Throughout 2008, I put $1 a day into a high yield savings account. Well, in theory. In practice, I transferred the funds once a month. In 366 days, my account is now at…
$371.22!
Okay, so it’s only an extra $5.22 in interest. But it was an easy way to put away close to $400. I barely missed that $1 a day. I’ve decided to keep it up for 2009 and keep the money in HSBC, though I seriously considered moving it to ING Direct, where I have my other online accounts. For now, however, nothing changes. I’m still going to save an easy $1 a day.
Anyone want to join me in this saving plan?
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
Hi I just started something like this. I use ING so I created a sub account and am transferring $7 every Sunday to my Dollar A Day Account which is a savings account.
Good job.
Congrats on building your savings!
This is a great idea. I may just have to join you in this.
Look at you! I unfort. quit after a good 4-5 months, but the idea still fascinates the hell outta me 🙂
I’m still putting aside random dollars every week, but just can’t get back into the rhythm of a definite # per day…maybe i’ll try again for this year though?
That’s a great idea! I’m might have to try it, too.
Sounds like a great idea. $365 doesn’t seem like a lot of money, but it’s better having that money in a savings account than spending it elsewhere. And putting in $1 a day doesn’t seem that bad. I’m going to create a new savings account on top of my other savings and do this. Great idea! Thanks.