Saving a Little Each Month

I love ING Direct. I was kind of freaked out by a bank account where there was no physical branch that I could actually walk into, so it took me a long time to sign up. I wish I had gotten over it and started saving sooner.

Now I am no Suze Orman. For the big stuff, like mortgages, 401Ks, Roth IRAs, 529 plans and all of the other ways we are losing money these days, I work with my husband and a trusty financial advisor.

However, when it comes to finding money for a little family vacation, a new stroller, or the kid's nursery school tuition down the road? Talk to me- I'm your girl.

Here's where ING Direct comes in. They're an online savings bank. You can open as many savings accounts as you want- for free- and you get a decent interest rate (well, decent compared to what you'll get at a typical bank). Your ING account(s) are tied to your regular checking account, making it super duper easy to set up automatic savings.

I use ING for stuff our family needs that might not be a every month thing. I have separate accounts for stuff like clothing, a Disney World trip (in 2012- dang... talk about delayed gratification), home improvement, car maintenance, our quarterly water bill, our annual life insurance bill, and we even had one while we were saving for our Nintendo Wii. I have a certain amount transferred into each account every month so I don't have to think about saving- it just happens. When I need the money- there it is- earning interest- and I just transfer it back to checking.

Make sense?

So heed my advice that I'm NOT a financial guru, but this savings system works really well for us.

Here's an even cooler thing- I just got something in the newspaper advertising a $25 bonus for opening an account. If you got one too, there is a referral code in the bottom right corner... put it in, open your account, and there is your free $25. It's legit, no strings attached. I can vouch for it.

If you didn't get an ad and want to open an account, I can refer you. You'll get the $25 if your initial balance is $250 or more (and I get a $10 referral fee... just being honest). So if you want a referral, email me and I'll hook you up! happilyaverage@gmail.com.