By Althea Chang | MainStreet.com

You know you should, but it’s difficult to feed the piggy bank every time you get paid. Luckily, new bank accounts and the power of automatic savings plans may make it easier. And every little bit counts, after all.

Simple Savings
“Saving is a whole lot simpler when you don’t have to think about it,” says a Bank of America marketing campaign (Stock Quote: BAC) for its Keep the Change program. With every purchase you make with your Bank of America check card, your purchase amount is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is deposited into a savings account. Bank of America also says it will match your savings for the first three months after you enroll in the program and match 5% per year after that, up to $250.

If you have a Wachovia checking account (Stock Quote: WB), you can open a Way2Save account. Each time you make a purchase with your check card, pay a bill online or set up an automatic debit from your checking account, $1 will be transferred from your checking account to your Way2Save account, which gets a guaranteed APY of 5% for the first year, plus they’ll add on 5% of the amount you’ve saved. You can also set up automatic transfers of up to $100 a month, from your checking account to your Way2Save account.

Of course, many banks let you set up automatic transfers from checking to savings accounts online, and APYs may be higher at other banks (Bank of America’s Keep the Change program paid a variable APY of just 0.20% as of Monday). But these accounts could be perfect for those without the discipline to make regular transfers on their own.

Save When You Pay
An online bill pay feature gives you the option to paying bills electronically through automatic withdrawals initiated by your utility, credit card or other company. This is a must if you tend to forget when bills are due. (Those late fees are a killer.)

Just remember, you’ll have to make sure your bank account balance has enough funds to pay the bills when they’re due, or you could be subject to insufficient fund or overdraft fees.

Retirement Savings Under Your Radar
Anyone contributing to a 401(k) knows that contributions taken right out of your paycheck really add up over time, even if the market downturn has taken a chunk out of their balances in the past year. But even if you’re self-employed and contribute to an IRA, you can make automatic contributions as well if you have an account with Fidelity, Schwab (Stock Quote: SCHW) or other financial services companies that offer the feature.

Automatic for the Children
If you have kids and you’ve been making adequate contributions to your retirement savings plans, a 529 plan is a great investment vehicle to help you save for college. And you can schedule periodic automatic payments online. Minimum contributions can be as low as $25, and you may be able to set up automatic deductions from your bank account once every week, month or quarter.

We like to make budgeting easy and fun!  Even better, we like to keep it simple.  Consider these your basics, just like your ABC’s.  Read more about A-E.

A – Always keep track – You should always keep track of all of your accounts and running balances of those accounts – specifically, the ones that you use on a daily basis.  This will help prevent late payments or being overdrawn on your checking accounts or over your limit on your credit accounts.

B - Build Credit Carefully – You don’t want to run out and snatch up every credit card offer your receive.  Be selective, and don’t go crazy.  You want enough that you can handle, and keep in good standing (preferably paid off), but not so many that you lose track or risk running up the bills.

C - Cut down on non-essentials – If you are trying to pay off debt, then a good thing to do would be to reduce or even eliminate non-essential items as these could give you extra money to put towards your other debts.

D - Destroy possible ways to fall into debt again – If you know you have a problem resisting the urge to max out your credit card again, then you may want to consider cutting them up.  If you want to have them “in case of emergency”, then be sure to leave them at home unless you think you are putting yourself in a situation that you couldn’t easily get them – like going on a road trip.

E - Execute a plan of action – A goal, without a plan, is just a dream.  You should always map out how you plan to budget better, or how you plan to track your spending, or how you want to pay off your debt.  If you don’t do this, you could get lost quite easily.

Geezeo provides ways to help you in all of these areas.  Add your accounts to Geezeo, and you will be better able to track all of them in one convenient place.

Need some encouragement or advice on how to steer clear from saying yes to every application?  Or maybe advice on other (cheaper) alternatives to daily expenses (or non-essentials)?  You can ask your questions to Geezeo’s online community of people just like yourself – those who have gone through it, or are still working on it.

Finally, Geezeo helps you to execute a plan of action by allowing yourself to set goals, and help you keep track of them.  It’s conveniently all in one place for you – here at Geezeo!

Aren’t you the least bit curious what other people are doing with their money?  An easy way to find out is to take a quick look through our recent confessions.  Some users are spending, while others are saving.  Perhaps you have a similar confession?  Tell us about it!

Confessions:

• belatedly realizing that using savings to pay off car would’ve been better than paying down credit cards. interest rate is higher.
• As of 3/20/09 i cleared my credit report and i am stoked to say I AM DEBT-FREE!!!! I am working on building my savings.
• Just calculated that I owe about $16,000 between wedding rings, car debt a credit card balance. Yikes!
• I opened a new checking account at National City today because I got sick of Fifth Third. Good riddance!
• I’ve been trying not to spend any money, but I feel a spending binge coming on.
• I went over budget this month for the first time in three months. Sigh.
• I am sooooo ready for this month to be over so I can start fresh with my budgets.
• Cant wait to head over to Austin this weekend to blow my budgets already!!!! WooHoo!!!
• Headed to Louisville for a weekend of budget busting fun.
• I enjoy buying things for my new home too much… My savings hates me right now!
• Even tho living expenses are so much higher, I am SO VERY glad that we decided to stay put in Austin!! Loving it here!
• I am using April as a Recovery Month to recover from old bad habits and to build a foundation for new good habits. Good Luck!
• i worked a weekend of overtime so i could pay cash for my hotel in belize
• I will invest 2/3 of my salary in a MBA. How about that?
• I will take an EMBA in English which will cost me 2/3 of my salary. Oh well…It’s my only card in the sleeve.

