Romana King

A no-fee chequing account lets you manage your day-to-day banking without having to worry about bank fees eating away at your balance. Free bank accounts in Canada have no monthly fees and allow you to do everything from paying bills and sending e-Transfers to buying gas and groceries and withdrawing cash at ATMs. Fees may apply to some transactions though, so it’s important to compare options before deciding what’s best for you.

Want to know a simple way to save more money? Create a written financial plan. According to recent research from Hearts and Wallets, an independent U.S. research firm, 52% of households with written financial plans save at least 10% of their income for retirement, while only 36% of households without a written financial plan manage to save that amount. But simple doesn’t mean easy.

I didn’t even think about managing my bank account when I started graduate school abroad in Beirut. I had a perfectly fine basic chequing account with BMO that I’d opened in Toronto just before starting college. There was even a branch two blocks away from my new apartment. What could go wrong? Turns out, handling money abroad wasn’t as simple as I’d expected. I eventually had to open a student account in Lebanon, which I closed after graduating.