Are These Common Banking Habits Draining Your Wallet?

Ralph00:00:00

Are you feeling like your wallet is always empty no matter how hard you work? You might be surprised to learn it's not just your spending habits, but your banking habits that can be draining your finances. So today, we're going to explore some common banking habits that are silently taking a toll on your wallet. And here's my promise for you. By the end of this episode, you'll have practical steps to overcome these habits and align with the principles of Christian finance. So, are you ready to take control of your finances and finally experience the freedom you've been longing for? Well, if the answer is yes, let's get started.

Podcast Announcer00:00:33

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side. Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth to break the bondage of financial despair. Get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph00:01:13

Welcome everyone. I'm Ralph, your Financial Evangelist, and I am absolutely thrilled you've chosen to spend some valuable time with me today. Here's my promise for you. Over the next few minutes, we are going to be packed with insights and actionable steps that will make a real impact on your financial life.So let's get started today. We're going to be tackling a topic that affects so many of us and that's common banking habits that are silently draining our wallets. Whether it's overdraft fees, ATM charges, or simply neglecting the budget, these habits can silently eat away at our finances. It leaves us feeling stressed and overwhelmed.But here's the truth. There is hope. And if we can identify and address these habits, we can start to build a stronger financial foundation and I can help you align your spending with Christian principles. So stay with me. And by the end of this episode, this is my promise. You'll have the tools you need to take control and finally experience the joy of financial freedom. Well, before we begin today, let's quickly recap yesterday's show. Yesterday, we discussed the four square method that car dealers use to outfox you. It was a great episode. And if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to check it out at askralph.com because the big takeaway from yesterday was understanding how dealers manipulate the numbers to their advantage and how you can negotiate more effectively to get a good deal on your car. So if you missed that, again, check it out at askralph.com. Well, let's transition to today's topic. Common banking habits that are draining your wallet. I received this question from a listener named George, and this is what George wrote. He said, "Dear Ralph, I feel like I'm always struggling with my finances. Every month, it seems like there's never enough money left over. I work hard, but I can't seem to get ahead. I'm really starting to think that maybe it's not just my spending habits but something else. I'm constantly facing overdraft fees, bouncing checks, and even threats to have my account closed.It'sarrassing and I feel ashamed. I want to break free from this cycle and find financial peace of mind. Can you help me identify what's going wrong and how I can fix it?" Well, first of all, George, thank you for reaching out, man. I generally appreciate your vulnerability you're showing and the trust in sharing your struggles with me.And listen, it's not easy to admit when we're having financial difficulties, but acknowledging the problem is truly the first step to finding a solution. And I want you to know you're not alone in this. Many people face similar challenges and it's often the little things, it's those little things that add up and drain our wallets. I've seen this firsthand in my many years of practice as an accountant and I'm here to help you navigate through it, George. I've worked with countless clients who felt just like you, George. They were feeling overwhelmed. They were feeling stressed and they were just embarrassed and ashamed of their financials.They worked hard, but just couldn't seem to make ends meet. But the truth is, if we can identify and address these common banking habits, we're going to be able to turn your financial situations around. So today, we're going to do the same thing for you, George. And remember this, there is hope and there are concrete action steps, which I'm going to share today, which will help you start seeing immediate improvements.Now remember, if you've got a question you'd like me to answer on the show, you can submit it at justaskralph.com because here's the truth. I love answering your questions and it's a central part of what we do here. My goal is to provide you with answers and to provide you with guidance that you need to achieve financial freedom.So as we discuss these common banking habits, George, let's start with a relevant Bible verse. I found this one in the book of Luke chapter 16 verses 10 to 12, and it says this, and I've used this many times on this show, but it's so appropriate here. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.So if you've been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you've not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" What a great verse. And see, this verse reminds us of the importance of being faithful stewards of the resources God has given us, and even in the smallest of things.So let me just say this. