- August 11, 2009 • Posted by Jon Gaskell
- The Road Ahead
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As the economy continues to hopefully stabilize, it's critical that we do not fall back on old habits - spend more than we earn, abuse plastic, etc. Researching and reading up on websites and tools for your best options are a ticket to financial success. Following personal finance bloggers helps to establish a strong understanding of your own personal finance interests and needs. Blogs like The Simple Dollar and Wise Bread share insight and tips for creating fiscal fitness. They also let you know that primarily many of us are in the same boat. The times have been scary, yes. And the damage has been fierce. But we at SmartyPig share in the belief that with a renewed interest in saving, and an overall attitude adjustment toward money, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
These experts implore their readers to create a plan and stick to it. SmartyPig was built on this exact way of thinking. We offer a competitive APY, the option to make your goal public so friends and family can help and cash boosts from top retailers to help you get the most money for your money. And from beginning to end the process could not be simpler for people who want to crate a plan and stick to it.
We have even added the latest and greatest in Web 2.0 technology and created partnerships with terrifically innovative companies to help you even more. By using SmartyPig's Visualizer, you can see how much you've saved and your total progress. To contemplate the bigger picture of your finances and how SmartyPig positively affects them, we offer integration with sites like Mint, Thrive and Wesabe.
Your personal finances are a journey. And there is a lot of help available out there to make it a more pleasant one. SmartyPig is just a small part of it. But we feel strongly that if you implement the idea of saving up first, of owning what you have, that getting from here to there will be a lot easier and more rewarding. Good luck with your goals!
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2 Comments | | - smartypig
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2 Comments
I couldn't agree more, Jon. In particular, I think the emphasis has to be on planning ahead (there is a reason that planning is such a big part of what we do at Thrive), not just for purchases we want to make but lives we want to live.
Let me suggest the following: when you are making a good purchase, you are actually planning ahead. You look at a two-liter of soda and the price, and somewhere in your mind, you're making a calculation in which you're saying "This is going to bring me a little bit of pleasure, will last a week, and therefore is worth a dollar."
Planning for larger purchases happens in much the same way. When you buy a car, you should think about how long you intend to keep it. Ditto for a mortgage. Saving for retirement is entirely about saying "how much do I need to have a year in order to live a life I'm happy with?"
What Thrive does and SmartyPig does and others should do is encourage to look at all spending as planned. When you go to a restaurant, that should be a planned purchase: whether you are setting aside the money at the beginning of the month into a general "to spend" area, earmarking it specifically for restaurants, or even checking your budget just before to make sure that a dinner out is in the cards, the time to think about money is before you spend, not after.
For SmartyPig, that's long-term savings: know what you want, save up, get it. For Thrive, it is that as well as short-term spending (like the restaurant) and lifetime spending (like retirement). That's why the two are such a good match - we, as people, as a nation, need to think about the whole picture.
I, for one, am very disappointed in the severe interest rate reduction, from the previous 2.75% to the current 2.01%, one of a long series of interest rate reductions.
This hurts me greatly as a customer of SmartyPig.
In my opinion, this make SmartyPig, once a superior stand alone champion of great interest rates for the customer saving up money for their goals, now just another run of the mill bank/financial institution, offering run of the mill interest rate opportunities, with the attitude, let the customers be damned.
Oh well, SmartyPig, thanks for the memories.