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Closing a Savings Account

August 23, 2012

I was reviewing my accounts the other day, which is something I do periodically. From that review I decided that it’s time to close my Capital One Savings Account. Originally I had opened it because I wanted a separate bank for my emergency fund and for my car replacement fund. Now that wasn’t a bad idea, but it does mean one more account to reconcile, and it just wasn’t earning very good interest. I was making more interest on my ING savings account that had less money in it than I was in the Capital One. So I have decided to close the Capital One Account and move the monies over to my ING savings account.

I have taken the first several steps to closing the account:

  • I have withdrawn the monies and transferred them leaving a zero balance
  • I have stopped all automatic fund transfers, both in and out of the account
  • I have contacted Capital One to ask them to close the account now that it has a zero balance.

We will see in the next few days how hard it is to close!

Another Car Repair Bill

July 31, 2012

Once again we took our car in for a repair. This time it was our Ford Explorer (other vehicle is GMC Safari). On a recent trip the air conditioning went out. Now, this is not a have to have, but it did make things very uncomfortable, especially this summer and our recent heat wave. As part of my job I do some local traveling, and it is tough going from my church office to hospitals or people’s homes and then be all sweaty – it doesn’t make for nice visits!

The bill will probably be close to $1000 (will not get the final bill for a few weeks – thankfully!), and this will for all practicality wipe out our emergency fund. It has been a rough year for that fund with multiple car repair bills and hospital visits. But except for our mortgage we are still out of debt! So we will just plug along and keep trying to rebuild the fund.

I have started taking some notes for when I redo my budgets for next year – yes that is several months away but I don’t want to forget! With our older cars we definitely need to put more aside in the car budget category. Right now it pays for gas and oil and some minor car needs, but there is not enough in it for any major bills like this.I hope to increase this budget significantly next year so that at least some of these repair bills can be covered. read more

Stress in Life

July 24, 2012

So what stresses you in Life? Work? Family? Money? Something else? Right now, I would have to say that money is stressing me out. Our emergency fund is in tatters, the one car is in the shop right now getting the AC looked at, and I know we have some medical bills coming this Fall (braces for child number 2). And it seems I am not the only one.

One of the survey sites that I use to make a little fun money is My Survey. They do a daily quick poll and the one the other day asked – “What causes you the most stress in Life?” Over 32,000 people responded to this poll! The results were:

  •           Family and/or Relationships…..24%
  •           Health Concerns…………………….  9%
  •           Money Concerns……………………42%
  •           School………………………………….  2%
  •           Work……………………………………12%
  •           Other Stress………………………….  5%
  •           No stress in Life…………………….  6%

I really wasn’t surprised. Money is the number one stressor for most of us. I was a little caught off guard by the fact that 6% said they had no stress in their life – I wonder if they have a life (okay, just joking)? I do wonder though if the world’s economy has something to do with the percentage or if this is about normal. I would think this is a little higher than normal, but probably not by much. read more

Carnival of Money Stories #17

July 10, 2007

Welcome to the Carnival of Money Stories, Edition #17.  I was kindly asked to host this time around, and happily agreed.  There were a total of 15 submissions to the carnival this week, but I could only accept 9.  The Carnival of Money Stories is focused on personal money related stories – so there needs to be a personal touch.  Here are the 9 great posts that I picked – be sure to check them all out and leave your comments:

MoneyNing explains what he could have done when his checking account balance read a whopping $4.32, and he had bills to pay.  It’s a tough spot to be in, but there are ways to get by. Super Saver from My Wealth Builder writes about his/her daughter’s alternate form of currency – a pretty neat look into a kid’s world. Free Money Finance writes about what makes people happy – sometimes it isn’t just about the money. Stephanie over at Stop the Ride cracked the $300 monthly mark in online earnings this past month – congratulations.  Time to save that money or pay off some debt. Nina at Queercents talks about how it can be difficult when your partner out-earns you.  Her first partner made thirty times what she did – wow! Trent from The Simple Dollar relates a story about one of his readers and her very difficult financial situation.  Any time you couple crushing debt with medical problems, there’s bound to be trouble. Cheap as Chips tells a story about his first house – and how his father’s loan made it all possible.  Nice to have a dad who will help you out like that – not all parents are generous enough to do so. The Silicon Valley Blogger writes about how the real estate bubble is surrounding her – right in her own neighborhood. Active Duty Military Money and Matters writes about his 

