I posted about budgeting a while back and got a few emails about it. So, I thought I would elaborate on banking and investing.
Banking
We bank with a large national bank. We have a checking account, savings account, and two credit cards.
Our paychecks are deposited directly into the checking account. Then we move 10% of our income into the savings account. At the end of the year, we donate the entire balance of that account to charity {mostly to our church}.
We use one credit card to pay for pretty much everything. It's just a basic card with no annual fee. Did you know that you can't really have joint credit cards? Each card only affects one user's credit score. So, our main credit card is in Adam's name and I am the authorized user.
The other credit card is with our favorite airline. We love it because we got a ton of air miles when we signed up and it lets us each check a bag for free when we fly. It's actually supposed to have an annual fee, but we called customer service threatening to cancel the card, and they dropped the fee! We only use this card a few times a month. It's in my name and Adam is the authorized user.
Our main bank doesn't actually have a branch here in Pittsburgh, so we have another checking account at a local bank. It comes in handy when we need to deposit a check every-so-often. We also keep a small amount in there so we have easy access to cash and quarters for laundry.
Investing
We have a savings account with a popular online bank. They offer slightly better interest rates than normal. Well, we actually have two savings accounts with them.
One of the things I love about this bank is that you can have several savings accounts attached to your name. So, you can have separate accounts for each savings goal. You can even nickname them, which is super nice for remembering which account is for which goal.
Our first account is an emergency fund. Our goal is to eventually have enough cash for six months' expenses in this account. We're not there yet, but it's our main savings priority.
Our other account is savings for new furniture. We deposit our credit card cash back into this account every month. When we move in about a year for Adam's grad school, we're hoping to purchase a bed frame and desk.
The rest of our savings is divided equally into two investment accounts. One account is a bond fund. The other is a S&P 500 mutual fund. Both are among the safest investments out there.
At the moment, our income comes from several different sources and is pretty variable throughout the year. So, we don't have a set amount {other than our 10% tithing} that we try to save each month. We just to try to save whenever and whatever we can.
That's about it, for now. When Adam's in grad school and we have a less complicated income, we definitely plan to establish a set savings percentage from each paycheck. And we're planning to set up a Roth IRA to start saving retirement. It seems a little crazy to get that going now though - saving for retirement before we've both graduated from college!
Banking
We bank with a large national bank. We have a checking account, savings account, and two credit cards.
Our paychecks are deposited directly into the checking account. Then we move 10% of our income into the savings account. At the end of the year, we donate the entire balance of that account to charity {mostly to our church}.
We use one credit card to pay for pretty much everything. It's just a basic card with no annual fee. Did you know that you can't really have joint credit cards? Each card only affects one user's credit score. So, our main credit card is in Adam's name and I am the authorized user.
The other credit card is with our favorite airline. We love it because we got a ton of air miles when we signed up and it lets us each check a bag for free when we fly. It's actually supposed to have an annual fee, but we called customer service threatening to cancel the card, and they dropped the fee! We only use this card a few times a month. It's in my name and Adam is the authorized user.
Our main bank doesn't actually have a branch here in Pittsburgh, so we have another checking account at a local bank. It comes in handy when we need to deposit a check every-so-often. We also keep a small amount in there so we have easy access to cash and quarters for laundry.
Investing
We have a savings account with a popular online bank. They offer slightly better interest rates than normal. Well, we actually have two savings accounts with them.
One of the things I love about this bank is that you can have several savings accounts attached to your name. So, you can have separate accounts for each savings goal. You can even nickname them, which is super nice for remembering which account is for which goal.
Our first account is an emergency fund. Our goal is to eventually have enough cash for six months' expenses in this account. We're not there yet, but it's our main savings priority.
Our other account is savings for new furniture. We deposit our credit card cash back into this account every month. When we move in about a year for Adam's grad school, we're hoping to purchase a bed frame and desk.
The rest of our savings is divided equally into two investment accounts. One account is a bond fund. The other is a S&P 500 mutual fund. Both are among the safest investments out there.
At the moment, our income comes from several different sources and is pretty variable throughout the year. So, we don't have a set amount {other than our 10% tithing} that we try to save each month. We just to try to save whenever and whatever we can.
That's about it, for now. When Adam's in grad school and we have a less complicated income, we definitely plan to establish a set savings percentage from each paycheck. And we're planning to set up a Roth IRA to start saving retirement. It seems a little crazy to get that going now though - saving for retirement before we've both graduated from college!
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You are awesome.