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with you, George and everyone else listening. The Lord has given me this ability to help people overcome their financial challenges. Not from a secular place, not from a let's see what we can get place, but from a place of faith.And I am so thankful for the wisdom found in the Bible. That's why I love that verse and how it guides us in truly managing our finances responsibly. So as we explore these common banking habits today, I am confident, I'm confident that the Lord is going to provide insights and action steps that you need to experience true financial freedom.So let me start with a personal story. Now, many years ago I had a client named Jeffrey. Jeffrey was a hardworking guy, probably just like you, George, but he always seemed to be struggling financially. He had a good job, but every month, just like you, George, he found himself short on money. Well, one day Jeffrey reached out to me.He came to me frustrated. He was overwhelmed. He sat down in my office and we started to review his stuff and he simply couldn't understand why he was in this situation. We sat down. I looked at his finances and as I'm looking at this, I'm noticing a pattern here. They were seemingly insignificant banking habits, but I saw where they were draining his wallet.See, the problem with Jeffrey, he was frequently overdrafting his account. He was always paying ATM fees. And I could tell overall, he completely neglected to do any budgeting. And these habits combined with a complete lack of planning we're slowly eating away at his finances. And I remember as we talked, I remember the look of realization on Jeffrey's face as we discussed these habits. To be honest with you, it sort of felt like I was attacking him.I said, listen, Jeffrey. I'm your advocate. I'm here to help you. But the truth is he had never considered how these small things were. And they were little things, $10 here, $3 there, $5 there. They were adding up to a huge financial burden. So the first thing we did was we said, let's create a plan to address these habits.That'st I do when I work with clients. I set up a plan to help them address these issues. And then the next piece was how can we implement some better financial practices? Now I'm happy to tell you, and today I'm going to share how we did it. Within just a few months, Jeffrey started to see some noticeable improvements in his financial situation.He was no longer living paycheck to paycheck, and he was able to start saving for the future. Now, Jeffrey's situation was a wake up call. It's a wake up call that I've worked with many clients in. In Jeffrey's case, he realized that, and listen to this, his overdraft fees, just overdrafts alone, were averaging $60 a month.Well, think about that in a year, that's $720. That's a significant amount of money that could have been saved or used for something more productive, maybe for an emergency fund. In addition to that, Jeffrey was frequently using those out of network ATMs and that was costing him around $50 bucks a month.Hey, guess what? That's another $600 a year. So think about it. Those fees combined with impulse purchasing and neglecting to tracking his expenses, they were seriously impacting his financial wealth. That's why he felt like he fell, probably a lot like you, George. He felt like he was just going three steps forward and four steps back, but we were able to identify these habits.And once we identified them, Jeffrey was able to take control of his finances. Now he started using his own bank's ATM locator to avoid those out of network fees. Like I don't ever go to the Mac machine or the ATM machine. I'm dating myself there. We used to call it the Mac, but he just stopped using those.And he set up account alerts to monitor his spending. So when he spent money through his account, he will get an alert. One of the big things we did with Jeffrey is we started using a budgeting app to track his expenses. The big thing we were trying to do there is we were trying to make sure that Jeffrey was living within his means, because that's one of the big pieces to the puzzle.And in the end, and this is my big takeaway, and this is why I shared this story today. Jeffrey's story is a powerful reminder of how small, just small things, seemingly insignificant habits can have a major significant impact on your finances. But here's the good news. By identifying and addressing these habits, we can take control and experience financial freedom.So George, let's talk about some common banking habits that might be draining your wallet. And at the same time, let's talk about some practical steps to overcome them. Habit number one is overdraft fees. Like I said with Jeffrey, he was doing about 60 bucks a month. Overdraft fees basically, when you spend more money than you have in your checking account. The bank is going to charge you a fee and listen, these fees can be surprisingly high.Listen, the average overdraft fee, and I checked, I did research for the show is $30 per transaction. Imagine the impact of just two of those a month. Like I said, that's $700 a year. Now you might be asking Ralph, okay, I get it. We shouldn't do that. But why is that a problem from a Christian perspective? You know, I always want to bring the Christian perspective to the show.And here's why that is because this I'm thinking needs to motivate you. Overdraft fees can be seen as a form of imprudent spending. It goes against the biblical principle of wise stewardship, just like we talked about today in our verse of Luke chapter 16 verse 10, we talked about who