recent experience with USAA read more

Profit-taking Drops Gold Like a Rock

March 2, 2007

I couldn’t avoid the fun pun in the title. Honest. With the record drops in the stock markets around the world in the last few days, many are trying to hold on to what profits they have. What that means is that many are selling off their Gold holdings. Gold has been on a run the last year or so and really has taken off creating plenty of room for profit with many investors.

Gold is very liquid, so inevitably it gets sold when people need cash to meet margin calls or hedge funds need to repay debt to reduce their leverage,” said James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, which had $186 million worth of gold and silver in storage for investors at the end of January.

And with the drops in the markets, I would imagine there are a few margins being called right now. Gold still is a decent safe investment as it really isn’t ever going to lose a large portion of it’s value. Or shouldn’t in any case. Even the 1.5% drop it just experienced really isn’t a huge drop. But a drop is a drop. Especially when it is caused by a non-related stock drop. read more

Retirement Savings Contributions Credit

January 19, 2007

If you meet the criteria, you can claim up to a 50% credit for contributions to a qualifying retirement savings account(a.k.a Saver’s Credit).  I’ve used it in the past and if everything falls into place this year, I might qualify again.  It’s gonna be close though.

Here’s how you qualify.

  • You’ve got to have been born before January 2, 1988.
  • You are not a full-time student.
  • No one can claim you as a dependent
  • Your adjusted gross income is not more than
    • $50,000 if married filing jointly
    • $37,500 if head of household
    • $25,000 if married filing separate, filing single or qualifying widow with dependent child

    It’s pretty obvious by those standards that while many will qualify, few will take advantage of it.  The problem is that you need to be making very little to qualify.  That is the point of the credit.  To get the lower income families to contribute to retirement savings and lessen the load on Social Security, welfare, medicare, etc…

    Now, what contributions are eligible?

    All contributions to a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), SIMPLE 401(k), 403(b) annuity, governmental 457 plan, SIMPLE IRA, salary reduction SEP, and a 501(c)(18) plan are deductible.  That pretty much covers everything.

    The deduction ranges from 10% to 50% and is tied to your AGI. You can refer to IRS Form 8880to see the full table of AGI’s and their respective deduction %’s. read more

I got an Ebay Store!

May 22, 2006

I finally broke down and went through with signing up for an Ebay Store.  It’s been a long time coming.  My wife and I started getting a little more serious about out side show ebay efforts last summer and it has escalated since then.

It really isn’t all that hard, and just the addition of the selling manager has been fun.  The greatest boon is the reduced listing fees.  Of course they are offset by the $15.95 a month for the store, but if you list enough items and sell a good portion of them, the profits will outweigh the costs and we’ll end up coming ahead on the deal.  It’s only been about 36 hours and I’ve got about 70-80 items listed as store inventory and another 35ish listed in auction format.  Should be interesting to see how it turns out.  We’ll try it for a month or so and reassess the whole thing then.

Has anyone else had any luck with an Ebay Store?  What is a normal amount for most as far as listings go?  I’ve heard some people say that they try and have nearly 300 listed at any one time.  It might be a while before we get to that level, but I have no doubt that if we continue like we have, we will reach it. read more

Closing a Savings Account

August 23, 2012

I was reviewing my accounts the other day, which is something I do periodically. From that review I decided that it’s time to close my Capital One Savings Account. Originally I had opened it because I wanted a separate bank for my emergency fund and for my car replacement fund. Now that wasn’t a bad idea, but it does mean one more account to reconcile, and it just wasn’t earning very good interest. I was making more interest on my ING savings account that had less money in it than I was in the Capital One. So I have decided to close the Capital One Account and move the monies over to my ING savings account.

