moneytalks

I’ve written in the past about the benefits of online savings accounts vs. traditional banking. Now I hear an offer like this. Washington Mutual, or also known as WaMu, is now offering an unheard of 3.75% interest on savings accounts. The only “catch” is that you must also open a online checking account with them as well. You can open these accounts with as little as $1. For an added incentive to use their checking account they are offering $0.03 for every use of their debit card up to $250. This will be applied on your one year anniversary assuming all accounts are still open and in good standings. Lets look at the benefit of a earning 3.75% interest over lower earning accounts. Lets take our generic $5,000 example once again. Over a six month period around $92 would be earned by using this high interest account. Take this opposed to your, lets say, 1% interest in your traditional bank which would earn you right around $25. Now that’s a huge difference! Just go to www.wamu.com, click on savings accounts and follow any instructions. Basically free money, who can pass that up?

The weekend is here and going out and spending money is what we all want to do. But, we’re told to save our money, spending it is bad and wasteful. This brings us to the age old question. “Is money made to be spent and enjoyed or saved?” I know that this blog is a lot of saving tips but I don’t necessarily believe that all money should be hoarded away. There is a happy medium here, but most don’t fall into that medium. There are cheap stingy people and spendaholics. I used to be a very frugal person, afraid to spend a dollar for a drink at a gas station. I believe I have found the middle ground. You can argue that money is there to enjoy, you can’t take it with you when you die. So go out and by that new TV, or enjoy those fancy dinners every night or ignore the sales rack at the department store. The other side of the spectrum will tell you that a nest egg is what you need and you never know what emergency may arise. I wish that more people  would say that they are both right. I guess what I’m trying to do with this blog is give some advise on how to save money so you can take a part of those savings and splurge on yourself and put some away for that rainy day. If you’re one sided on this topic than you are in trouble. You are either going to waste away with all your money in the bank, not having enjoyed any of it. Or you’re going to spend it all and lose your house, car or possibly even your family. Unfortunately the title “save vs. spend” is what most people struggle with in their lives. Why can’t we just have some fun with our money without going overboard? 

Most of us have our checking and savings accounts through our regular, brick and mortar banks. But is this really the best place to keep your money? Banking online has become more and more popular the past couple of years, largely due to the higher interest savings accounts they offer. I know with my local bank I’m getting interest at a whopping 1% or lower. This tends to be the norm when you walk into a bank and open a savings account. But there is an alternative, online banks are offering traditional savings account interest rates that compare with CD rates, plus you keep your money liquid, not tied up in an account you can’t get at. Here are some current rates right now, ETRADE is offering a 3.30% savings account, WaMu is offering the same while FNBOdirect is giving their costumers 3.50%. Plus there are many more out there if you look. And pretty much all that I’ve ever seen offer this with no minimum deposit. Lets break down the difference I’m talking about. Lets say that you have $5,000 in your savings account, with 1% (my brick and mortar bank gives less than that) you’ll earn about $4 a month, thats around $48 a year. Now if you’ve put into an account giving you 3.30% return on your $5,000 you’d be looking at nearly $14 a month which is about $170 a year. That’s about 12X your money! To me there is no comparison, traditional banks just don’t stack up to what online banks are offering.

It’s summer time so most people are thinking vacation, but most are also thinking “I’m broke”. Yesterday I gave some helpful tips on creating a dirt cheap vacation, one like I have taken many times in the past. When I turned 18 a friend and I traveled from my home in Cleveland, Ohio across the country ending up in SanFran, with many stops along the way. We did this with virtually no money at all, sleeping in the car, eating canned food and ramen noodles that we kept in the trunk using camping stoves. And basically doing nothing that would cost us any real money. It was an adventure that I’m glad I took but it is not the ideal travel conditions for most people out there today. Yesterday’s advise was for an absolutely broke traveler. I figure there are a lot of not so broke, just frugal, travelers out there as well. So today is dedicated to saving money for people who are willing to spend a little money. First lets talk destinations. Here are just a few examples, I’m sure you can find tons more just like these.Vancouver, British Columbia: This place has hotels as cheap as $9.00 a night in the downtown area. It is very pedestrian friendly saving you money on taxi or car rental. You can walk to numerous clubs, pubs or beautiful natural settings. This equals cheap!Costa Rica: Costa Rica has been voted by askmen.com as a cheap travel destination. As with any travel spot, you have to stay away from the all inclusive resorts and the package deals for entertainment. These types of “deals” will skyrocket your vacation cost. Vegas: Although the strip is becoming pricey and the main shows are upwards of $150 a ticket, this can still be a cheap place to travel. (considering I averaged going 2X a year without having a lot of money.) Following the advise I gave yesterday and taking some of your own food will come in very handy in Vegas. Plus, with all the free shows up and down the strip all you need is a little gambling money and your entertained for a 3 day vacation rather easily.Now that we have a few ideas of where to go lets talk about getting there.Flights: Airfare, can be costly but it does not have to be. Try flying on off peak days like Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Book flights earlier in the week. Most flights sell headphones to hear the onboard movie, make sure to pack a little pair of headphones. Take only what you need, try to avoid checking a bag since most airlines are charging for the first checked bag nowadays.Hotels: Weigh your options of staying in the city (if you are traveling to a major city) to staying outside the city. Hotel prices are cheaper as little as 5 miles outside of the downtown area.Tackling the “getting there” and “staying there” part is the key to a cheap vacation. Hopefully you can take these tips and give yourself that affordable summer vacation you’ve been looking for this year. Have fun and send me a postcard.

