7 Hidden Fees To Avoid

As Canadians we pay a TON of fees, make sure you are aware of these 7 hidden fees to avoid in your every day life! High Interest rates and hidden fees eat away at your hard earned savings! How can you make sure that your gains aren’t being eaten up by these hidden fees? We can roughly categorize these seven types of hidden fees into 4 broad categories. Read on to find out more!

First you need to search them out! Some may be easier than others to find. Reviewing three months worth of your bank and credit card statements should help you find most of these fees and calculate the total cost. 

Hidden Fees from your Bank 

Is there a monthly or annual fee charged on your bank accounts or credit cards? If so is there a no fee account you could switch to instead? There are lots of no-fee account options in Canada for daily banking.

Personally, I use Tangerine for my day-to-day chequing account. I know there are others like Simplii or PC Financial which don’t charge account fees, you can check out our full list of no fee accounts in Canada. If your credit cards have annual fees, make sure they are providing you with the value that you are paying for.

Some people (like me), love their credit card points! If you are not utilizing the value they offer for their fee, switch to a no or lower fee card. If you have credit cards, ALWAYS ensure you are paying your balance in full each month so you don’t get charged any needless interest! Are you using the closest ATM regardless of what bank it belongs to? Or only the one associated with your bank so you don’t get charged fees for the withdrawal?

Hidden Fees from Apps and Subscriptions

Look in your Google Play or App Store account for any subscriptions to apps you have forgotten about, but are still being charged for and cancel them immediately. Do you still have cable and streaming services?  Do you have 5 streaming services? Do you need 5 streaming services? This could be an easy place to minimize to only what you use! Or you could pool in with a friend or family member to share the accounts & costs.

Hidden Fees in Your Investments

Find out how much it is costing you to invest with the services you use. Choosing the right brokerage can help. When you purchase an investment, what are the fees associated with the purchase, does the institution charge you transaction fees each time?

What is the Management Expense Ratio being charged on your investment? Choosing investments with a lower MER can have a great impact on the growth of your investment over time.  Not paying per-trade commissions can also be a great way to save on fees!

Wealthsimple Trade offers no Fee trading so you can invest without the commission fees (and you get $25 for using our link!).

The Convenience Tax

The last one is not exactly a fee, but I’ll call it the convenience tax.  Are you going to a more expensive grocery store because it’s closer? Are you using the closest ATM because it’s nearby despite not belonging to your bank? Are you continuing to pay high bank fees because changing your bank account is inconvenient?

I am definitely guilty of at least one of these!  We live right next to a somewhat expensive grocery store, and go there just because it’s convenient. Today I drove to the cheaper grocery store 15 minutes away, and spent $100 on the same items I would have got for $150 at the store next door.  This can really add up over time. 

Don’t let these small hidden fees eat away at your hard-earned money! 

now you are aware of these 7 hidden fees to avoid! What is one fee that you were able to catch and scratch off your bills?