I need some direction with personal budget

[Broken Arrow]

Regarding the cash thing, I do think it works well in steps, depending on where you are in your financial journey, right? When my finances were spiralling out of control, shifting to an all-cash system was just what the doctor ordered. However, now that it's well under control, I went back into the credit cards, but with discipline and budget oversight this time around.

Of course, there's nothing wrong sticking with cash either.

[Wealthizfreedom]

We used to be in a spot where we used credit cards and paid them off each month, but for us it seems we easily loose sight of how "real" the cards are and have spent more. I would love to have the discipline of using a cash back card, (makes sense), but I also went back to the envelope system for our everyday/monthy expenses,...groceries, gas, hobbies..etc..

I just got the $25 bonus certificate from ING yesterday and will be switching our emergency funds to it. Going from .1% savings to 4.35%....duh! no brainer right?

[Ima saver]

Good for you wealthiz. I do charge things, but i write them down so I don't go over the amount I have budgeted for. I keep everything in envelopes!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Wealthizfreedom

I just got the $25 bonus certificate from ING yesterday and will be switching our emergency funds to it. Going from .1% savings to 4.35%....duh! no brainer right?

Certainly, that's a big improvement. Just keep in mind that ING is not paying a competitive interest rate. For some reason, they failed to raise rates as the Fed did, but numerous other banks have so ING is now low on the list. Quite a few banks are now over 5%. I think 5.15% is the current high at Emigrant Direct. Once you've claimed your $25 from ING there is really no reason to stay with them and accept their inferior rate. Just something else to think about.

[greedy4chips]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Once you've claimed your $25 from ING there is really no reason to stay with them and accept their inferior rate. Just something else to think about.

I would be sure to let them know that after you withdraw your funds. Perhaps they would make you an offer to stay. I would also refer anyone else in your family to get the $25 + $10 for you referral bonuses. ING's customer service department said I could do this for myself, wife, and all 3 kids. So I am going to make 5-$25 + 4-$10 referral bonuses. Not bad!!! We each also get to refer up to 25 people or 125 referrals * $10 = $1250...woohoo!

I will then look around for some more Referral bonuses like Virtual Bank who pays $20 to your referrals + $20 to you for referring them (up to 50 referrals or $1k in referrals).

Amt invested 5 * $250 (ING's min dep to collect $25) = $1250
Potential ING return $1250 + 5 * $25 = $1375
Potential Virtual Bank return $5000 (50 referrals at $20 each) + 5 * $20 (our signup bonus) = $5100

That's my plan!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by greedy4chips

That's my plan!

Good plan if you can take advantage of the referrals. I don't think I could so it isn't worth it to me.

I do recall getting lots of friends to sign up for Paypal back when they were paying a referral bonus.