Alright, one great way to save money is by not spending it. But we all need some fun and what is more fun than a summer vacation? A vacation does not need to break the bank–in fact it can be quite cheap. First of all, we don’t need to go to Paris or some exotic land for it to be a great vacation. Start looking close to home, heading to a drivable destination will save a lot of money. Go to your local book store and check out travel books for cities near you. They always have a ton of great tips on free or cheap things to do. Next, what about gas? At over $4.00 a gallon who can afford to go anywhere? Take advantage of gas station perks. Many gas stations give rewards for shopping there, why not use it? You’ll be surprised how quickly those rewards add up and next thing you know you have a free, or heavily reduced tank of gas. This can save you money in your day to day life as well, not only when it comes to vacations. Another reward to take advantage of is from your bank. Most banks offer rewards for using your debit card. Sign up for this! Banks usually offer choices on your rewards from gas cards, free car rental and hotel vouchers. By this time you already have cheap gas a free night or two at a hotel, plus you looked for free things to do in the city you’re visiting. Now all you need to do is eat. Eating out can be one of the most expensive parts of a vacation. Of course you may want to dine out once or twice for a nice dinner but breakfast, snacks and lunch, this all adds up. Try taking food along with you. Snack food is easy to take. Try taking some bagels with peanut butter for breakfast. Stay at a hotel with a continental breakfast and fridge and microwave so you can take some cold, microwavable foods with you. The final tip I have for you is just use common sense. Know how much money you can truly afford and try to spend less than that. Write a daily budget out and stick to it. With discounted gas, free hotel, free meals and free activities it sounds like an oil change at the end of your trip will be the most expensive part. Have fun and enjoy your trip.

Ok, I think I’m finally posting my true “first blog”. Here at my money talks blog I’m going to do just that, talk money. Times are hard for most people with a tough economy. I’m going to try to give tips on saving or making some extra money. Be it through a tip on a credit card/bank promotion, high interest savings or CD accounts. Or maybe with some helpful advise on how to save money on your next vacation. I will even be talking gambling with “how to” segments and casino reviews. I hope to create loyal readers through informative and creative ways to make it through these tough times we all face.

Hello and thanks for checking out my money talks blog. This blog will lead you into many realms of the financial world. With today’s economic crisis money is a hot topic for most households. Hopefully I can give some advise that can ease those hardships a little. It may come in the form of a nice bank or credit card offer (like when American Express offered up a free roundtrip ticket just for using their card once) or a high interest savings or CD account that goes above the national average. Or if it’s a slow day I may give you some gambling tips or casino reviews. Basically anything that has to do with money will be talked about on here. Today I wanted to give a little introduction and little once over of what is to be expected from my blog. Please visit daily for what I have to offer.

Hello, I’m not sure if my other blog titled “My first blog” counted as my first blog. I think I was supposed to use this one. Oh well, I’ll just go over some of the stuff I talked about in my other first blog. Basically here at my money talks blog I’m going to talk about all topics money related. Anything from how to earn more money, be it through credit card/bank promotions, saving tips, above average interest rates for CD’s and savings accounts, gambling, casino reviews and whatever else I feel like sharing for the day. I have a knack when it comes to money so this is my way to get it out to all of you. I hope I get some loyal readers of money talks. Talk to you tomorrow.