New found savings

New found Savings

I'm always on the lookout for new places to save money and give me a better return than the local bank can.

In my short time at home, I spend most of it on my desktop and some of it working on moving my office.  The treasures I've found just by cleaning up is amazing.  It brought back so many memories, both good and bad.  Looking through statements and receipts took me back to the wild ride we had over the past several years.  Watching two of my children graduate and turn into young adults.  How we had such a rocky climb back out of the hole we had dug so deep.  Now I watch my own children encountering similar financial struggles.  Of course as I did at their age, they don't listen to anyones advice.  They know it all and will figure it out for themselves.  Lucky for you, you've decided to expand your knowledge and ended up here.  What better way to learn is from experience and that I have.

Years ago I started with an ING Direct account.  A little bit put into it and eventually became 6 different accounts for many purposes.  One is for insurance deductibles.  How many people have the deductible set aside just encase they have to use their insurance policy?  I ran into it once where there was an accident and the insurance would pay the rest after I met the deductible.  It took me months to get that money together so the truck could get fixed.  At that point I started saving into it and keep that account always at the amount needed to meet any deductible.  It gains interest and once a year I move the interest into another account.  I have a Christmas account, money set aside for gifts.  It is another thing that saves me at the end of the year.  We determine a value per child and stick with it.  Then through the year I save up to that amount.  When we start getting presents the money comes out of that account to pay for them.  An emergency account, all unexpected income goes into this account.  Any money from overtime to bonuses and  even tax returns go into this account.  This has been a big plus for me.  If there is any kind of emergency that pops up such as a home or auto repair I'm covered.  Then we have the checking/debit card account.  This usually has some undetermined amount in it and it is where the funds from the other accounts go into if I need to use them for some reason.  Please note that my emergency account is just that, for emergencies.  Going out to eat, buying something nice and so forth is NOT an emergency.  I know it can be tempting to pull from it when it grows but remember it's better to be prepared than not.  I had set up some kids accounts so my children could learn about money and have a place to save.  They get their own debit card that they can use to access the money.  A few years ago, ING Direct was bought by Capitol One and became Capitol One 360.  It still earns interest the same and works great.  I finally have a credit card through Capitol One and earn points to put towards payments or travel.  I also started an IRA account with them which is easy to fund from any of the accounts I have.  Remember, there are no limits on how many accounts you can have.  I like to save money so I pay for my car insurance for the 6 month period.  To do this I take so much a month and set it aside in the appropriate account.

The new account I found though can help you save up that emergency fund and gives you rewards for doing so.  I've been getting emails from Brightpeak Financial for some time now with so much useful information and helpful tips on saving money.  They have a way to save for emergencies and reward you for reaching the goals they set.  Signing up is easy and the only commitment is the initial deposit, minimum $1 and a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly automatic deposit.  The weekly deposit minimum is $13, by-weekly $27 or monthly at $50.  The goal is to help you have $1000 saved in a 24 month period.  The rewards are fantastic as they give you money for reaching set goals.  You can actually get some nice sums which beat any returns any bank could offer you.  Basically they will give you up to $100 over the 24 month period for reaching the goals set.  This is all done through Thrivent Federal Credit Union's Emergency Savings Share Account.  Check it out, you won't be sorry.  The interest rates are very nice as well.  There is one catch but a good one.  There are no fees as long as you don't make more than one withdrawal a month.  This may seem harsh but it insures that you will only use this money in a true emergency.

I'd like to keep going on but have some more things to do.  I have a couple other accounts that you may want to check out but I'll leave that for tomorrow.