When opening up wedding invitations, most people expect to see wedding dates set between early spring and late summer. However, some couples can decide to be different and schedule their wedding dates for the holidays. If you are planning your wedding and want to set it for a holiday, here are four reasons why the holidays are the best time to get hitched.

Holiday Free Time

When planning your dream wedding, there is always a chance that a good number of the guests you wish to invite may have commitments for work that clash with your dates. This is especially likely if your date is on a weekday. During the holidays, it is almost guaranteed that your friends and family will be free of most commitments and will have the time to attend your wedding. If there were going to be a lot of children at your wedding, setting it up over the holidays ensures that they will not be tied down with their academic responsibilities.

It Could Be a Chance For a Family Reunion

If you have a large family in different parts of the world, they probably do not get the chance to see each other regularly, planning your big day over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday gives everyone a chance to not only attend your wedding but also to come together for a family reunion while only spending money on transportation costs once. 

This is also important if some of your loved ones are too old to travel regularly as even they will not be left out of the chance to celebrate with you. Remember that transportation during the holidays can be more expensive than normal, so give the families enough time to plan and save for trip costs.

Decorating is Easier During The Holidays

After choosing the right venue for your wedding, choosing how to decorate it is another big decision that needs to be made. Having a holiday wedding makes this an easy problem to solve as you can simply go with the theme of the season. At Easter, you can use Easter eggs, daffodils, and lots of yellow, while Christmas would involve lots of candy canes, holly, and mistletoe. 

With all the holiday decorations at your disposal, you do not have to worry about picking the right flowers, choosing harsh colours or any other decoration challenge that a neutral time of the year might present.

Get Married out of “Wedding Season”

Typically, most weddings are held between Spring and Summer. Planning a wedding during this period where there are few holidays but a high demand for weddings, service providers usually means dealing with higher prices.

However, if you set your wedding for a holiday period, you go for a lower demand season and will have more options available to you for service providers while also reducing your expenses. Getting the balance right will help you to have a truly unforgettable day without unnecessarily shouldering yourself with large amounts of debt. 

If you are looking for bank accounts with no fees, you will soon discover that you have to look for different types of services if you want to avoid pesky fees completely.

This is because classic banks will always either have fees or hidden fees to surprise their clients with. However, we simply cannot work without a bank account or a credit card nowadays. 

Therefore, instead of stashing our cash under floorboards and in cupboards, we should instead learn how to avoid those pesky bank fees with a bank that can adequately manage our finances. 

Minimum Balance Fee

As you know, there are some banks that require a minimum balance. In some cases, if you don’t meet this requirement, you will most likely be charged a fee. 

On top of this, some banks will also close your account if you leave it unattended or underfunded. In order to avoid this minimum balance fee or the closing of your account, ask your bank exactly how much money there must be in your account and try to keep its balance above the minimum.

Overdraft Fees

If you opt-in for overdraft protection, you basically don’t have to worry about running out of money. If, for example, you’re short a couple of dollars, your payment will still go through. 

However, this type of protection also comes with a $35 fee, no matter the extra amount that you have spent. In short, you can go overdraft with as little as $5 but accumulate fees worth $70 or more.

The easiest way to avoid this fee is to avoid overdraft protection altogether. If you don’t want to, then simply watch your balance regularly and set up mobile app alerts as well because they can alert you when you are about to overdraft.

ATM Fees

We are all familiar with ATM fees. If you use an ATM associated with another bank, not only are you charged a fee for not being a customer, but your bank may also charge you for using an out-of-network ATM.

To avoid these pesky fees, you can start by sticking to your own bank and having some cash on you at all times. If not, then you can head to a store and ask for cash back after you’ve made a small purchase.

Maintenance Fees

Maintenance fees are the fees that you must pay a bank in order to keep your account open. In other words, you must pay the bank so that it lets you keep your money with it.

As strange as it sounds, this type of fee is real and can cost you up to $120 a year. However, there are a couple of things that you can do to avoid it. For example, most banks will not charge you maintenance fees if you have the minimum balance in your account. Banks will forget about this fee if you make a certain number of direct deposits to your account as well. 