I have taken the first several steps to closing the account:

  • I have withdrawn the monies and transferred them leaving a zero balance
  • I have stopped all automatic fund transfers, both in and out of the account
  • I have contacted Capital One to ask them to close the account now that it has a zero balance.

We will see in the next few days how hard it is to close!

Another Car Repair Bill

July 31, 2012

Once again we took our car in for a repair. This time it was our Ford Explorer (other vehicle is GMC Safari). On a recent trip the air conditioning went out. Now, this is not a have to have, but it did make things very uncomfortable, especially this summer and our recent heat wave. As part of my job I do some local traveling, and it is tough going from my church office to hospitals or people’s homes and then be all sweaty – it doesn’t make for nice visits!

The bill will probably be close to $1000 (will not get the final bill for a few weeks – thankfully!), and this will for all practicality wipe out our emergency fund. It has been a rough year for that fund with multiple car repair bills and hospital visits. But except for our mortgage we are still out of debt! So we will just plug along and keep trying to rebuild the fund.

I have started taking some notes for when I redo my budgets for next year – yes that is several months away but I don’t want to forget! With our older cars we definitely need to put more aside in the car budget category. Right now it pays for gas and oil and some minor car needs, but there is not enough in it for any major bills like this.I hope to increase this budget significantly next year so that at least some of these repair bills can be covered. read more

Stress in Life

July 24, 2012

So what stresses you in Life? Work? Family? Money? Something else? Right now, I would have to say that money is stressing me out. Our emergency fund is in tatters, the one car is in the shop right now getting the AC looked at, and I know we have some medical bills coming this Fall (braces for child number 2). And it seems I am not the only one.

One of the survey sites that I use to make a little fun money is My Survey. They do a daily quick poll and the one the other day asked – “What causes you the most stress in Life?” Over 32,000 people responded to this poll! The results were:

  •           Family and/or Relationships…..24%
  •           Health Concerns…………………….  9%
  •           Money Concerns……………………42%
  •           School………………………………….  2%
  •           Work……………………………………12%
  •           Other Stress………………………….  5%
  •           No stress in Life…………………….  6%

I really wasn’t surprised. Money is the number one stressor for most of us. I was a little caught off guard by the fact that 6% said they had no stress in their life – I wonder if they have a life (okay, just joking)? I do wonder though if the world’s economy has something to do with the percentage or if this is about normal. I would think this is a little higher than normal, but probably not by much. read more

Carnival of Money Stories #17

July 10, 2007

Welcome to the Carnival of Money Stories, Edition #17.  I was kindly asked to host this time around, and happily agreed.  There were a total of 15 submissions to the carnival this week, but I could only accept 9.  The Carnival of Money Stories is focused on personal money related stories – so there needs to be a personal touch.  Here are the 9 great posts that I picked – be sure to check them all out and leave your comments:

MoneyNing explains what he could have done when his checking account balance read a whopping $4.32, and he had bills to pay.  It’s a tough spot to be in, but there are ways to get by. Super Saver from My Wealth Builder writes about his/her daughter’s alternate form of currency – a pretty neat look into a kid’s world. Free Money Finance writes about what makes people happy – sometimes it isn’t just about the money. Stephanie over at Stop the Ride cracked the $300 monthly mark in online earnings this past month – congratulations.  Time to save that money or pay off some debt. Nina at Queercents talks about how it can be difficult when your partner out-earns you.  Her first partner made thirty times what she did – wow! Trent from The Simple Dollar relates a story about one of his readers and her very difficult financial situation.  Any time you couple crushing debt with medical problems, there’s bound to be trouble. Cheap as Chips tells a story about his first house – and how his father’s loan made it all possible.  Nice to have a dad who will help you out like that – not all parents are generous enough to do so. The Silicon Valley Blogger writes about how the real estate bubble is surrounding her – right in her own neighborhood. Active Duty Military Money and Matters writes about his 

recent experience with USAA read more

Profit-taking Drops Gold Like a Rock

March 2, 2007

I couldn’t avoid the fun pun in the title. Honest. With the record drops in the stock markets around the world in the last few days, many are trying to hold on to what profits they have. What that means is that many are selling off their Gold holdings. Gold has been on a run the last year or so and really has taken off creating plenty of room for profit with many investors.

