All Entries in the "Saving" Category

How to Get More From “Bank FDIC Insured”

You’ve probably heard that congress has just increased FDIC coverage on bank deposits from $100 thousand to $250 thousand dollars.

I just found out how my spouse and I can increase our FDIC insurance coverage from $250 thousand to as high as $1 million dollars.

Not that we need it, but for you lucky folks out there who do, here’s how it works, direct from ING:

You don’t actually need to be married, to do this.  And if you go to another bank, you can do it all over again, and the money in both banks is totally insured.

This economic skid has got me thinking about things I never really thought much about.   One of those things is how important it is to have my money in an “FDIC Insured” bank.

• Weakon 217: FDIC Insurance    What is FDIC Insurance and how does it work?  Why do my tax dollars pay for FDIC Insurance? FDIC stands for Federal Deposit Insurance...
• 10 Innovative Sites That Put Money In Your Pocket Found a good list of sites from Wise Bread to help you save money or put some extra coin in your pocket. You set a...
• OnBank Account Review The second high yield savings account I opened was with OnBank. They offer a Money Market Savings account as well as "high" interest CD's. Their...

Bank Account Rates Rise as Banks Compete for Your Business

The best place to keep your money right now might just be the local bank.  Small and medium size banks - especially those that do not sell their home loans, offer an incrementally safer place to stash the cash while the market figures itself out.  So while it might be tough to get a loan right now, if you shop around, you could land a great CD or savings account interest rate.

On-line banks are jumping into the ring, too. There’s even an on-line bank rate auction site called MoneyAisle that allows banks to bid for your CD and savings account business. Endorsed by the NY Times, Fox Business Channel, and CNBC, the site allows only FDIC insured banks to participate, and the service is free.

Bankaholic and Bankrate have search engines that can help you find the best rates as well.

Even if you’ve decided to weather the market crisis, consider shifting your current savings to a higher rate account.  It certainly won’t offset the market losses we’re all enduring, but every little bit helps.

• Short Term Savings: Why Do You Need it, How Much Do You Need, and Where Do You Put it? Everyone needs to have access to 'short term savings'.  It's the money you pull from when you have all those unexpected expenses, like maybe a...
• Make the Most of Your FDIC Insurance Limits On October 3, 2008, Congress passed a bill that temporarily increases the FDIC insurance limits. An updated post can be seen here. With the recent...
• Overview of Online Savings Accounts I recently signed up for a National City checking account to take advantage of a $150 deal, which has now increased to $200. I had...

Cha-Ching! Not

Many of you savers out there probably have a habit of putting your spare change into a can every night. “Cha-Ching.” Such a comforting sound those coins make as they fall into the can. I have been doing this for years now. Then, of course, I usually blow the chunk of change quite frivolously, but, hey, who’s counting?

Now, that is all in the past. Now I am counting. I need to grow that Emergency Fund.
Alas, what to do, what to do?
Then, an idea. Not a new one, I’m sure, but new to me.

In my determination to speed up this “Slow Boat to China” method of improving my Net Worth, I’ve added an additional Cha-Ching. Inflation has driven the can to new heights: it now receives paper money.

Because, really, what is change? What is a penny or even a quarter worth these days? Why do we even still have change?!?!

Now, every time I go to spend money without thinking, I think! Do I really need this? Do I really need this newspaper, coffee (or, ok, Snickers Bar)? Is this worth my dollar?

If I decide I can live with out it, that evening the salvaged unspent dollar goes into the can.

It has been amazing! I am racking up the bucks!

I do miss the Cha-Ching sound of the coins, though. Sigh. Inflation hits us all in many ways.

• Spare Change and Snowflaking: A Way to Boost Your Emergency Fund I snapped the above photo a few weeks ago; the plastic bag bursting to the seams with $10.62 worth of spare change. $10.62 may not...