Guest Post
By Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of credit card comparison website Card Hub

What’s up with this new monthly fee on my checking account statement? By now, your
response to this question has probably progressed from initial bewilderment to hopes for
a typo to anger and, possibly, even to acceptance. But should you be content paying $3-
$10 more per month for a service that once was free? And why exactly are we seeing so
many major banks add new fees to their checking and debit card offerings?

Let’s start with the why. On October 1, new rules from the Federal Reserve, which were
quite a long time in the making, took effect, capping the interchange (or swipe) fees
banks can charge merchants whenever debit cards are used as payment at their stores.
This alone might not seem like that big of a deal to you, but consider the fact that this
change – originally inspired by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act – will cost major banks an estimated $9.4 billion in
annual interchange fee revenue, and the new monthly charges make a lot more sense.

Still, understanding the rationale behind the new law won’t save you from these fees, so
we need to talk options. First off, if you do your banking at a small local institution, you
should be fine. The Durbin Amendment only applies to banks with at least $10 billion
in assets, so it’s only patrons of the major industry players that need to escape increased
costs.

Right off the bat, we can glean a couple of obvious alternatives to simply ponying up
the cash each month for those of you who are customers of big banks that have already
introduced fees or have heard rumblings about your bank joining the fee party. First, you could always take your account to a smaller bank. The immunity of these banks to the new fee cap means that not only will they likely offer lower fee structures for their checking accounts than their larger counterparts, but they will probably have more attractive debit card rewards as well. Secondly, many of the new fees can be escaped by meeting certain minimum balance requirements. So, if you have multiple checking accounts, now would be the time for consolidation.

The other major option at your disposal would be to retire your bank account in favor of a prepaid card. Now, this might seem a bit radical to many of you, especially since people tend to get stuck in their ways when it comes to banking, but you have to understand that prepaid cards are the fastest growing electronic form of payment over the past few years and are equipped to handle basically every checking account task…save, of course, for actual paper-check writing. Prepaid cards allow direct deposit, online bill pay, ATM withdrawals, account- to-account transfers of funds, etc.

The knock on prepaid cards is that they are difficult to compare, thanks to the different fees each issuer charges for the aforementioned uses. This is indeed true, but according to a Card Hub study, the Green Dot Prepaid Card can fill the void left by a discontinued checking account and can do so for free. As long as you load at least $1,000 each month and use one of Green Dot’s 18,000 in-network ATMs for withdrawals, you will not incur monthly charges when using this card. And given that it has a maximum balance of $10,000, you should find that this card meets your checking account needs without a problem.

After all, who writes paper checks these days anyway? It’s a digital world that we live in, and luckily, it’s also a world where you don’t have to pay monthly fees for your checking account if you don’t want to.

Not a sponsored post. Sorry, I had to say it. I met with the Disney Baby team at BlogHer 2011 in San Diego and got to see this product line in person. I was honestly so impressed with the extremely high cute factor of the body suits that I have to share with you.

Seriously.

Another super awesome thing about these body suits – they are expandable. Some babies are just longer and skinny. If you buy a body suit the next size up, it is really baggy. With these body suits you can adjust the length by choosing which row of snaps to use.

New styles of the DISNEY CUDDLY BODYSUIT™ are available now at Target, Amazon.com and Babies “R” Us stores. For additional information, visit: www.babiesrus.com, www.amazon.com/disneybaby and www.target.com. Disney Baby plans to introduce new products and collections later this year.

But beyond the ease of use, these are just super cute!

And since pictures speak louder than words, here are the clothes. They are like a 12 on the cute scale of 1-10!

Which one is your favorite? I love the Monster’s Inc one!

And if you or someone you know is expecting or just had a baby, the Disney Baby site is a fun place to spend some time.  You can upload and share your own magical moments with other parents. You can browse their brand new site additions t0o – from nursery ideas to bath time products – this site captures the magic a new baby brings to your life!

Disney Baby celebrates the fact that life with baby is filled with so many magical moments to be cherished. In order to help parents to bond with their baby, the new Disney Baby collections are designed to provide quality products essential to every experience throughout the day with a touch of Disney magic.
~ Jessi Dunne, executive vice president, Disney Moms and Babies for Disney Consumer Products.

Those words still haunt me. I was 17 years old and a senior in high school.  I put on skis for the first time in my life. It was not pretty.

But I was not prepared for how clumsy I’d instantly become. As soon as I pushed off the ski lift, I regretted my decision. I breathed a heavy sigh of determination and headed down the hill. Food, fire and warmth awaited me and I was going to get there.

Push. Stop. Goooooooooo. Stop. Woooahh!! Stop. Push. Stop.

I was going so slow, then too fast, then I fell. I dreamed of pretending my leg was broken so a patrol could drive me down the hill in their snowmobile.

I cursed a little under my breath as I strained to pull myself up. I had a friend coaching me this entire time. “Annie, you are doing great! I was the same way my first time!” I wanted to hurl snow in her face.

Then, those words.

A dad flew by with his 5 year old daughter. As she zoomed past me on her own set of skis, he said that phrase. That awful phrase. To his baby girl. “Look honey! You are doing better than she is!”

I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, mad, or hate myself for my clumsiness. I forgot everything I learned in our little ski school that morning and just tried to get down the dang hill.

I am so glad I gave it a chance. That father might have been trying to help give his baby girl confidence, but it shook me. It also told me the importance of getting my children to try new things when they are young. At places like Mammoth Mountain in California you can enroll your kids in classes and they even have intertubes for going down the hills! I’d choose the tubing.  Totally.

Mammoth Mountain is where I want to take my kids really soon. This resort has every kind of amenity and class you can think of.  They have childcare for babies, classes for young children (and adults like me that don’t know a thing about skiing).  Or – what I really want – is to leave the kids with grandma and enjoy one of their romance packages! No matter what, my experience at Mammoth Mountain simply has to be better than my flop in Colorado.

Do you take your children to experience new things young? Have you had a similar experience to mine?

Time for the 2nd round of Vlog Moms! Vlog Moms is a group of bloggers that is practicing our vlogging and having fun with it. Each week someone picks a topic and we all create a vlog about it.  There is a linky under this post where you can visit the other Vlog Moms!

This week I picked the topic – jobs in high school and college! So, what were YOUR jobs?

While in college I was:

*Ticket taker at football games          *Sears Portrait Studio Photographer

*Sunglass Hut Associate                     *Newspaper reporter

*Insurance secretary                           *Real Estate office secretary

*Radio DJ                                           *Babysitter!

Phew! And I know I am forgetting at least one of them.

My challenge: To make a weeknight meal special. The rules: I only have one hour to prepare. I accepted this challenge because honestly, that is longer than I usually spend in the kitchen anyways!

Most weeknights Josh works late, getting home around 8 or 9pm.  So it is just me and my 4yo, 2.5 year old and 13 month old. I always try to make dinner special, but they don’t eat very much and I tend to lose my inspiration on really hectic days.

Not this time.

We purchased the Tuscan Beef and Vegetable soup from Bertolli in the freezer section. Only takes 10 minutes to make a full and healthy meal! Now, how will I make this special?

Be still my heart!

My favorite little man bought me a dozen yellow roses!  Nothing makes a meal more special than flower picked out just for you as the centerpiece!  I took David to the florist section of the store and let him pick out anything he wanted for me.  After I nixed the Spiderman balloon request, (I am so cruel) his eyes lit up when he saw the “ye-woh” flowers.  I will cherish this photo forever!

Then I just opened the bag and cooked the soup on the stove. It was amazingly delicious! Just look at the chunks of veggies!  I read the back of the bag and was impressed with the ingredients. Real food! No crazy preservatives or food colorings. Just tender beef, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots and celery with bowtie pasta in a savory broth. It was scrumptious and filling.

Then afterwards we celebrated with ice cream! I never buy ice cream anymore, so this treat really made the dinner special for us.

I should really do this more often.  One bag is about $7.  Two bags fed my entire family – including Josh and I – with a few leftovers. $14 is not a bad price to pay for a healthy dinner.

There is a wonderful discussion going on over on the Bertolli Facebook page and some funny ideas are popping up on the Bertolli Twitter stream.  Check out the Bertolli site for store locators and delicious meal ideas!

How do you make dinner special? Do you let someone help you cook? Do you buy yourself flowers?

I participated in a compensated campaign with Bertolli and Gigcoin. All opinions are 100% my own.

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I have a super quick, one week-long giveaway to share with you! Enter here! Just like a few new Facebook or twitter pages and you are entered to win $150 cash!

So easy!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Not another social media channel! That is what I hear whenever I bring up Google +.  Most people ask me, “why do we need another one? Isn’t Facebook and Twitter enough?” (add onto that Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn and you have one full plate!)

Google + is very easy to learn how to use. Once you understand how circles work, you can begin using it with ease. It is really just about sharing information with the exact group of people you want.

Why you need to learn how to use Google +

Because Google rules the stinking world.  Ok, seriously – because Google tied G+ into searches. So now when you promote your stuff on Google + it will come up higher in search results. Plus, Google owns it and they are promoting it fiercely on new Android based phones.  You need to learn Google + because it will grow and learning now puts you ahead of the social media game and even more marketable to brands and companies.

