How to avoid maintenance fee when balance drops below minimum?
Looks like you have three options: Outside of this you might need to look for a different type of account. Hope that helps.
Typically the fees are charged when the order is executed.  The only catch I have ever ran into is when an order is partially executed. A good-till-cancel order that gets executed in several blocks over multiple days may get charged a separate commission for each day (but typically not each block).  If this is a simple brokerage account, you could avoid the whole question by using robinhood.com, which charges no commissions or maintenance fees. Whenever you put less than 20% down, you are usually required to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) to protect the lender in case you default on your loan.  You pay this until you reach 20% equity in your home.  Check out an amortization calculator to see how long that would take you.  Most schedules have you paying more interest at the start of your loan and less principal.  PMI gets you nothing - no interest or principal paid - it's throwing money away in a very real sense (more in this answer).  Still, if you want to do it, make sure to add PMI to the cost per month. It is also possible to get two mortgages, one for your 20% down payment and one for the 80%, and avoid PMI.  Lenders are fairly cautious about doing that right now given the housing crash, but you may be able to find one who will let you do the two mortgages.  This will raise your monthly payment in its own way, of course. Also remember to factor in the costs of home ownership into your calculations.  Check the county or city website to figure out the property tax on that home, divide by twelve, and add that number to your payment.  Estimate your homeowners insurance (of course you get to drop renters insurance, so make sure to calculate that on the renting side of the costs) and divide the yearly cost by 12 and add that in.  Most importantly, add 1-2% of the value of the house yearly for maintenance and repair costs to your budget.  All those costs are going to eat away at your 3-400 a little bit.  So you've got to save about $70 a month towards repairs, etc. for the case of every 10-50 years when you need a new roof and so on. Many experts suggest having the maintenance money in savings on top of your emergency fund from day one of ownership in case your water heater suddenly dies or your roof starts leaking.  Make sure you've also estimated closing costs on this house, or that the seller will pay your costs.  Otherwise you loose part of that from your down payment or other savings. Once you add up all those numbers you can figure out if buying is a good proposition.  With the plan to stay put for five years, it sounds like it truly might be.  I'm not arguing against it, just laying out all the factors for you. The NYT Rent Versus Buy calculator lays out most of these items in terms of renting or buying, and might help you make that decision. EDIT: As Tim noted in the comments below, real monthly cost should take into account deductions from mortgage interest and property tax paid.  This calculator can help you figure that out.  This question will be one to watch for answers on how to calculate cost and return on home buying, with the answer by mbhunter being an important qualification "There's a lot of personal preference and personal circumstance that goes into these decisions.  I think that for a person starting out, what's below is a good system.  People with greater needs probably aren't reading this question looking for an answer. How many bank accounts should I have and what kinds, and how much (percentage-wise) of my income should I put into each one?  You should probably have one checking account and one savings / money market account.  If you're total savings are too low to avoid fees on two accounts, then just the checking account at the beginning.  Keep the checking account balance high enough to cover your actual debits plus a little buffer.  Put the rest in savings. Multiple bank accounts beyond the basics or using multiple banks can be appropriate for some people in some circumstances.  Those people, for the most part, will have a specific reason for needing them and maybe enough experience at that point to know how many and where to get them. (Else they ask specific questions in the context of their situation.) I did see a comment about partners - If you're married / in long-term relationship, you might replicate the above for each side of the marriage / partnership.  That's a personal decision between you and your partner that's more about your philosophy in the relationship then about finance specifically. Then from there, how do I portion them out into budgets and savings?  I personally don't believe that there is any generic answer for this question.  Others may post answers with their own rules of thumb.  You need to budget based on a realistic assessment of your own income and necessary costs.  Then if you have money some savings.  Include a minimal level of entertainment in ""necessary costs"" because most people cannot work constantly.  Beyond that minimal level, additional entertainment comes after necessary costs and basic savings.  Savings should be tied to your long term goals in addition to you current constraints. Should I use credit cards for spending to reap benefits? No. Use credit cards for the convenience of them, if you want, but pay the full balance each month and don't overdo it.  If you lack discipline on your spending, then you might consider avoiding credit cards completely." In general the other party will expect you to keep your promises. If you promise to do something for a fixed amount of money, you take on a risk and it is no longer their problem if you work slower than you planned. In principle it could even be the case that you take on a project and fail, after which the company may not have to pay at all. So regardless of how things should be written in your books (For example a theoretical pay above minimum wage but a loss for your private company): An important thing to note is that if you are worried about ending up below minimum wage, you are definitely asking a fee that is too low. You should keep in mind that your fee should include a fair compensation for the expected work, and a fair compensation for the risk that you have taken on. They didn't report it was six figures a month, but I work in the industry and know that is the minimum cost for this type of service.  Putting Auto credit freezes on everyone seems like a good idea but I imagine the lenders would go up in arms if that happens because it would hault all new consumer debt. No. It's the total on the bill statement that's reported, not the daily value. Pay before the bill is cut and you are fine. This is a great strategy for those who find their line to be too low.  Update - when I answered this, it was true, and pretty much went unchallenged. Some months back, a card I use changed banks. And my score blipped down. I had been on the habit of paying most of my balance in full the day of, or day before the statement was cut. I saw the balance reported on this card was as of the last day of the month, not the amount billed. I started paying the card's full balance on the 30/31 and the score returned to normal. This was the first I'd ever seen this, and no other member here has shared the same experience, yet. Note: the question is tagged united kingdom, this is a UK focussed answer practices elsewhere may be different). A balance transfer moves your debt from one credit card to another. This can be a good way to get a debt onto a lower (often zero) interest rate.  There will usually be a transfer fee but with a good balance transfer deal the effective interest rate even after taking the fee into account can be very good and there are even some deals with 0% interest and no fee. Indeed if you keep on top of things credit cards are often the cheapest way to borrow. Normally a balance transfer is done to a new card that is applied for specifically for the purpose but sometimes it can make sense to transfer a balance to an existing card. However to take advantage of this you need discipline. You need to make absoloutely sure that you fully comply with the rules of the deal and in particular that you pay at least the minimum payment on time.  You should also be aware that the rate will usually jump up at the end of the interest free period, you could do another balance transfer but assuming you will be able to do that is risky as it depends on what market conditions and your credit rating look like at the time. Ideally you should have a plan for paying off the card before the interest free period expires. In general you should be aiming to pay down your debts. Living beyond your means is very bad and carrying debt long term should only be done if you have an extremely good reason. You should regard the balance transfer as a tool to help you clear your debts quicker, not as a way to avoid paying them. If you go on a spending spree after your balance transfer you will just have dug yourself deeper in debt. See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards for more on the techniques and the current best cards. That's tricky. Typically you lock in the minimum monthly payment when you close the loan. You can pay more but not less. Options: