Bank of America has one thing going for it: tons of ATM’s. I am pretty sure to find an ATM anywhere I travel in the United States. It also has a basic iPhone application that allows me to do banking on the go if I need to, which has come in handy.

My requirements to switch from Bank of America are quite simple (so I thought):

• Free checking and savings accounts (willing to take a minor interest rate drop for this).
• Lets me write paper checks. I have to pay condo fees with paper checks, so this is a requirement.
• Either entirely free ATM access or willing to cover for a certain amount of ATM fees.
• Easy to use web site and an mobile application.
• Scan checks for deposit. Bonus points if you can do this with an iPhone. It is the 21st century and we have the technology to do it.
• Great customer service. Doing customer service myself as my day job, this is a major requirement if I am going to have my finances with you.

So far, I haven’t found any bank that can do all of these tasks.

• Local credit unions: Two of them, Granite State Credit Union and St. Mary’s Bank, are on the same street as my work, which makes deposits easy and have that local friendly presence that gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. They have a large ATM network shared with other credit unions with free access. Mobile efforts are either non-existant or very limited. Only GSCU offers ability to scan checks at your home computer. Closest to what I am looking for in the sense of a traditional bank/credit union, but so year 2000 in online technology.
• ING Direct – I have a savings account with them and they seem to be a very solid online bank. Decent ATM network available. Biggest knocks for me: lack of a good mobile application, no ability to have an actual checkbook (you can only mail paper checks via their site), and no check scanning for deposits.
• Ally Bank – Web site looks fantastic, at least the front page. Free accounts, free checks, free ATM’s after reimbursement, reports are that they offer great customer service. Utter lack of actually taking the next logical step and offering a mobile app and scanning checks for deposit prevents me from going there today.
• USAA – There has been lots of great reports about how USAA is awesome. I even opened an account with them just for kicks to see how it is and I have to agree, looks like a great bank. Refunds up to $15 in ATM fees, free checking, savings, web site has a good design, great iPhone app. However, unless your parent(s) were in the military or you are/were in the military, you do not have access to the best feature: check scanning with your iPhone or computer.

Banksimple looks promising, but it is clear vaporware at this point. I would need to see what they actually launch with to see if it matches my criteria.

So far, no bank offers what I want. Still searching for a way to leave Bank of America.

This time around, I am going with the numbers approach for debt reduction and seeing how this works mentally.

As much as I want to get rid of the Sallie Mae student loan, it has a really small payment ($105 a month) and by far the lowest interest rate of all of my loans (3.25%). While it is a variable interest rate, it doesn’t look like interest rates are going to raise much if at all for the next year given the economy. Plus the interest on this loan is tax deductible.

I’m going to go with paying off the Hyundai Elantra car loan. It is a huge loan payment to begin with ($317 a month) and I am paying a lot of interest on it right now given it is only 7 months old (with 4.5 years left on it). I can just about double the payment, which should cause the loan balance to drop significantly. Combined with potential big extra payments throughout the year on-top of this doubled loan payment, this seems the right way to go. In the end, I save a ton of interest with this method and the psychological benefit of having no car payments? Priceless!

After that car loan is gone, my wife and I will just have our student loans and mortgage to pay off. Then we can really go ballistic paying those loans off without worrying about car payments.

The question is, what is next?

After some careful deliberation, I have narrowed it down to three possible options:

• Pay off one of my student loans (this one is a private loan with Sallie Mae). This loan has the smallest balance of either my wife or I”s loans and would probably take about a year to pay off if all goes right. It currently has the lowest interest rate (3.25%) of any of our loans, but it is also a variable interest rate that has gone as high as 8.5% in the past. Plus there is always the benefit of getting Sallie Mae out of my life.
• Pay off the other car loan for the new car (2009 Hyundai Elantra SE). This would probably take near 1.5 or 2 years to do, but has a higher interest rate (5.5%) and the loan is only 7 months old. This means right now I am paying a lot of interest on the loan and paying now could save significant money down the line. Plus the huge benefit of not having any car payments and this would net a significant boost to the next debt snowball.
• Take the money we would put towards payments and have it go to a savings account. Given the economy, it never hurts to have some money stashed away. If the account balance gets larger then one of the loan’s balances, I can always due one big payment and close out the loan. If an emergency comes up, then we have money readily available.

Tough choice. Still thinking it through.

Financial Goal #1 – Pay off Subaru Forester loan

With my next payment halfway through this month, the Subaru Forester loan will drop below $2,000. Being this close to paying it off, I really want to get this done. Thanks to some job related money coming in sometime in January and my tax return that usually comes in mid-February since I file my taxes as soon as I get the relevant paperwork, I think there is a very good chance I could have it paid off by March. Maybe even sooner.

With that, $225 a month becomes available and is a significant victory in my budget.

Financial Goal #2 – Look into credit unions

Within short walking distance of my work, there is a credit union branch that I am going to look into. Not only are credit unions well-known for their customer service and great rates, but this one also has an awesome feature of letting me scan checks and depositing them online. Combined with many ATM’s in gas stations and stores being free and it is very tempting to switch from Bank of America to them. I am also going to see if there is any chance of refinancing my new car loan with them.

Financial Goal #3 – Saving for a new house

With the Subaru Forester loan being paid off in the next 3-4 months, I plan on doing a debt snowball into a savings account with the idea of selling our condo towards the end of 2010 and moving into a house. We are ready to own a house. Given that houses will probably not be any cheaper than they are now, this is a good time to take advantage of the market.

Financial Goal #4 – Double the emergency fund

Even though the economy is slowly showing signs of turning around, it is clear that we need a better emergency fund as we now have a bare minimum $1000 tucked away. I would like to at least double my current emergency fund, just to give us a little more cushion to work from.