can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much, but if you're dishonest with little, so these little seemingly small things add up over time and see, overdrafting can be a sign of not planning ahead and not being mindful of your spending. It's really that simple. If you are not planning your spending, if you're not mindful of your spending, if you're not tracking your spending, well, sure. You're going to overdraft your account.It'stty simple. All right. So you might be saying, Ralph. Great. What can you do? First thing I'm going to encourage you to do is track your spending. Keep a close eye on your account balance and your transactions. Set up those alerts so you're not getting yourself in trouble. There are online banking tools, there are budgeting apps to help you monitor your spending in real time.Listen. This isn't the time to do it after the fact, you've got to have something that's monitoring this in real time. You should know what your account balance is. You should know what is planning to come out. If you've got checks out there written, or if you've got items that are outstanding that you're waiting to clear.So that's why I wanted to encourage you, set up account alerts. Many banks offer these alerts to notify you when your balance is low, or maybe you set it up when a transaction is about to overdraw your account. One of the other things I'm going to highly recommend you do is consider overdraft protection.A lot of banks have ways to link your checking account to your savings account, or even a credit card account to cover those potential overdrafts so you don't get hit with those overdraft fees. Like I said, two a month could be $700 plus a year. One of the other things I'm going to encourage you to do here is pray for wisdom. I'm going to always encourage that. Seek God's guidance in managing your finances and making sound financial decisions. Like it says in the book of Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 to 6, it encourages us, trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your path straight. So that's number one. That is those overdraft fees. Habit number two and George, I don't know if this affects you, but it was sure affected Jeffrey and that's ATM fees. It's so easy to fall into the trap of those out of network fees. It's just convenient.The truth is though, these ATMs often charge hefty fees. Yeah. It's convenient. It's where you are. You're not driving to your bank. You're not going to a one in the network, but here's something that I read. And I found out when I was preparing for the show. The average out of network ATM fee charged by the bank is a dollar and 58 cents.Now you might be saying, Okay. Big deal, Ralph. But think about this for a second. If you're taking $20 out of the ATM machine and you're paying $1.58 in fee, you're paying nearly 5 percent for getting your money out of this. And the average surcharge from the ATM owner is $3.19. So if you use an out of network ATM twice a month, you're going to be spending over $100 a year just on ATM fees.Now you might be saying, Ralph, okay, great. Why is that a problem for a Christian? Well, here's the truth. ATMs provide a valuable service, but consistently paying unnecessary fees can be seen as a form of wastefulness. As Christians, we're called to be wise stewards and avoid unnecessary expenses. So you might be saying, great Ralph, what do I do?The biggest thing you can do, the best thing you can do is plan ahead. You can withdraw cash from your bank's ATM or at an in network ATM before you need it. You don't have to wait till the last minute and try to figure out what am I going to do now? Another thing you can do, and Jeffrey started doing this, is most banks have an ATM locator.They have an online or a mobile app that will help you find in network ATMs. A lot of times you will find no fee ATMs. Now just be careful with those because sometimes the ATM doesn't charge, but your bank charges it because it's still out of network. Another thing you can do is get cash back at stores.Many retailers offer cash back when you make a purchase with your debit card, and I'm not a big fan of debit cards, but if you do that, that would be a way to get cash back and then choose a bank with ATM fee reimbursements. I see a lot of banks. I see a lot of credit unions now that are offering these reimbursements for ATM fees charged by other banks because they're trying to get your business.So that's number two, ATM fees. Let's move on to habit number three, and that's not taking advantage of discounts and offers. Now, this isn't specifically for banking, but sometimes bank offer some great incentives, discounts, coupons, and special offers. They're all over the place and many people just fail to utilize them effectively. I don't know how many times a day I get an email with this. It says, Oh, you got this special offer and I gotta be careful. You're not spending money frivolously, but if you're going to spend the money anywhere, this is a great thing to do. But see, many people just fail to utilize them. They fail to use coupons.I don't know, when I was a kid growing up, I remember my mom used to sit on Sundays and in our local town here, the Sunday paper would be filled with coupons. There was two or three packs of coupons. And I remember my mother sitting there on Sunday mornings and she'd get the scissors out and she was going through that coupon page and, Oh, there's a coupon for this and there's a coupon for that. And then she had like a little coupon organizer. You