I created a video tutorial that walks you through a bunch of aspects of Google +. For those of you that cannot watch the video, I am typing all the info here too.  But if you have never explored G+ before and are overwhelmed by it, find time to watch my video. It is 8 minutes long and takes you through almost all of the ins and outs of it.

To create a custom URL:
Go to Gplus.To and follow the directions.
Every Google + account has a custom string of 12 numbers. G+ itself does not allow for personalizing the URL, so you have to use a URL shortener like Gplus.to or bit.ly.  This is actually a smart move for Google.  For example, if you create a G+ page for MamaDweeb and someday change the name to DweebBloggers you can easily change the name of that page in Google + and go to Gplus.to to change the URL – all without losing a single follower.

Is there a way to get your posts automatically posted to Google+?

No. This is the biggest downfall of Google +. Everything must happen manually.

I joined and now I keep getting notified of foreign men following me. What do I do?

Don’t freak out, this is a good thing.  Whenever someone adds you to their circles, whatever you post to “the public” goes into every single person’s stream if they put you in a circle.  Bloggers, if you are promoting a blog post or product, then being in more circles is a very good thing.

How can I turn off posts from hyper posters?

Create a circle called, “hyper posters.” Then, on the right hand side, view only all your other circles and exclude the hyper posters. Or, even easier, don’t circle them at all. It is totally ok for you not to circle someone. Just because you are in someone’s circle does not mean you have to put them in yours.

Google Hangouts

These are so much fun! You can video chat with a bunch of your friends at the same time. This is also wonderful for holding virtual meetings if you cannot meet in person.  There are options in the top of the screen – you can mute your mic and/or disable your webcam and use the chat feature only if you need.  This can work as a free online conference call, it can bring families and friends together face-to-face and so much more. Get some friends together and try it out. 

Tip: When you begin the hangout, choose which circle you are allowing to see you hanging out. If you choose “public,” then anyone, anywhere, can see your video.

How do I keep up with people that add me to their circles?

As people add you to their circles, you will receive email notifications. I simply delete them without opening them. Check this out:

In your Google + nav bar, click the red number. Then, click “Added you to their circles.” That is when the screenshot above appears. You can view every single person that added you to their circles, click/view their profiles and hover over their name to add them to your circles. Easy!

Do people actually gain followers and active users via G+, or is it another place that people ignore you?

Every social network has a different audience. I will tackle more of this question in a future post where I compare/contrast the benefits of each social network. Suffice it to say that if your goal is to increase your reach and influence and become more marketable to brands, then learning how to use Google + is a valuable asset. You can most certainly reach an entirely new audience with G+, introduce them to your blog and increase readership. Totally possible. But with every network, it takes time. If you don’t spend time on the site, your return will be lower. And we only have so much time in a day.

How do I engage with others so I promote my posts?

Start to chat about your involvement on G+ with your current Facebook and/or twitter followers. Write a post about it. Spread the word that you are on G+ so people add you to their circles. Then, use it! Go on G+ and peruse your stream. Circle people so your stream is more diverse.

Remember: A branded page cannot circle people unless they circle your brand first. So create a personal G+ account and use that to encourage people to circle your brand’s page.

Then interact. Comment on people’s posts. Post funny photos that people share. Then, begin to promote your posts. Maybe post one of your funniest posts or one that is attracting a lot of discussion in the comments. Talk about that feature in your G+ post.

It is a very fun social network that is going to attract a lot more followers very quickly. While it is not 100% necessary to use it today, eventually, like twitter, it will be a valuable tool used widely around the world.

Happy Friday everyone! It is Low Entries Linky Time!

The last Friday in January! Time is ffllyyyingg right by! Zoom!!

Do you have a giveaway with low entries? Link it up here! I am bringing you a linky full of giveaways with less than 200 entries!

And for my loyal readers, I hope giveaways in this list bring you tons of wins! Don’t forget to enter my current giveaways too – I have 2 up right now!

Featured Low Entries Giveaways:

Mandi Minding Money ~ $25 Snapfish Gift Certificate ~ Ends Feb 1st

Angela England ~ Mom Incorporated ~ Expires Jan 30th

Link up and ReTweet to spread the word! The more you RT the more the news will spread about your giveaway, I’ll be tweeting out specific giveaways today and through the weekend, so good luck!

What Qualifies as “Low Entries”?

The only requirement is less than 200 entries at the time of your posting here. That’s it!

FORMAT:

Blog Name – Giveaway item – Expiration Date – USA/Canada

Mama Dweeb -Merry Maids GC – 12/31 – USA Only
Please put CAN if it is open to Canada. I have loyal readers that live in Canada and if the giveaway qualifies them to enter they sure will!

LINK UP!

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