SmartyPig®

Most Americans are in an extremely abusive relationship - with their credit cards. And more often than not, it's their wallets that are taking a beating. Americans have been so accustomed to putting everything on plastic and worrying about it later, that when banks recently started jacking up credit card rates and cutting back on who they would actually give plastic to try to save themselves (after bleeding you for years), it was a dose of harsh reality to people not living within their means. See, the jig is up.The days of living on cards are over, as are the days of cheap credit. No more posing or pretending. It's time to deal.

This brings me to an interesting article I came across on Fortune.com. Jeff Colvin questions readers, "Personal debt is much higher than before, and average pay is still going nowhere in real terms. So now how do we live as if our standard of living is still rising?" Quick answer: We can't. But we can change things for the better. And Smartypig believes we can help. How? By helping people save up first and begin to reverse the "buy now, pay later" credit card mentality that has gotten so many millions of us upside down financially. Save for your family trip, save for the holidays or save for a your home improvements, but just save!

When you use SmartyPig, you can put away an amount you choose every month for your big purchase while earning one of the most competitive interest rates in the country. Once you've started your goal, put to use the social networking aspect of the site, by sharing your goals with your family and friends that saving money is back and better than ever. And when you reach your goal, enjoy cash boosts of up to 5% on the things you need or want, from your summer vacation to new home appliances.

So whatever you classify as your good life, you can make it even better when you save up for it. It makes all the difference in the world when your things belong to you - not a high-interest credit card company.