Online Banks I've Been Recommended

With my tax refund on its way, I figure that I should get my savings account going again. I logged onto my online savings bank, and noticed that I was getting 1.85% APY. This is much smaller since the last time I looked. My balance of 3.47 is small as well. I thought it would be well over a million by now(that was a joke!). There was a time not long ago where online banks could have interest rates upwards of 5.00%. This is not the case nowadays. Online banks are averaging around 2.00% today. Still much better than the average savings rate of 0.42% that you can find at normal brick and mortar banks. Below is a list of three banks that I've been recommended, outside of the one I have open now.

1. Gmac Bank: APY of 2.75. Only $1.00 to open, and no minimum account balances.
2. Igobanking.com: APY of 2.00. Only $1.00 to open, and no minimums.
3. Bank of Internet USA: APY of 2.50. $100.00 to open, no minimums as well.

I have no experience with none of these banks myself. I have heard good reviews about each of them, and these 3 seem to help me out as far as minimums and start up balances. All stats were pulled from Bankrate.com. Hopefully soon the banks will be able to bounce back from this mess, and we'll all be able to benefit once again from high savings rates.

Taking a Sick Day

I was going to take a sick day from posting today. A virus that has been circling my family for a few weeks has finally hit me, and put me down for the count for the day. It got me to realize just what being broke and out of work is really like.

When sickness hits the poor and uninsured what are they to do? The best thing I think that can be done is go to the emergency room and hope for a cure while you are there, instead of the doctor seeing you and giving you a prescription that you can't afford in the first place. Doing this though, causes that medical bill to go right to your credit report, which just causes more damage in the long run. I've only spoken to one bank that does not hold medical bills against a person when applying for a line of credit.

There is no state benefits for someone perfectly able to work, only the disabled and children, which I'm not complaining about because of that fact that I am able to work and be offered insurance. So what's a person like me to do?Other than the above-mentioned E.R visit, there's only one thing to do, and that's say, "I'll be over it tomorrow... Hopefully."

Money Manager Ex and Budgeting

Money Manager Ex is a free tool that I use to set up my "spending plan." With it I assign every dollar to a different account to be deposited in from my checking account each week. This is the same as Envelope Budgeting. Money Manager Ex is a great program that reminds me a lot of a much more condensed Microsoft Money. Really worth a look if you need a program that does not cost any money and gets the job done. You can download it here.

For each of my expenses I have an account. Each week when I had a job, I would deposit 1/4th of the total monthly amount into the account(eg: 6.25 deposited four times would equal my rent payment of $25.00). When the bill comes due, I have the money to pay the bill in the account. I debit the account, and start over again the next month. In those months where there are 5 paychecks, I would withdrawl the money into a savings account.

On top all all this, I would deposit 10% of my earnings into a savings account as well. Anything left over is spending money, to buy household items and to just "blow."

Now, without employment, I am forced to throw that idea out of the window. I have to start from scratch again. Feel free to leave suggestions

My Current Financial Situation

I am going to give a break down of my current finances as of this day. Then I will be updating this as much as possible in new blog posts titled, "Today's Finances." Lets Begin.

Current Cash on Hand: $25.00
Current Checking Balance: $107.30

I have my last check coming this Friday, then that will be the last of my weekly income from a job.

Expenses:

1. Rent: $25.00 (Includes all Utilities)
2. Child Support: $190.00
3. Gasoline: approx. $80.00 Monthly

Except for Gasoline, those amounts are fixed at this moment. I have other needs as well, such as toiletries and baby items(diapers, baby wipes, etc.) that are not fixed expenses. These items may total in the area of $100.00 a month.

Where's the Food!? Thanks to the government, I do not have to pay for food at this time.

We watch movies that we borrow from people, so no cable bill. I have access to the internet through a wireless connection at the apartments that no one pays for. Although it is limited and hard to keep connected, it'll do for now. I have a fairly large(for me anyways) tax refund check around $7,300 dollars on it's way, should be getting that within two weeks. This is what is going to hold me over until I find employment. I do have to buy a vehicle and pay back a debt to my mother of $1000 out of this refund. But I should still have plenty.

Well, there's an overview of my finances. I will keep you updated as much as possible. Thank you for reading.

Welcome!

I am laid-off from my job. Can not receive unemployment benefits either. I won't be recalled.

I live in a very small town where jobs are limited. Used to not be that way, but the recession hit hard here in Kentucky. I was fortunate enough to know that I was going to be laid-off two months in advance, so I began a job search, but to no avail. I also applied for section 8 housing, which I received and got to move into a small 3 bedroom apartment last week. Because of my current employment status, my wife with no work, and 3 children, my rent including utilities is a whopping $25.00 a month. My car is also broke down, so I have been borrowing my mothers car for the last 4 months to get around.

I lived in a much larger 3 bedroom home, 15 miles away from town, 20 minutes away from my mother. Which if you can imagine, was a lot of driving when my mother had errands to complete and I was at home. Now I am located in the middle of town, so the stress has went down a little. My oldest child goes to school still in the town I did live in, so I still drive her there every other week(I have shared custody of her), since the year is almost out. Then she will be transferring to a closer school for me.

I am 25 years old. I should have had a career already. Therefore, since my rent is a lot cheaper now, me and my wife both will be going back to school. I plan to get whatever work I can find here in town, and go to school entirely online through the state school system.

In my next post I will be reviewing my financial situation for you to follow along with. Thanks for reading.