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June 18, 2009 • Posted by Erica Adams

Starting Good Habits Early

Life isn't free. It's a statement that rings true to many like myself just starting out in the working world.  And watching and reading the news everyday is a constant reminder. Talk of bailouts and bankruptcies lead the headlines - everyday. The parts I understand are scary. The parts I don't - scarier. But this much is true: In these troubling times, people either need to get moving back in the right direction, or if just beginning the journey, make sure they are starting off on the right foot. SmartyPig can help.  

When the founders of SmartyPig set out on their journey to create the social money space they understood the key was a constant conversation with younger, tech-savvy individuals and their families about what they needed. SmartyPig is obviously for anyone who has a specific saving goal, but when it comes right down to it, it was created for people like me.  I'm 22. I have college loans to pay. But I want to go on vacation this year. I want a new iPhone. And I cannot afford to get upside down with my plastic. So many of my friends are starting out in hole that seems terribly daunting, close to impossible to escape. Life isn't free. They're learning about it the hard way.  

So if you ask me what SmartyPig does - and people always do - I have never changed my answer. Not once. "SmartyPig solves a problem." SmartyPig offers a sensible, smart solution to prepare and educate people like me get started on a sound financial future. SmartyPig is simple to use, as Erin at The Broke Yuppie professes. And the ability to set your monthly contribution at a level comfortable to you means that anytime you'd like to edit your goal, it's just a mouse click away. Setting a goal for years into the future along with automated monthly contributions, paves the way for good habits and a problem solved before it ever began.

Starting early is the key. Ask my friends. You make wise spending choices. Build a nice cushion to fall back on right out of the starting gate. And save up for the things you want. There's no time like the present to start securing your future.

 

Tags: smartypig   •  saving   •  money   •  creditcards   •  college   •  debtfree

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April 7, 2009 • Posted by Erica Adams

Charge-offs and Write-downs and Delinquency - Oh My!

 

Uncollected debt hit a record high, increasing 3% from February 2008 to February 2009. Write-downs increased 8.82%. Delinquency rates also rose above 6%. And aside from it all being grim news, what is even worse is that these numbers are expected to rise. In this piece from CNN, Moody's credit card index predicts, "... The overwhelming influence of the negative economic environment should continue driving delinquencies to record-high levels by mid-year." Pretty scary and disheartening, yes. But, more and more, our customers are telling us and the people they know that SmartyPig can help prevent these problems... permanently.

We understand that current economic times are more painful than ever, and many of us are nowhere near where we'd like to be financially. But we also know that two years ago, the average American spent $101 for every $100 he or she made, and today that same person is spending $95 and saving the other $5. That is tremendous progress; and it shows that there is no time like the present to begin creating good habits for the future. Saving money for bigger purchases instead of charging them and creating emergency funds for unexpected expenses are crucial elements in restoring financial stability across the country.

Credit lines are dwindling, available credit is shrinking and credit card companies are closing accounts in order to stabilize their bottom lines. Simply put: things will never be the same. It's time to start saving for purchases, saving for emergencies, or simply saving to start becoming a saver. Charging now and paying later has helped to tip over an already wobbly economy.

Jessica at pjmommy.com recently wrote that she and her husband use their credit cards for a majority of their purchases and they, luckily, are able to pay their entire bill each month. But after she found SmartyPig and she realized that saving for purchases is all the more rewarding once you've met your goal, charging to plastic just isn't all that great anymore. SmartyPig puts the fun back in your funds. And while you earn one of the highest APY's on the market, your money does the work for you. Setting up your account is simple, and once you've started saving for your goals, you'll wonder why you hassled with high interest rates and credit card payments in the first place.

 

 

Tags: smartypig   •  saving   •  money   •  creditcards   •  debt

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August 25, 2008 • Posted by Erica Adams

Break Up With Your Abusive Credit Cards

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.

Tags: smartypig   •  saving   •  creditcards   •  money   •  debt

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