Financial Improvements

I was bored at work a few days back, playing around with money calculations and budgeting, when I decided to search online for what the best rates in savings accounts are.

I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for awhile now: since I pay my insurance 6 months at a time and in cash (check), why not save monthly for the time after the current 6 months, make a little interest and not have to worry so much about making sure I have the cushion in my checking account when that 6 month deadline rolls around?

So, I set up a goal savings account (well, two actually. The second one is for the trip to Vegas) with SmaryPig. At 3.9% yield, they're the second-highest yielding savings account out there. Plus, you only need to open the account with $25 to get that yield and just like every web 2.0 thingie you can social network bookmark the thing so others can put money into the account (like, joining up with family to but someone a big birthday present). There are some restrictions, like you have to take all the money out of the account when you reach the goal you first put into the account's profile, I'm not sure how easy it is to cancel the account early, if there is any penalties and I've heard that when people put funds in for you they get charged a fee but overall it's an interesting and compatible way to save for a specific goal.

One thing I noticed also is that WaMu has 3.75% rates and is probably more flexible (opening minimum is only a buck). I think in the future I'll tailor my accounts to take advantage of that... TCF is convenient but lame in the interest department.