know, I just don't see those anymore. But the cool thing about today's economy is a lot of those coupons or those coupon codes are available online. You've just got to take a few minutes to look for them. Now you might be saying, okay, Ralph, that's great.But why is this a problem from a Christian perspective? Well, here's the deal. Failing to take advantage of opportunities can be seen as a lack of diligence and a lack of planning. Remember what the book of Proverbs chapter 13 verse 16 reminds us, "Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly."So let me just say this, this is kind of brash, but don't be a fool. So answering this question, what can you do, Ralph? Well, here's the first thing you can do. Be intentional in your spending. Actively look for discounts, actively look for coupons before making purchases. I do this all the time online. If I'm going to buy something, I'll just type in the name of the retailer and say, Hey, are there any coupon codes out there?Many times I will find a 10%, 15%, maybe a free shipping code or something to save me a few bucks on the transactions. Another thing you can do is use what they call coupon aggregators or maybe loyalty programs. Look at those online apps. Look at those places that offer those discounts and those coupons. Now, one of the big things I'm going to encourage you to do, and this is all part of that intentional spending is plan your shopping trips, combine the coupons with store circuits, just like my mom used to do to maximize your savings.Another thing People don't do a lot of, and it's in this Amazon culture we're in. Shop around. Compare prices. A lot of times people would just say, well, I got to go buy something. Let me go into Amazon and just get it. But don't settle on the first price you see. Many times you can get a better deal somewhere else. Now you might not but let it's worth a couple seconds.It'sth a couple minutes to try it. So take time to compare prices from different retailers. Now while taking advantage of discounts can save you money, you got to make sure this fits into your broader plan for managing your finances. I'm going to tell you a funny story about that. I remember when I was in college, I was dating and I was with this particular girl and I was still living in home with my dad and my mom.And it was actually my stepmother at the time. I should be more clear about that. And she was working. My dad was working. Well, we were there after school and my stepmother says to me one time, she says, Hey, Would you and your girlfriend be willing to go and do the grocery shopping for me? I'm like, well, sure.Why not? She goes, but here's a great deal I got for you. She said, if you go and clip coupons and use the cash backs and buy one, get one free, when you give me the receipt, whatever you save, I'll give it to you. Of course, my mind starts going, I'm thinking, well, that could be a real big opportunity. So at first I'm thinking, well, okay, great.We'll if we can find some coupons. We'll see if we can find some discounts. But then I started to think, well, you know what I could do, and I hate to admit this, but it's the truth. I could buy stuff we really don't need because then I would get the coupon for it. I would get to buy one, get one free.So I remember after a couple of weeks, my stepmother comes to me and she says, Ralph, she says, I really appreciate the fact that you're doing the grocery shopping. She says, but I'm noticing in the pantry, there's a lot of stuff that we never use. Well, she figured it out. So when you're going to use coupons, when you're going to use discounts, make sure it's part of the broader plan and make sure there's actually things you need to buy, because the coupons aren't a ticket to buy something you don't really need.So I thought I'd share that story because I thought it was kind of funny. Well, let's move on to habit number four, George. And that is the big thing we just talked about, and that's neglecting the budget and track your expenses, because here's a simple truth. And you know I talk about this on the show all the time.If you don't have a budget, it is so easy to lose track of your spending and to completely overspend in certain areas because you're not tracking it. And that alone can lead to financial instability and it can hinder your ability to save and to give. And that's what I always encourage you to do. Here's some truth that I don't know if you know this or not.Did you know the average American spends on average, and this is on average, $151 a month on impulse buys. Yeah, you heard me right. $151 per month on simply things they buy on impulse. Hey, the retailers know this. That's why at the checkout, they've got bunch of these things and I'm even seeing it online now. How many times do you shop on Amazon and when you're getting ready to check out they'll say hey, have you considered this?Hey, this is still in your cart. Hey, you looked at this yesterday, but at $151 a month that's $1,800 a year that the average American is spending on impulse buying. Just think for a minute. Imagine what you could do with that extra money if you had a budget to guide your spending. All right, so let's get to why that's a problem as a Christian.Well, budgeting is a crucial aspect of responsible stewardship. Look at the book of Proverbs chapter 27 verses 23 and it avoids us, it advises us to do this. "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks. Give careful attention to your herds for riches do not