to remain in your possession.
Living the simple life
I don’t think I am alone in desiring less when our world is screaming, “more, more, more.” Lynnae wrote about why she likes the minimalist life, Leo wrote a book about it, and I seem to be hearing people talk about it a lot lately.
What about you? Is LESS the new MORE?
This post was featured in the Carnival of Personal finance.
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Good is the enemy of the best
Too many options causes a paralyzing effect. I recently read about a bicycle shop owner who carried about 35 different models. He decided to simplify things in his store by eliminating all of the “good” bikes and only selling the best in each “category.” He had found that most of his customers fell into 1 of 6 categories of buyers: e.g. high performance, high durability, budget bike, etc. He ended up only selling 6 different models, but each one was the best he could find for each type of customer. Once he made this change, his sales sky-rocketed.
There is a freedom that comes with having fewer options. The bicycle shop owner had figured out that some of his customers were experiencing a paralyzing effect from being overwhelmed with all of the options. By eliminating even a bunch of “good” options, he simplified his and the customers’ lives.
I have begun to apply this principle to my wardrobe and have been very pleased with the results so far. My initial fear was that if I got rid of some “good” clothes, that there would be a time when I needed them and I would be kicking myself, but I have not missed them at all. In addition, I love the simplicity and, of course, the extra closet and drawer space.
Organize and eliminate waste
Most of us have clothes for different occasions. Clothes to lounge around the house in, to be casual, to dress up, to dress up really nice, to run errands in, to work in, to exercise in, to play in the snow in, to do yardwork in, and the list can go on and on. I always had a tendency to think that for each occasion I needed multiple outfits, but many occasions happen so infrequently that I only need one (or two) outfits. Or even better would be if you can have one outfit that would cover multiple different occasions.
For example, I used to have about 8 pairs of “lounge around the house” pants, and I would get a chance to wear these types of pants maybe 3 times a week. There was absolutely no need to have that many pants; I just didn’t want to throw them away, because nothing was wrong with them. The truth was, that of those 8, I had my favorite pair that I would have liked to wear all of the time, but didn’t because I felt like I needed to wear the other 7 because they were in my drawer.
It is difficult to get rid of things away when there is nothing wrong with them, but it is necessary if you want to simplify and organize. So I picked out my 2 favorite pairs, gave 6 of the 8 to goodwill, and have not missed the 6 at all. I now get to wear my favorite pants most of the time, and if they are dirty, then I have my second pair. I also have a lot more drawer space and get to wear my favorite ones more often.
I had a similar issue with my work clothes. I had about 12-15 pants and about the same number of shirts. Most of which were mediocre. I hated having to pick which mediocre outfit I would want to wear for that day. So, I began getting rid of the bad, decent, and even good and now I am happy to report that I have 6 shirts and 6 pants that I feel great wearing everyday.
I can’t wear the same outfit every time I go to social events!
True. And I don’t suggest it; people will give you funny looks. Anyone can go buy a new outfit every weekend, but with a little creativity you can come up with many different outfits just with the clothes you have. This is why looking at your wardrobe as whole, rather than individual outfits is important. When buying clothes think about how many different ways you can wear them. If it is an item that will not work with anything else in your closet, then it isn’t going to help you simplify.
Don’t buy BECAUSE it is on Sale
There is a lot of money to be saved by shopping in the sale racks, but buying things just because they are on sale is a terrible idea. I used to find mediocre things on clearance and I would buy them because they were so cheap. The result was that I had a bunch of mediocre clothes that cost me (total) a lot of money. In hindsight, I would have been much better off buying something that looked great and paying full price. Now, I still scan the sale racks, but only buy if it is a “great’ piece of clothing that I know I will love wearing. I don’t waste my money on filling up my closet with “decent” clothes.
When you find something on the sale rack ask yourself:
- Will this item replace or fill a need that I have right now?
- Is it quality? Will it fall apart after I wash it?
- Do I want it because it is cheap, or because it looks great?
- Can I use it with various items in my wardrobe?
Your answers to these questions will give you a good indication of whether or not you should make the purchase.
Technorati Tags: simplify wardrobe, organize closet, save money, clothes
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