Imagine if each time you wanted to take a $20 bill out of your wallet, you had to put a $5 bill through a paper shredder. Thats essentially what youre doing when you pay ATM fees youre paying to access your own money, and it can add up to a lot of waste. People pay the fees in order to have fast cash (the national average is $2.77, according to the 2014 Bankrate Checking Survey), either because they dont think fees are a big deal or they have no other choice, but theyre ridiculously easy to avoid.

1. Use Your Phone to Find an ATM

The easiest way to avoid ATM fees is to use your banks ATMs, but its understandably tempting to not bother to look for a Chase when theres a Bank of America right in front of you. With the rise in popularity of mobile banking, its likely your bank has a smartphone app with an ATM-finder function. Go forth and enjoy the money-saving wonders technology brings you. (Do you do business with a credit union? They often have free networks as well as apps to help you find them.)

Using an in-network ATM may not let you go fee-free, because there are two types of ATM fees: convenience fees and foreign fees. Your bank may charge you a foreign fee for using an ATM out of its network, and the ATM owner may charge you a fee for using its machine. Oftentimes, youll get hit by both fees, but you may see only one on your bank statement.

2. Get Cash Back

A lot of big-box stores allow you to use your debit card to get cash back at their registers. You can buy something small for $1 or $2, like a bottle of water, candy bar, pack of gum or lip balm, choose to pay with your debit card and select the cash back option, and you can get your cash without paying an ATM fee.

Yes, youre still paying for something, quite possibly something you dont need, but wouldnt you rather pay $3 for snacks you can use than have nothing to show for the $3 you paid to get your money from an ATM? Dont expect to get a lot of money, though. Many stores have limits on how much you can get at the register.

3. Make a Habit of Carrying Cash

If you feel like youre constantly stuck in situations where you need cash and use a non-bank ATM to get it, consider going to the ATM or bank once a week and taking out $100. If youre prepared, you wont need to deal with ATM fees.

Make sure to work your ATM visits into your budget and youre only taking out the amount of money youll need before your next trip to the bank. Know whats at risk when youre carrying a lot of cash: If someone steals your wallet, youre never getting that cash back, but you arent necessarily liable for unauthorized credit card and debit card purchases.

4. Find a Bank That Doesnt Charge Fees

Not all banks charge ATM fees, because not all banks have ATMs. Its common for online banks and small credit unions to waive ATM fees because they cant plant ATMs all around town for their customers convenience. Waiving fees is their way of offering a good customer experience, so if you cant seem to avoid paying ATM fees, you may want to research banks that did away with them. Keep in mind you may still have to pay convenience fees charged by the ATM owner, so check with your financial services provider to make sure you understand their policies.

5. Know Whats in Your Wallet

Do you absolutely need cash right this second? Before you run to an ATM, find out if whoever youre paying accepts credit or debit cards. If not, ask yourself if you absolutely need whatever youre thinking of purchasing. Tack $3 extra onto the price is it still worth it?

More from Credit.com

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The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday outlined new rules that could restrict the use of federal funds at for-profit colleges.

The rules aim to keep for-profit colleges from saddling students with loans that their degrees will not reasonably allow them to repay.

For-profit colleges now account for 11 percent of college enrollment, but 44 percent of student loan defaults, the department said.

To remain eligible for federal aid grants and loans, schools must now demonstrate that graduates of degree and certification programs spend no more than 8 percent of their total earnings, or 20 percent of their discretionary earnings, on loan repayments.

While the rules also apply to nondegree programs at public and nonprofit schools, the department said 99 percent of the estimated 840,000 students in programs that fall outside the standards go to for-profit colleges.

"Career colleges must be a steppingstone to the middle class, but too many hardworking students find themselves buried in debt with little to show for it," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement. "That is simply unacceptable. These regulations are a necessary step to ensure that colleges accepting federal funds protect students, cut costs and improve outcomes."

___ (c)2014 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

As Americans celebrate the 45th anniversary of easy access to cash via the automatic teller machine, one big question comes to mind. 

Does anyone use paper money any more?

People are using plastic more frequently for even small purchases, according to a creditcard.com survey. 

They should, at least if they want to save a little money, according to several studies. Retailers have long found people spend more when purchasing via plastic versus paying with cash.

Its also easier to spend on debit than it is when youre spending cash because it doesnt feel the same as pulling cash out of your wallet, said Gerri Detweiler, the director of consumer education for Credit.com.

America was introduced 45 years ago to the automatic teller machine a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week cash pumping device on Sept. 2, 1969. But the presence of quick cash has quickly turned into a demand for easier, faster and more.

From vending machines to farmers markets to outlets bringing credit card scanners through store aisles, many retailers are making every effort to make purchases easier for consumers.

If you arent making it easy for someone to use plastic than you may be missing out on sales and you may be missing out on incremental sales, Detweiler said.

Now some outlets are promoting contactless credit cards.

MasterCard advisors saw like a $600 a month increase in spend with consumers who were using contactless technology, Detweiler said. The easier you make it for customers to spend, the more it means to the retailers overall sales.

As for whether consumers use cash, some still do. The number of cash payments increased from 2008 through 2010, according to a study done by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The study found that as the number of total transactions went up after the recession, so did the number of cash payments.

That could have been in part because credit card companies cut back on the number of cards issued and the available credit as the recession hit, so more people had to use cash or checks.

Though the amount of available credit has not reached the 2006-07 levels, the numbers are improving, Detweiler said.

The result could be more people pulling out the plastic, she said.

When you have a bigger credit line even though its not the same as money in the bank, it can make consumers feel more confident about their ability to spend and their ability to repay a debt even though its still debt, she said.

But Detweiler said she thinks people use cash for different reasons than they might have 50 years ago.

They still carry cash, but they tend to use cash for smaller purchases, she said. When someone has cash in their wallet, its usually to buy something thats $10-$20 or less. For larger purchases, they typically pull out some kind of plastic.

More than 20 million people are expected to attend college in 2014, with most of those students expected to start this fall.

Many of those students will not graduate and others will take more than four years to get a degree. But those paying the big bucks to go to school would like to know a career, or at least a job, is waiting on the other side.

WalletHub.com produced a study last spring that shows the best and worst entry-level jobs.

Here are the best entry-level jobs:

1: Web Applications Developer I2: Information Security Analyst IT-3: Designer I - WebT-3: Attorney I5: Software Engineer

Here are the five worst entry-level jobs:

1: Consumer Loan Servicing Clerk I2: Boilermaker I3: Claims Processing Clerk4: Electronics Assembler I5: Architectural Drafter I

Richie Bernardo is a financial writer who helped conduct the study for WalletHub.com. He said the best way to ensure a good career out of college is to build analytical abilities.

Obviously, were all not talented in the same areas, but one of the biggest findings in the study is that highest-paying entry level jobs are those in the math and sciences and mainly those are in finance, engineering and IT, he said. 

The improving economy has created a disproportionate number of low-wage jobs compared to the high-wage jobs that were lost to the Great Recession.

Though projecting four years out can be difficult, employers probably are going to need people in fields such as engineering, Bernardo said. But students need to plan for their probable future salaries when choosing a major, he said.

Students pursue different studies in college without considering their future earnings potential, Bernardo said. I think thats a really big mistake.

Total student loan debt in this country has surpassed total credit card debt, so we definitely need to place a heavier focus on educating students on financial responsibility early on.