endure forever and a crown is not secure for all generations."Now that's a very bold statement, but it is so true because a budget helps us understand our financial condition. It helps us understand where our spending is going and bigger than that, it helps us make informed decisions. So you might be saying, okay, Ralph, that's great, but what can you do? First thing I'm going to encourage you to do, and you know what's coming.Create a budget, create that intentional spending plan. Maybe use a budgeting method that works for you. I've talked about the 50/30/20 rule. I've talked about the envelope system, or maybe like I did with Jeffrey. Use a budgeting app, just start doing something and then track your income and expenses.Monitor your cashflow. Ensure that you're spending less than you earn. Listen, that's a real simple process. If you don't want to overspend, if you don't want to have overdraft fees, then you've got to learn to live within your means and ensure that you're spending less than you earn. This isn't rocket science.It'stty straightforward as part of that budget. It's important that you set financial goals because listen, if you've got clear financial goals, maybe you're saving for a down payment or maybe you're saving for a house or paying off debt. This can provide you motivation and direction in your budget.So as you're making those impulse buys, you might say, wait a minute, if I do this, then I'm not going to be able to meet my savings goal. I'm not going to be able to do that down payment, or I'm not going to be able to pay down that debt. And we've talked about debt on the show a lot, but if you have that budget, if you have that intentional spending plan that can be motivational and directional.Another thing I'm going to encourage you to do is seek accountability. Share your budget with a trusted friend, or maybe a financial advisor to help you stay on track. You're welcome to share that with me. You're welcome to book a call with me. You can do that right at askralph.com. So let's move on to habit number five, and this is one that affects so many people, it affects me too.Listen, and that's ignoring the small expenses. It's called sweating that's small stuff as my grandfather used to say. And I'm not picking on anybody, but those daily lattes, those impulse purchase, that $151 a month the average person is spending. And don't even let me start it on subscription services that you barely use.These might seem insignificant individually, and they are there. $2 here, $5 there, $7 there, but they add up to be a substantial amount of money over the time. See, I got this one client. He neglected to monitor his business bank account and he ended up bouncing a check for a critical purchase due to insufficient funds.And when I talked to him, it was just little odds and ends. It was this and that, and this oversight put his company in a difficult situation. So even small expenses, and hear me on this, even small expenses when they're overlooked can have a significant impact. So let's talk about why that's a problem from a Christian perspective.Here's deal. Small expenses when they go unchecked can lead to wastefulness and we're encourage not to be wasteful and they can hinder our ability to be generous with our resources. Listen, if we're spending every nickel, diamond, penny that we have on little frivolous things, when it comes time to be generous, when it comes time to give, we're going to struggle with that.So remember what Proverbs 13:11 says, "Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow." And that's the key. Dishonest money dwindles away. And I'm not saying you're being dishonest, but those little odds and ends, they add up. But whoever gathers money and it's think about what the scripture is saying here.If you gather it little by little, you can make it grow. Well, at the same time, the other truth is point, if you spend it little by little, it's going to go away. And here's another thing I think we really have to talk about here. We got to understand that contentment with what we have can help us avoid these unnecessary spending and overdraft fees.I had a couple in last night and we were talking about this. We talked about how those impulse purchases, how those little odds and ends, yeah, they give you that quick dopamine high. You might feel good for a couple of minutes, but an hour later you're like, why did I spend that money? So, right, here's what you can do. If you really want to break this habit,first thing you got to do is track all your expenses. Be mindful of even those small purchases and put them into your budget. Don't have a budget item like miscellaneous or, Oh, these are the little things. No, you got to be mindful of it and include them in your budget. If you're going to get a latte, or if you're going to go pick up a coffee every day, then budget that. I have no issue with that.It'sr money to spend as you wish, but put it into the budget and measure it. And then the next thing I'm going to tell you to do is identify and eliminate these unnecessary expenses. One of the things that you can do is review your bank statement and your credit card statements and pinpoint where you can cut back. Make sure you're looking at it.I don't know how many people right now don't even bother to look at their bank statements. They just go onto their app and, Oh, I got this much in my account. I'm doing great. That's not a good plan. Look at your credit card statement. Look at where your money is going. I