5.25% Checking Account: Not Buying It

Today I received a tempting email from my credit union: 5.25% checking! That's amazing these days: my Vanguard money market is at .1% (if that); my high-yield savings is at 1.3%; I am considering a 1.9% CD.


With La Cap's All Access Advantage checking account, you have the chance to earn dividends as you make purchases.* With no monthly fees and no minimum balance, it's a great way to make the most of your checking account. It's just our way of showing you that we care about giving you the best rates and services possible.

Open an Account Now

*APY = Annual Percentage Yield. La Cap Checking (Share draft) Accounts are variable rate accounts. La Cap may change the dividend rate for your account as determined by the credit union Board of Directors. Dividends are posted and compounded monthly. No minimum balance required to maintain the account. Applicable fees and conditions could reduce the earnings on your account. Qualifications to earn dividends: - 25 or more non-ATM debit card transactions posted per month: - 5.25% APY on balances up to but not exceeding $5,000 - .15% APY on balances exceeding $5,000. If qualification stated is not met: - .15% APY on entire balance.

Read the fine print. The offer is only for your first $5000.00 and you must make at least 25 non-ATM debit card transactions per month.

Let's do the math. If you have the whole $5000.00, you can get about $262.00. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Let's do the math some more. The earnings total about $5.00 a week. That's much less tempting. I don't have a debit card; I don't buy something 25 days of the month. For $5.00 a week, I can do other things that I enjoy more than keeping track of debit transactions.

I can go to Big Lots and save $5.00 on food. Ditto for looking at the grocery ads and planning my menu around something on sale. I can check 2 movies out of the library. I can hand wash a sweater rather than sending it to the dry cleaner (I do that anyway). You get the idea.

Since I find keeping track of things extremely stressful, I don't use that supposed Holy Grail of frugality: the grocery coupon. I don't know how to sew and am glad that, because of a small fire in the home ec room, I never had to finish my skirt, since I was on my way to getting a bad grade.

There are so many ways to be frugal! Aren't we lucky that we can find ones that suit our temperaments? Which are your favorites?