Paper Statement Fees

If you receive your bank statement on a paper in the mail, then you may know that you are charged a fee of around $1 to $2 for this. To save on this fee, the obvious option is to go with electronic statements. Not only is this the less expensive and greener option, but your statement will also reach you faster.

Excess Activity Fees

While some banks will charge you for being inactive, some will charge you for making too many transactions. According to Federal Regulation D, people with savings accounts must make no more than six transfers and withdrawals in a month. 

If you go over this number, the bank will usually either warn you not to do it again or simply refuse to make the transaction. However, there are banks – a lot of them – that charge an excess activity fee.

To avoid this fee, you can use your checking account as excess activity fees don’t apply to this type of account, or use the teller or the ATM within the bank – you can make as many transactions as you want by doing this.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, bank fees come from all the possible directions. Everything you may do related to your bank account or credit card may also have a hidden fee that you must consider when using or not using your credit card or when withdrawing money from other ATMs.

In short, you must become informed about hidden bank fees and speak with someone from your bank about the fees that their institution applies to its customers. Or if you’re at your wit’s end, there are plenty of banks with no fees that you can get an account with. You have plenty of options, so get saving!

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There are dozens of questions that pop-up in your mind when you begin to seek a business loan. If this is the first time you are applying for a loan, there may be a few chances that you may get confused if you don’t know the exact procedure before your loan is approved. The following article will provide you with a concise checklist that will help you in obtaining a business loan.

You may use the checklist as it is, or use it as a basis for preparing your own.

1. Identify the specific reason for the loan and how you will repay it

There could be over a dozen reasons for obtaining a business loan. You could be planning to expand your business, or hiring new highly trained staff for value addition to your product. Whatever, the case may be, you must be specific about your loan requirement – how much do you require and how do you plan to repay the loan. You must, at the same time, also be sure that your cash flows will cover the repayment installments of the loan without causing hindrance to your daily business operations.

2. Write down a definite Plan.

Of course, you know why you need a business loan, and how you plan to use it. But we recommend that you write it down on a piece of paper. You must need to share the plan with the lender at the time of loan processing. You must be able to clearly show that your business will grow as a result of this loan injection. Remember, lenders are reluctant to give out loans to desperate borrowers. You must be confident in your business plan.

3. Timing and tenure of the loan

Identifying the right time to obtain a mortgage is one of the most critical aspects of the whole scenario. Moreover, you must also be sure about how long you want the loan. If you want the loan right away, you need to prepare the documents immediately. If you want the loan for only a little while, you should seek out a short term loan. If you are clear about these two points, you will have no problem conveying the same to the lender. If you’re still uncertain, Quick Business Loans by Fast Capital 360 will allow you to understand these aspects of the loan in a much smoother way.

4. Credit History

The first thing a lender sees before processing your mortgage is your credit history. Some agencies provide you with the assistance of managing your credit history for prospective lenders. However, if your credit history is terrible, there is very little chance of you getting a loan. It means that you should retrieve your credit report and review your report thoroughly before submitting your loan application.

5. Choosing the right lender

The next step is to select the best lender that would suit you. A lender that has worked with your peers should be your first choice since he will understand the intricacies of your business and your financial requirements. Moreover, you should also decide what kind of loan will suit you best. Both of these factors will affect the rate of interest and repayment terms.

6. Complete Documentation.

No matter which lender you choose to work with; you will be required to submit a set of documents with your application form. It is advisable to start gathering and arranging all these documents beforehand. Also, prepare photocopies of each certificate, and get them notarized. You will also need to disclose if there is any lien on your plant and equipment or property. The lender will also want to review your financial statements for at least past three years.

The Final Word

The next step involves filling out the loan application form and submitting it to the bank. Once you submit your application, the bank starts processing it. You may be called for an interview with bank officials before your loan is approved and if all goes well, you will receive the amount in no time.