SmartyPig

Win $20,000 in retail and SmartyPig gift cards just in time for this year’s holiday shopping season. Users and non-users alike can test their skills at answering questions based on current events and be rewarded handsomely with prizes ranging from $150 to $600 from the likes of Home Depot, Pottery Barn, Toys R’ Us, and Macy’s.

How do you enter?

1. Tune in to Twitter or Facebook at the top of each hour, Monday October 25, 2010 through Friday October 29, 2010 from 7 AM CT to 4 PM CT.

2. A question regarding a current event will be posted.

3. Be the specified numbered contestant of that hour to answer the question correctly by e-mail to contests@smartypig.com and you win the gift cards mentioned!

We’ll notify the winner of that hour via e-mail and post their name on Twitter and Facebook at half past the hour. And then we’ll do it again – 50 times in a row!

Everyone (except people who work here) is eligible to win one or more of the 10 prizes each day, for 5 days.

Official press release here: http://www.smartypig.com/20kpressrelease.pdf

Best of Luck!

The SmartyPig Team

“No matter how much or how little you make, always save a bit. Know the difference between needs and wants. Don’t pay interest on anything that loses value” all excellent pieces of financial advice, and my favorite, “save hard for the first 10 years of your married life.” I’m certain no guest offered this advice on our wedding day, but we’ve somehow adopted this way of thinking. We fix it, paint it, and clean it ourselves, research our purchases and save on paydays. When we do choose to indulge we aim to do so wisely. Balancing peanut butter sandwiches with steaks is a good start, but what really keeps our bank accounts healthy and our marriage happy is talking about the things we “want” to do and then making a financial roadmap to get there.

He wants a new computer. Me, a new bike. And we both want to travel. We know these costly items and vacations are completely out of reach without goal setting. Which is why I was a SmartyPig customer long before I worked here. We never miss the money as it leaves our checking account in small amounts and the closer we get to our goals, the greater our sense of accomplishment.

And cashing out with SmartyPig at retailers like Travelocity and Best Buy will extend our money further by providing cash back rewards of up to 14% on top of the competitive interest we’ve earned, helping to make the road to reaching our goals a shorter journey!

Wishing you successful saving.

Sarah Foss, SmartyPig’s Media Mad Woman
SFoss@SmartyPig.com

My financial plan is simple: Cover expenses and save as much as I can while not hampering my lifestyle too much. If there are things I want, I either have the cash or save up until I do. And while many of my peers are choosing to have more “fun” than I am right now, I’ve decided to take this different approach. There are a lot of folks out there lending advice to make my travels easier. Carl Richards at the New York Times says our financial expectations can be divided into three categories: family, societal, and peer.

Those who fall prey to societal and peer expectations, helped to coin the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses.” It’s easy to lose sight of your goals when your friends are taking expensive vacations or purchasing new cars. If they can own it or travel there, then why can’t you? Struggling to prove you can when you do not have the necessary means, most often leads to a painful lesson and problems that are tough to undo.

Most others are influenced by family expectations – the desire to live up to the standards set by parents or siblings. As Richards writes, “Anyone who has looked a child in the eyes and told her she can’t have something really important to her because it costs too much can appreciate just how complicated feelings and expectations about money can be.” But just because that child’s “something” is not affordable today doesn’t mean it’s out of reach. It all circles back to planning and goal setting. The way to teach a child – little by little added to a piggybank until a goal is met – is the best way for all of us to get there.

Wishing you successful saving.

Sarah Foss, SmartyPig’s Media Mad Woman
SFoss@SmartyPig.com

It sounds easy. Cut back on the nice dinners, trim $10 off the weekly grocery bill, and program the thermostat a few degrees cooler, and you can save $500 by Christmas! With only having five paychecks left until the biggest budget-breaking holiday of the year, and every penny counting like never before, CNN offers some great tips to make it happen.

Avoiding ATM fees and impulse purchases? I can do that. What about cutting back on groceries and shopping? It’s easy if you think about it. And if my husband can change from Heineken to Natural Light this month, I can cut out some extras, as well. Canceling magazine, movie, or newspaper subscriptions we have zero time to enjoy anyway is also something to consider any time of year, and the savings add up fast.

All of these fairly easy ways to save a few hundred dollars benefit our holiday expenses greatly. We have travels to plan for and gifts to give. And while it might be tough at times, we’re sticking to our guns for the greater good of reaching this goal. And with up to 14% cash back from retailers like Macy’s, Amazon and Travelocity, using SmartyPig as a way to spend these extra dollars can make them stretch even further. Create a goal today and you’ll be heading toward 2011 with a jingle in your pocket and a spring in your step.

Wishing you successful saving.

Sarah Foss, SmartyPig Media Mad Woman
SFoss@SmartyPig.com

There are four disasters in today’s economy that we all should be preparing for: Losing a job, losing out on good interest rates due to bad credit, needing long-term care, and not being able to retire. With a little preparation and some common sense, you needn’t be as afraid.

Keeping three to six months worth of expenses in a savings account can help keep job-loss worries at bay. Choosing a goal-based system like SmartyPig is a great choice to get started.

The best rates are reserved for the people with the best credit. The best credit is for the people who pay the most attention to their finances and avoid debt. Saving for the things you want instead of charging them will make a world of difference. And believe me when I tell you it affects everything going forward.

Saving for a retirement that’s 30 plus years away is difficult for many young professionals to start doing. But retirement calculators like this one, show just how much getting started early can earn you in the long run.

I would also like to live a long, happy life – and have the benefit of a nice nest egg when the time comes. Will I require long-term care? You never know, and at 28 I really don’t think about it. But what I do know is that by avoiding the other three disasters listed above, I am best prepared if I ever do.

Wishing you successful saving and no disasters!

Sarah Foss, SmartyPig Media Mad Woman
SFoss@SmartyPig.com