Gold is very liquid, so inevitably it gets sold when people need cash to meet margin calls or hedge funds need to repay debt to reduce their leverage,” said James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, which had $186 million worth of gold and silver in storage for investors at the end of January.

And with the drops in the markets, I would imagine there are a few margins being called right now. Gold still is a decent safe investment as it really isn’t ever going to lose a large portion of it’s value. Or shouldn’t in any case. Even the 1.5% drop it just experienced really isn’t a huge drop. But a drop is a drop. Especially when it is caused by a non-related stock drop. read more

Retirement Savings Contributions Credit

January 19, 2007

If you meet the criteria, you can claim up to a 50% credit for contributions to a qualifying retirement savings account(a.k.a Saver’s Credit).  I’ve used it in the past and if everything falls into place this year, I might qualify again.  It’s gonna be close though.

Here’s how you qualify.

  • You’ve got to have been born before January 2, 1988.
  • You are not a full-time student.
  • No one can claim you as a dependent
  • Your adjusted gross income is not more than
    • $50,000 if married filing jointly
    • $37,500 if head of household
    • $25,000 if married filing separate, filing single or qualifying widow with dependent child

    It’s pretty obvious by those standards that while many will qualify, few will take advantage of it.  The problem is that you need to be making very little to qualify.  That is the point of the credit.  To get the lower income families to contribute to retirement savings and lessen the load on Social Security, welfare, medicare, etc…

    Now, what contributions are eligible?

    All contributions to a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), SIMPLE 401(k), 403(b) annuity, governmental 457 plan, SIMPLE IRA, salary reduction SEP, and a 501(c)(18) plan are deductible.  That pretty much covers everything.

    The deduction ranges from 10% to 50% and is tied to your AGI. You can refer to IRS Form 8880to see the full table of AGI’s and their respective deduction %’s. read more

I got an Ebay Store!

May 22, 2006

I finally broke down and went through with signing up for an Ebay Store.  It’s been a long time coming.  My wife and I started getting a little more serious about out side show ebay efforts last summer and it has escalated since then.

It really isn’t all that hard, and just the addition of the selling manager has been fun.  The greatest boon is the reduced listing fees.  Of course they are offset by the $15.95 a month for the store, but if you list enough items and sell a good portion of them, the profits will outweigh the costs and we’ll end up coming ahead on the deal.  It’s only been about 36 hours and I’ve got about 70-80 items listed as store inventory and another 35ish listed in auction format.  Should be interesting to see how it turns out.  We’ll try it for a month or so and reassess the whole thing then.

Has anyone else had any luck with an Ebay Store?  What is a normal amount for most as far as listings go?  I’ve heard some people say that they try and have nearly 300 listed at any one time.  It might be a while before we get to that level, but I have no doubt that if we continue like we have, we will reach it. read more

Who is
Penny Saved?

From the basics of financial management to ways to be debt-free, Penny Saved explores how to achieve financial freedom.

We cover topics such as personal finance, income streams, loans; and offer practical tips on managing your finances.

We also analyze financial products from banks, licensed money lenders, to assist you in making wiser decisions for yourself!

Learn More
lady holding Free Government Phone
lady holding Free Government Phone

Who is
Penny Saved?

From the basics of financial management to ways to be debt-free, Penny Saved explores how to achieve financial freedom.

We cover topics such as personal finance, income streams, loans; and offer practical tips on managing your finances.

We also analyze financial products from banks, licensed money lenders, to assist you in making wiser decisions for yourself!

Learn More
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