know when I went and did that not too long ago, I realized I was paying for subscriptions that I haven't used in months.What a waste of money. And see, here's the deal. These places love it. If you don't use their service, great. You're still getting paid. As part of this, one of the great things you can do, and I talk about this on the show all the time. Practice delayed gratification. You know, resist that urge to make those impulse purchases.When you're going through the checkout aisle, have those blinders on and don't look to the sides because there's all kinds of stuff that they put on there for an impulse. Oh, I need this car charger. I need a pack of gum. I need this candy bar. I need all those things. Not good for your waist either. In general, a lot of my clients and Craig that I do my weekly live show with on Tuesdays at 1 PM, he waits 24 hours before buying anything non essential. Now listen, if you need water, if you need food, if you need clothing and shelter, those are essential, but for non essential items, set up that delayed gratification. You know, make it 24 hours, make it 36 hours, make it 48 hours. We talked the other day about maybe you put it on an online cart and you say, look, I'll come back to this tomorrow.And then your mind, your emotions will have come down some. Now, the big part of this, and this is tough. We live in this generation of gratification, but we need to learn to find contentment in what we already have. We got to focus on this. So I always start the show with gratefulness, focus on gratitude for the things we already possess rather than constantly seeking new things. Man, you are constantly going to be chasing after what is new. Oh, this one got this. And the highlight reel from Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. Oh, I got to go get this. Just stop, have some gratitude for the things you already got and realize that new stuff is not going to fill your tank. So let's look at our last habit and that's habit number six on my list here.And that is complacency and sloppy banking practices. And trust me, in today's digital age, I see this with individuals. I see this with business people I work with. It's become so easy to be complacent with our banking habits. We don't look at our accounts, we don't regulatory monitor accounts, and that leaves us vulnerable.It exposes us to errors. It is supposed to not let me mention fraud and missed opportunities to save. If you're not looking at your credit card statement, if you're not looking at your bank statement, a lot of people have online like Venmo accounts and PayPal. A lot of people don't look at those either.Look at what's coming out of your account. I worked with a client a couple of weeks ago. I was doing some reconciliations for him for the prior year and I said, dude, did you realize every month you were paying? I had no idea. I said, well, when's the last time you looked at your bank statements? He goes, well, you handle that for me.I said, we're not looking at your bank statements. We categorize this stuff. But you've got to pay attention to those and see what's going on with your bank statement, with your credit card statement. Like I said with any online cash apps or all those things. Now, you might be saying okay, Ralph. That sounds good.But why is that a problem from a Christian perspective? Well, let me just tell you. Complacency, that feeling of just letting it go, it can lead to carelessness and a lack of diligence. Hey, if you hear anything in the Bible, the Bible does not want us to be complacent. It does not want us to be careless and it does not want us to lack this diligence.We got to manage our resources that God has entrusted to us. As I've said on the show many times, it's not yours from the beginning. So you've got an obligation. You've got a sacred trust to manage it and to do those resources well. Look at the book of Proverbs chapter 10, verse 4 says this. I don't love this one and I had to look this up, but it says "A slack hand causes poverty."Wow. "But the hand of the diligent makes rich." Wow. I think about that, for ruminate on that for a second. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich and you can apply that to so many things. But we're called to be active. We're called to be responsible in all areas of our lives, including our finances.A lot of people miss that part. So you might be saying, Ralph, okay, what can you do? This is not complicated. This again is not rocket science. Regularly review your account statements. Maybe you do it once a week. Maybe you do it once a day. Maybe you do it once a month. Check for any unauthorized transactions.Check for errors. Check for unusual activity. Check to see where your money's going. Measure it against your budget. Another thing I'm going to encourage you to do. Utilize online and mobile banking tools. Take advantage of features like account alerts. We started talking about that earlier. Look at your transaction history and use those budgeting tools to stay informed about your finances.Listen, if you're budgeting all your expenses, then when you see something pop up on your budget that doesn't match, Hey, you should know right away. We've got a problem here. Another thing I'm going to encourage you to do while we're here. Protect your personal information. Be cautious about sharing your banking account details and password.And here's one big takeaway as we close out talking about the things you can do from a bank, stay informed about your