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 

Bank Fees

Is there a monthly or annual fee charged on your bank accounts or credit cards? Make sure to check your bank statement for fees you may be charged each month.  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. If your credit cards have annual fees, make sure they are providing you with the value that you are paying for.

ATM Fees

Can’t be bother to find an ATM in your network? You definitely are going to get dinged for it, paying ATM fees to both the ATM provider, and your bank.  This definitely falls under “Convenience fees”. You may end up paying $4 extra every time you withdraw money at an out of network ATM. 

Credit Card Fees

Interest Charges

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! Credit cards charge cardholders different interest rates for purchases, and usually higher rates for cash withdrawals. 

Be sure to understand how much you are paying in interest and how long it would take you to become debt free, and get rid of those interest charges. 

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. 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!

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?