Cheap Thrills For Us...

So, I don't think it's a secret that most everyone is pinching their pennies in America these days. We recently had family come to visit for Thanksgiving weekend and we had such an AWESOME time, without spending a ton of money! Enjoy my photo narrative.

Mattress Surfing 101

I swear this was hours of crazy fun, and a fantastic full body resistance workout. You try carrying an old twin mattress up stairs over and over again for a bunch of giddy little kids (umm and grown ups) wanting to take a ride down a flight of stairs into a bunch of bean bags.







FOOTBALL AT THE PARK ON THANKSGIVING MORNING WITH LOTS OF FRIENDS
(NOTE: I don't do football, but I had fun playing with Zoe and taking pictures!)







And then there was the Black Friday shopping, where CVS paid me 9.99 to take a new Rival crock pot out of their store.

Have a great week!!!

The Importance of Saving In Today's Economy

A few weeks ago some friends of mine were talking about what to do with the money their small children were given for birthdays, Christmas, etc. We decided to open them an account at ING Direct so this money can be earning a GREAT interest rate, but still be very liquid (unlike bonds). I can not stress how much I LOVE this bank! I TRULY feel like this is one of the few banks left in America that's still acting responsibly and with integrity. Justin and I also have our Emergency Fund with them.

Here's why I love them. When you open a FREE Orange Savings Account with them through a referral from an existing customer they give you a free $25 if you open it with a minimum of $250.

The interest rate is 3.5% !!!! That is AWESOME!! The reason they can give you such a high rate (the rate at our other bank where we previously had our savings was .3%) is because they have no physical branches. Everything is taken care of online and linked to the external checking account of your primary bank.

For example, if I want to deposit $50 into Zoe's savings account I simply click on "Transfer money from Checking To Zoe's Account" and if I need to use some of our emergency fund for an emergency, I just click Transfer from Emergency Fund to Checking. It takes 2 business days to go through.

If you want to open more accounts, say for targeted things like a vacation or new car you can also do this with just a click of a button, and there are NO FEES PEOPLE!

If you'd like to learn more about opening an ING DIRECT account, please email me or leave me a link with an email address where I can send you the referral email. Even if you go into dire financial straights and have to close the account someday, you still get a free $25 bucks if you open the account with $250! You really can't lose!

I know in this tough economy you may be thinking, "I can barely pay my bills, how the heck can I afford to SAVE?" This is not an easy question to answer and we felt this way ourselves at one time. Last year at this time, Justin and I had much more money going OUT than we had coming IN. We decided to hire a Financial Consultant through Dave Ramsey's organization and she was worth every penny. She gave us ideas that I would have never thought of on my own and gave us a peace that allowed me to free my mind of all the horrible worries that debt can bring upon us. Dave Ramsey is the author of the Financial Peace University course that is taught at many churches across the country. It focuses on living below your means and becoming debt free. I HIGHLY recommend it!