My husband recently sent me a text message telling me to check out SmartyPig.com, and said that it was talked about highly on a news channel. SmartyPig is an online savings website, that is through the West Bank, member of FDIC. SmartyPig allows you to set up saving's goals and shows a nice break down of when you are expected to reach your saving's goal based on the amount of monthly contribution you are depositing to the account. Best of all the interest rate right now for SmartyPig is APR 2.72% /APY 2.75%, the highest percentage I have seen for savings in a long time.
My problem with saving money is, although rare, I sometimes happen to see extra money sitting in my checking account and start to feel I have a little more "spending" room. Then I start to notice as the following months come along that we are in an even tighter spot financially than we were before. I'm hoping I'm not the only one that makes this financial mistake, am I? :) Now that we have a baby on the way, I figure now is as good a time as any to begin putting a little bit of money away every month.
The great thing about SmartyPig is that it is automatically set up to deduct money from your current checking account at the amount you determine on the date you pre-select when setting up your savings goal. The minimum initial deposit to open a savings goal is $25.00. Savings goal amounts can be anywhere from $250.00-$250,000. When you create a savings goal, you determine your own title for that account. Some account name ideas; debt payoff, vacation savings, wedding savings, Christmas/birthday funds, etc. My current savings goals are debt payoff and a baby fund. It really doesn't matter what topic you select, it is just meant to help you visualize your goal. I have personally found that it is more exciting to be able to visualize what all of the money is being saved for, rather than having a general savings account with a low interest rate.
When your savings goal is reached, you can either move the funds to your checking account or let them keep growing from the interest. Also, a nice perk once you reach your goal, you can put your funds onto a gift-card(Amazon.com, BabiesRUs, BestBuy, The Home Depot...etc). Why would you want to do that you ask? Well, if you choose to do so, for say Christmas gifts, you can get a boost of up to 6% of your funds when placing it onto a gift card, therefore stretching your money even more. For example, if you had a savings goal of $500.00 that you reached, and then placed it on a gift card, you would gain an extra $30 with the interest boost, resulting in $530. There is also an option to make your savings goal visible to friends and family, and they can make contributions to your account. All of your banking information is private, all that they can see is your goal and how far away you are from achieving your particular goal. There is also the option to let people know about your SmartyPig savings goal and they can purchase a SmartyPig gift card that in turn can be added to your savings goal. SmartyPig gift cards can also be purchased as gifts and given to someone to help them open a savings account.
So just from reading this review you can see that SmartyPig is not your average savings account. Check out SmartyPig and be sure to read the FAQ so you can further understand how it works. Although the economy currently seems to fight against the odds of saving money, it's never too late to set a goal, and even a small monthly contribution will grow into a large amount of funds over time. You can even add to your goal by putting some of the money you can earn online through many of the money-making websites I have reviewed previously. My experience with SmartyPig so far has been great and I recommend that you start a savings goal today.
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