bank's policies. Keep up to date with any changes in fees or their interest rates or their account terms. Make sure you've got, if we talked about overdraft protection, make sure you understand what they're going to charge you.George, I understand the struggle you're facing. It's overwhelming to feel like you're constantly falling short financially, but I want to encourage you with this. There is hope. You don't have to continue living with stress and the shame of overdraft fees, bounce checks, and threats to have your account closed.You just don't have to do that. By taking action today, not tomorrow, not next week, you can start transforming your financial situation. Just imagine if you will. Imagine a peace of mind that comes from knowing you have control over your money. Imagine the freedom of not having to worry about whether your next paycheck will clear or your next check will clear.Imagine the joy of being able to give generously and bless others and George and everyone else listening. This can be your reality but it all starts with taking the first step. So George, I invite you to take action. One of the ways you can do that is to subscribe to my newsletter. You can do that by going to askralphpodcast.com/newsletter. Our daily newsletter is packed with valuable insights, it's packed with tips and resources to help you on your journey to financial freedom. And by subscribing, you'll stay informed and motivated to take control of your finances. And remember this, as I said at the beginning, you're not alone in this journey.Many others have walked this path before you and they found freedom and peace and you can too. So let's do this together. Let's take control of your finances and let's align them with principles of Christian stewardship, and let's finally break free from that cycle of financial struggles and take a step into a life of abundance and generosity.So as we wrap up today's episode, George, I want to leave you with three reflection questions. I want to leave you these reflection questions to help you meditate on the key takeaways and start implementing the action steps we discussed. Listen, I say it on the show all the time. If you don't take action, you're never going to get anywhere.So the first one is this. Which of the common banking habits do you find most challenging to overcome? You got to start by being real, start asking yourself, what are those habits that are breaking you down? Are you not budgeting? Are you not paying attention to ATM fees? Are you overdrafting your account?Are you not content? What are those habits that are affecting you? And then once you realize what they are, then you can use some of the action steps to address them, which leads me to my second reflection question. And that's what specific steps can you take today to address this habit? What are some things that you can do right now, starting today to try to break down this cycle of just going in the wrong direction with your bank account.And then finally, how can you integrate the biblical principles we talked about of wise stewardship into your daily financial decisions? Because that is really the key. And I'm going to give you a bonus one today. And what is one small expense that you can eliminate or reduce to free up money for your savings or giving?Look at your bank statements, look at your credit card statements, and find that one thing that you can use today to give yourself more savings or to give yourself more freedom. So now let's talk about our key takeaways from today's show. Just go over these real quickly. Identify and address common banking habits that are draining your wallet.We talked about Overdraft fees. We talked about ATM charge. We talked about neglecting your budget. I'm going to encourage you again, track your spending to avoid those fees and stay within your budget. One of the best ways to do that is to plan ahead, avoid those unnecessary ATM fees and to maximize your savings.Like we talked about. Use that ATM locator, use that ATM free, those free ATMs where you can find them. One of the big takeaways from today is to be intentional about finding discounts and using coupons to save money on your everyday purchases. And yes, Ralph's going to say it again, create a budget to help you better understand your financial condition.And bigger than that, help you make informed decisions. And as I said a couple of times today, you got to regularly review your account statement to stay informed about your finances and protect yourself from errors and fraud. It is so important that you do those things. Now tomorrow, we're going to be exploring another important topic and you're going to love this one.Why can't we quit using paper checks and are scammers cashing in? So join me again tomorrow for another insightful discussion, a little bit about banking, a little bit about scamming, and a lot about paper checks. So join me tomorrow for another insightful discussion that will help you navigate the complexities of personal financesfrom a Christian perspective. So thank you, George, and everyone else listening for your time and support of the show. My passion, as I say it all the time is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams and I want to see you grow in your faith. And I know together, working together, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective.So as I always end this show, stay financially savvy out there and may God bless you abundantly.

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