This week’s Savings Saturday is where to keep your emergency fund. It’s great when you commit to save money. The hard part isn’t deciding to save or actually doing it. Most people “fall off the wagon” so to speak because they leave their savings a little too accessible. Many of the financial experts will tell you to keep your money where you can get to it quickly in case of an emergency. I recommend this as well. However, what I don’t recommend is keeping your savings and checking at the same institution. It is far too easy to want to make that one or two step transfer. This can be especially dangerous if you use your bank or credit union’s online app on your phone (Thanks Laurie for the suggestion). Like I said, way too easy to make a transfer from savings to checking.
For many, an online bank works well for savings. Transfers usually only take two days which makes it easy to get to your money. Due to the short wait, it also helps avoid impulse spending. Additionally, online banks often have a higher interest rate (Just think you can make a whole 1% or so on your money, rather than the half a percent or less at your brick and mortar credit union or bank).
A great comparison site is bankrate.com (Bankrate is NOT sponsoring this post, I simply think they have great info). You can see what online banks and brick and mortar locations have to offer to meet your needs.
Saving money isn’t easy. Once you make the commitment, be sure and keep it safe for an emergency (and I do mean emergency).
Did you miss the last Savings Saturday?
