Gather Little by Little

Since the major cut in the interest rate back in 2008, we haven’t heard much about the FED cranking up the intraday rate so far. However, with recent GDP stats (5.7% annualised rate for the last quarter), we will surely hear some whispered rumors about the prime interest rate going up.

What is the intraday interest rate?

The FED has control over the inter bank rate. This is the rate established for banks lending to each other for one day. At the end of every day, banks look at their balance sheet and borrow or lend money in order to balance their assets with their liabilities. These loans are for 24 hours since their balance sheet changes daily. This is why we have an intra day interest rate.

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In February of 2010, the new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act will go into affect. If you do not use credit cards, you will not be directly affected by this change. The only changes that you will see are higher fees on your regular bank usage as financial institutions try to find other ways to increase revenue. Here are the changes with a few comments from me (as usual):

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chase blueprint

In recent times, I have been receiving email from Chase and their “fabulous” new concept: Chase Blueprint. I was a bit reluctant to look into this “new concept” as I wondered how it could really help a person to manage his debt better”¦ especially since the idea came from a bank ;-)

However, I have received more information about the Chase Blueprint features and they appear promising.

chase blueprint

What is Chase Blueprint?

As the name suggests, Chase is offering you a way to create a Blueprint to pay off your debt. Blueprint is a free debt management system that allows setting repayment goals for specific expenses.

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I enjoy the spirit and the meaning of the season. I am all in favor of celebrating the birth of Christ and I am not all that opposed to a fat man sliding down my chimney to steal my milk and cookies. However, the stress of gifts, gift giving and parties is too much for me to handle. No matter how much my wife and I try to keep a lid on things, we over-extend ourselves financially every year around Christmas. That is why I like Thanksgiving so much.

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As I previously mentioned, most of the growth present in the US economy is coming from the money injected into our capitalist system by the Government. The housing market hasn’t seemed to pick up that much and the real unemployment rate is closer to 17% than 10% (unemployment rate doesn’t count people that are on welfare or those who gave up and quit looking for a job).

This is why so many people are asking if we will get another stimulus check in 2010?

So here’s what we know so far:

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I have been doing a lot of thinking about family finance and especially the financial relationship between a husband and wife. I do not have all of the answers to solve every problem in this area, but I thought I would share just a few thoughts:

Family finance is about priorities. Both the husband and the wife should contribute to these priorities. It is our money, regardless of who may have directly earned it. My paycheck might be bigger, but Mrs. Stew does a whole lot of things that allow me to do the job for which I am paid.

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Wikipedia defines a vice as a practice or a habit considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity or merely a bad habit.

Recently, I spent some time thinking about how much money I spend on things that I really do not need – not necessarily things that make life easier – but rather things that are simply a habit, a pleasure or a waste of time. I am not going to exactly reveal my particular “vices”, but I think it is a good idea once in a while to take stock of the little money trickles in our budget. You know the holes that allow a few bucks to slip through during the course of a month? Some of these items might even have a legitimate place in our lives, but we all must consider the cost.

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Many people in today’s economy are struggling to stay afloat. They are working to rein in their spending and get their finances under control, but when they see the amount of debt they have, or the 0 balance in their savings or retirement accounts they feel overwhelmed. The good news is that regardless of how big of a challenge your getting control is for you, you can do it. Doing so actually isn’t that hard, but it will take time. Here’s how to get control of your finances in a single day:

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I’m sure it’s happened to you. A birthday, holiday, or special occasion is coming up for someone in your life, but you have no clue what to get them. For all but the closest of my family members this happens to be frequently. It’s even worse for my parents and in-laws as they generally have all of the things they need or want that are within the price range I can afford. I try to look for things they want and wouldn’t normally purchase for themselves, but that’s tough. So many times I resort to gift cards.

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I have been a customer of ING Direct for several years now and although there are other banks that are offering higher interest rates, I will always keep the majority of my savings money there.I know that many people like ING’s Electric Orange checking account, but I personally do not use it. I prefer to use a local, brick and mortar bank for checking.

Here is what I like most about ING Direct: sub accounts. I currently have seven different sub accounts as a part of my regular savings account at ING Direct. Here is how I use the sub account feature at ING Direct:

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