Getting Interest from the Bank

One of the things I love about having a snow day is having the time to skim and scan my through some of the really interesting blogs that I don't normally have time to read. One of those is Champagne Living. The author is quite a character -- Zippy -- and she is definitely my kind of gal!! She tackles the usual finding deals and saving money, along with some more "high brow" things like where to find great Broadway tickets, jewelry etc. Like I said, my kind of gal.

Anyway --- browsing through her blog this morning I noticed a post about interest rates at banks. And she was quoting 6% interest from some banks (not near me, but still!!) I could hardly believe my eyes --- I'm thinking I'm doing pretty well when I get 3.5% for crying out loud. So --- of course -- I clicked through and checked out this amazing list of banks and their interest rates. It lists them state by state (if you live right in the little notch where three states intersect -- like I do --- this is huge!!) And while I didn't find 6% in any of my three little states, I did find a little local bank (that I recognized even!!) that was offering 5%. Now, that's not anything to sneeze at.

I have the credit union at work take money out of my paycheck every pay period -- if I don't see it, it doesn't hurt. But as that money accumulates, I keep moving it to different banks to get better interest on my savings (okay, okay --- any interest --- the credit union gives me zippo -- but they'll take it out without my having to do anything. I am a huge fan of the automatic millionaire principle --- just set it up to happen without you seeing it or having to actually do anything and it will actually happen -- which is better than what happens if you have to remember to do it) I'm thinking we might just have found a new bank for the savings account. Thanks Zippy!! This is a good one.

So here's what I'm suggesting ---

1. Go check out Zippy's blog (really, you'll like it) here

2. Go check out this list of banks with the best interest rates for your area (this is checking accounts --- which is good if you need to access the account without physically going to the bank -- I'm sure there must be one for savings accounts too)

3. Have a heart to heart with your calculator and see if you'd make enough money in interest to make it worth the little bit of time it would take you to open a new account and move some money around.