SmartyPig Review – 2 X $50 Giveaway – A Smart Way To Save Money!
Last week, I attended an Economic Conference about the global stock market. The economist pointed out that most Americans started saving again instead of spending away all their money. I was happy to see that the population has finally realized the impact of saving money towards achieving their goals instead of borrowing money on their home to pay off their credit cards. This is a huge step to gain control of your personal finance.
Back in early 2008, there was a review of SmartyPig done in this blog (you can read the Smarty Pig Review here). Since we have now arrived at a time to save money, I started looking for the best interest rates in savings’ accounts.
My first reflex was to look at ING. They usually have the best rates of all. It appeared to be at 1.30% as of November 23rd 2009. Then, I went back to Select CD to see if I could beat it. Their main page showed a rate of 1.75%. Encouraged by my research, I kept searching to see if I could reach the psychological mark of 2%. Well I found it at
SmartyPig: They now offer 2.01%!
Then, I started reading more about Smarty Pig; I read previous reviews by Larry and looked at what had been said across the blogosphere when it was first launched. I picked up 2 interesting reviews written by other famous Bloggers;Bible Money Matters, Being Frugal and Trent over The Simple Dollar.
Most reviews I found were issued in March or April 2008. At that time, Smarty Pig had some flaws:
- Long delays to withdraw funds (money was sent by check back then)
- There was a fee to withdraw funds
Now the Smarty Pig team has done their homework and settled those minor hassles: there are no longer delays to withdraw funds as electronic transfers into your checking account are available and there are no fees to withdraw money as well!
A VERY POWERFUL WAY TO SAVE MONEY
Let’s take the following example:
You want to save $200 per month for twelve months. Your total capital saved will then be $2,400. Along with your capital, you will gain some interest: an additional $22 (at 2.01%). So you are now at $2,422. BUT, we are not done yet. If you buy a gift card from a retail partner, you can get an additional bonus (the biggest one is at Macy’s with a mega booster of 12%). This means that you would get $290 free in your pocket for a total of $2,712! Now we are talking!
If you don’t want to buy stuff at Macy’s, you also have the following choices (and mentioned rebate):
Babies”R”us (2%)
Barnes and Nobles (5%)
Bed Bath & Beyond (4%)
GAP (5%)
iTunes (2%)
Jared (7%)
Kmart (4%)
Kohl’s (5%)
Overstock.com (7%)
Sandals (10%)
Sears (4%)
Toys”R”us (2%)
Travelocity Hotel Gift Card (10%)
Travelocity Vacation Gift Card (2 to 10%)
Hum… this sound like a perfect way to save money for Christmas and birthdays!
Click on the following link to see the complete list of Smarty Pig Partners (as some of them don’t offer rebates).
10 REASONS WHY YOU WANT TO OPEN A SMARTYPIG ACCOUNT:
There are plenty of reasons to open an account at SmartyPig, it is a smart way to save money:
#1 The interest rate is almost unbeatable.
#2 You have the possibility to get bonus percentage (now up to 12%) at retail partners.
#3 Automatic withdrawals from your bank account (minimum of $25 per month) is the best way to save money.
#4 Opening an account is FREE!
#5 There is a social network to encourage achieving your goal
#6 Your relatives can contribute to your goal
#7 You have plenty or retail partners to choose gift cards from (there are retailers for almost any projects from gifts to renovation and travelling)
#8 You can now split your savings among gift cards, electronic transfer back to your checking account or adding money to your SmartyPig MasterCard debit card.
#9 It’s FDIC Secure.
#10 I am giving 2 SmartyPig gift card of $50 each to start your goal as a giveaway!
How to enter the giveaway?
1- one entry if you sign up for my mailing list (it’s free)
2- one entry if you comment here and mention how much you save per month.
*Winners must have a SmartyPig account opened as money will be transferred directly into their account at SmartyPig.
I am giving you until December 18th to register. Then, I’ll send $50 to 2 people in their SmartyPig accounts for Christmas in order to help support their goals.
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