Emergency account up to $1000! I've now officially met my first savings goal.
Fixing my laptop tonight...more and better updates to follow!
Showing posts with label savings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label savings. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
quick updates
So I went to Florida for my newphew's first birthday last weekend, and I'm getting a little back into the swing of things.
Just a couple quick things for now, but just so you know I have 5 good posts planned for the upcoming weeks.
Number one: I got a rate email from my FNBO account today; it's down to 1.9% APY. boo. But I guess my loans are also being affected by the dropping rate environment, so I can't complain too much.
Number two: My emergency fund turned a little bit into my travel fund. That was pretty unintentional, but I knew it would happen. I didn't have enough time to save for both so now that fund has shrunk to about $600 (I'm not quite done figuring out what I need for this month, so that number may increase). I'm trying not to feel too bad about it, I'll just have to pump some more money into it over the next couple months to get it back up to $1000.
I will say this: Had I realized that the total trip costs would be around $730, the opportunity cost of it would have made me choose differently. But that will help inform my future travel plans, nonetheless. The next time I'll sit down with actual cost projections before I just commit to something I might end up not being able to afford.
Just a couple quick things for now, but just so you know I have 5 good posts planned for the upcoming weeks.
Number one: I got a rate email from my FNBO account today; it's down to 1.9% APY. boo. But I guess my loans are also being affected by the dropping rate environment, so I can't complain too much.
Number two: My emergency fund turned a little bit into my travel fund. That was pretty unintentional, but I knew it would happen. I didn't have enough time to save for both so now that fund has shrunk to about $600 (I'm not quite done figuring out what I need for this month, so that number may increase). I'm trying not to feel too bad about it, I'll just have to pump some more money into it over the next couple months to get it back up to $1000.
I will say this: Had I realized that the total trip costs would be around $730, the opportunity cost of it would have made me choose differently. But that will help inform my future travel plans, nonetheless. The next time I'll sit down with actual cost projections before I just commit to something I might end up not being able to afford.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
older brothers
My brother pointed me to possibly the most awesome thing I've seen since I've started paying attention to my credit.
Credit Karma!
It's an ad supported website that gives you unlimited access to your TransUnion credit score! I've always been amazed and appalled that any company who wants to cough up a few bucks can get all your credit info but you have to either pay out the nose for it or only check it once a year. It's insane. Thankfully, somebody agreed with me and put together a service for it. Thanks credit karma.
A quick word about savings accounts and CD's and whatnot and interest rates. All of the accounts I posted a couple weeks ago are slipping in interest rate every month. So if you've been thinking of opening a new account, whether it's a money market, savings or CD, it seems prudent to do it sooner rather than later. I can only imagine that as the market continues to tank what banks are willing to give you as return will keep shrinking. And if the rates bounce back in the next year or so, you can always move your money to something better....then again all these shits are variable anyway, so screw it. we're all goin' to hell in a big fat hand basket YEAH! hhahahahha.
just kidding. sorta.
Credit Karma!
It's an ad supported website that gives you unlimited access to your TransUnion credit score! I've always been amazed and appalled that any company who wants to cough up a few bucks can get all your credit info but you have to either pay out the nose for it or only check it once a year. It's insane. Thankfully, somebody agreed with me and put together a service for it. Thanks credit karma.
A quick word about savings accounts and CD's and whatnot and interest rates. All of the accounts I posted a couple weeks ago are slipping in interest rate every month. So if you've been thinking of opening a new account, whether it's a money market, savings or CD, it seems prudent to do it sooner rather than later. I can only imagine that as the market continues to tank what banks are willing to give you as return will keep shrinking. And if the rates bounce back in the next year or so, you can always move your money to something better....then again all these shits are variable anyway, so screw it. we're all goin' to hell in a big fat hand basket YEAH! hhahahahha.
just kidding. sorta.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
d'oh
So of course I decide to actually research high yield savings accounts after I've opened an account with my bank.
Oh well, I can always roll the money I've already deposited into a higher yield account and have the $250 in the savings account I just opened as overdraft protection. Yeah, see I was thinking of that all along!
Some high yield accounts I looked into:
ING electric orange
HSBC Direct
Dollar Savings Direct (highest rate - but has a $1000 minimum)
FNBO Direct
It's still a month or so off, but I think I'm going to go with the FNBO direct account. There's no minimum, it has a 2.6% interest rate, and comes with an ATM card so I can withdraw funds immediately should I need to.
Oh well, I can always roll the money I've already deposited into a higher yield account and have the $250 in the savings account I just opened as overdraft protection. Yeah, see I was thinking of that all along!
Some high yield accounts I looked into:
ING electric orange
HSBC Direct
Dollar Savings Direct (highest rate - but has a $1000 minimum)
FNBO Direct
It's still a month or so off, but I think I'm going to go with the FNBO direct account. There's no minimum, it has a 2.6% interest rate, and comes with an ATM card so I can withdraw funds immediately should I need to.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
omigod Savings!
So today I made a big step forward in this journey; I opened a savings account! Yeah!
My savings goal is to have 2 months living expenses available as an emergency fund. That's about $2500. I could probably stretch that a bit more than 2 months, which would give me some much needed wiggle room should something happen.
I got a fairly large paycheck from my second job and put it right in the bank. As a side note, I love banking on Saturday because they have free coffee from Diesel in the lobby, what an awesome perk! Ran into one little snag as I was opening this account, though. Turns out some fees were leftover from my last bank (I think I overdrafted right after I moved) and I still owe them 74 bucks. Eesh. Thankfully my little neighborhood bank let me open the account anyway as long as I promised to rectify that debt within a week and have a letter sent to them.
There were a few types of accounts I could choose from. The very basic one only requires 10 dollars to open and only has about $1 per month in fees with a minimum balance of 10 bucks. I went with the slight step up Statement Savings. It requires a $250 average balance but you can get overdraft protection associated with it. I figure this will help pressure me to keep most of my money in there, and also give me a little cover if things get tight, like they did right after Christmas. I really don't want to feel that kind of anxiety about not being able to pay my bills ever again.
We're really rollin' now...
My savings goal is to have 2 months living expenses available as an emergency fund. That's about $2500. I could probably stretch that a bit more than 2 months, which would give me some much needed wiggle room should something happen.
I got a fairly large paycheck from my second job and put it right in the bank. As a side note, I love banking on Saturday because they have free coffee from Diesel in the lobby, what an awesome perk! Ran into one little snag as I was opening this account, though. Turns out some fees were leftover from my last bank (I think I overdrafted right after I moved) and I still owe them 74 bucks. Eesh. Thankfully my little neighborhood bank let me open the account anyway as long as I promised to rectify that debt within a week and have a letter sent to them.
There were a few types of accounts I could choose from. The very basic one only requires 10 dollars to open and only has about $1 per month in fees with a minimum balance of 10 bucks. I went with the slight step up Statement Savings. It requires a $250 average balance but you can get overdraft protection associated with it. I figure this will help pressure me to keep most of my money in there, and also give me a little cover if things get tight, like they did right after Christmas. I really don't want to feel that kind of anxiety about not being able to pay my bills ever again.
We're really rollin' now...
Friday, February 6, 2009
ch-ch-ch-changes!
So maybe you all have noticed, as I have, that our motif for the year is Change. Sweet, sweet change has finally come to the White House, and my house. My little amount of change is in the form of a new dedication to dealing responsibly with my money, and a little bit of extra change in the literal sense. I finally have a few leftover dollars laying around some months and it's time to do something better with them than blow them on beer and eating out. Getting out of debt might be a good start.
Now, this isn't to say I'm basing my new frugal life on any kind of literal frugality. I'm 26 and I don't think I should have to give up eating out and spending time with friends. I also don't think I should have to give up buying supplies for my one creative outlet and hobby, knitting. I'm also one of those people who buys coffee every day and keeps saying "Man, if I got a coffee maker I'd save so much money." I won't give that up, either (though some sort of french press might end up on the shortlist, if only so I don't have to leave my house on Saturday mornings when it's 8 degrees). In short, I will not sacrifice everything I enjoy in my 20's so that I can enjoy my 60's.
What I will do:
1) Start some measurable amount of savings.
2) Monitor my spending to understand my own trends so that I can plan accordingly (not make unreasonable limits).
3) Raise my credit rating significantly over the next 3 years.
4) Be able to make travel plans without ending up a crying heap on my bed.
5) Feel confident that I will enjoy my 60's as much as I'm enjoying my 20's.
So there they are. My initial ambitions. I'm sure this list will grow, shrink, and/or change in any other way that seems prudent, but I think it's a good start.
Now, this isn't to say I'm basing my new frugal life on any kind of literal frugality. I'm 26 and I don't think I should have to give up eating out and spending time with friends. I also don't think I should have to give up buying supplies for my one creative outlet and hobby, knitting. I'm also one of those people who buys coffee every day and keeps saying "Man, if I got a coffee maker I'd save so much money." I won't give that up, either (though some sort of french press might end up on the shortlist, if only so I don't have to leave my house on Saturday mornings when it's 8 degrees). In short, I will not sacrifice everything I enjoy in my 20's so that I can enjoy my 60's.
What I will do:
1) Start some measurable amount of savings.
2) Monitor my spending to understand my own trends so that I can plan accordingly (not make unreasonable limits).
3) Raise my credit rating significantly over the next 3 years.
4) Be able to make travel plans without ending up a crying heap on my bed.
5) Feel confident that I will enjoy my 60's as much as I'm enjoying my 20's.
So there they are. My initial ambitions. I'm sure this list will grow, shrink, and/or change in any other way that seems prudent, but I think it's a good start.
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