Conversations:

Back in January, we gave away a book entitled “Rich Like Them: My Door-to-Door Search for the Secrets of Wealth in America’s Richest Neighborhoods” written by Ryan D’Agostino.  jnkay “thought it was much more of a self-help book than a financial-insight book … but not an annoying self-help book.  It made many of the dream homes profiled in the book seem attainable..”  Although she disagrees “with the author’s assertion that luck doesn’t have much to do with anything.”  Have you read the book?  What do you think?

Sometimes the smallest mistakes can make the biggest impact either in your bank account or in your life. However, there are always ways to avoid mistakes. Sometimes you have to makes them once or twice to learn, but afterwords you should find ways to avoid mistakes in order to save you money. The cost of financial mistakes can definitely add up quickly for anyone involved (as we have recently seen with the current economy).

Here are some ways to avoid simple financial mistakes…

#1. Check Your Accounts Regularly – This is one of the best ways to avoid making mistakes with your bank accounts. If you are on top of your spending and savings then you will never have a problem with your bank accounts. If you overspend or overdraw from one of your accounts, there are always consequences. The fees add up extremely quickly so avoiding the mistake of an overdraft will benefit you greatly.

#2. Keep Your Receipts – You should keep all of your receipts at least for a few months. You never know what type of fee or charge that may show up on your credit card later on down the line and you want to ensure that you have your receipts if something does happen. Also, it is such a waste of money to keep an item of clothing even if you don’t want it just because you lost or threw away the receipt. It does not matter how much it cost you, money is money! If you can get it back instead of wasting it, you should!

#3. Keep Track of Monthly Spending – Know how much your bills, loans, payments, etc. are each month in order to keep the right amount of money in your account. Nowadays everyone has direct deposit and withdrawals scheduled from their accounts. Getting rid of the paper trail also means that it is more likely for you to forget what date payments get taken out of your account and not realize that you do not have enough money in your account. This goes along with #1 in that you should always be on top of what is going on. Keep a calendar that tells you when your payments get taken out and how much each one is.

#4. Remember the Checks You Wrote – Since writing checks has almost become a thing of the past, it is easy to forget what checks you have written until they show up in your bank account (especially when people do not cash them right away and wait months instead!). Keep a mental note to yourself or a post-it note next to your computer that reminds you what checks you have written that have not yet gone through. This way you won’t forget every time you check your account and you should ensure that you always have at least the amount of the check left in your checking account.

#5. Don’t be Foolish – Easier said than done right? But honestly, if you do not have the money to spend then resist the urge. Sometimes you need a pick me up, but spending constantly when you really don’t have the funds for it will just run you into the ground and leave you with never ending debt. It is much, much easier to spend the money than to save it, but when things are tough and the financial future of the economy is uncertain, saving might just be your best bet. Spending some of your saved up cash now and then also doesn’t hurt, just spend wisely!

These five tips may help you avoid some financial mistakes that will be costly later on down the road. Just be sure to remember: it is easy to get yourself into debt and financial trouble but much harder to get yourself out of it when times get tough! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…

Photo by: Ronnie B.

When should you use your credit card, and when should you use your debit card?

This question is more complicated than it first appears. For example, some people exclusively use their credit card to pay for expenses. They feel this is more secure. Plus, in some instances this means they collect cash back or other incentive points. But this strategy requires a lot of diligence so that the balance can be paid in full at the end of the month. Otherwise you can seriously harm your credit score thanks to a growing debt balance.

By contrast, using a debit card means that you can only spend what is available in your checking account. Or at least, this is how it used to work…. A few years ago your debit card would be declined if you did not have the balance to cover a purchase. Now, banks are quick to cover your balance and charge you $35 or more for the favor. If you overspend you won’t be stopped at the counter. Instead, you can keep shopping and quickly rack up fees.

Still, there remain some general rule of thumb when to use credit versus debit. Here they are:

Use Debit Cards When….

You Want to Buy Something Inexpensive or Consumable.
It’s hot, you’re thirsty, and you want a soda. If you don’t have cash (first choice!), whip out your debit card. Some merchants have minimal purchase requirements before they will let you use a debit card. Do not put inexpensive purchases or consumable purchases on credit because you’ll end up paying much more for it over time.

You Want to Avoid Lingering Interest Charges.
The quick pain of $35+ might be worth it instead of adding to a growing credit card balance. (If making this choice is your dilemma, consider it a red flag.)

You Need Fast Cash
If you’re in a hurry for cash use your debit card. Preferably use your card at your home bank to avoid ridiculous ATM fees. Taking a cash advance from your credit card will incur a much higher interest rate and could even trigger an interest rate hike on your credit card. Not fun.

Use Credit Cards When…

You Shop Online.
Credit cards offer greater fraud-protection coverage.

You Buy Something Big
Some credit cards offer additional warranty protection beyond the manufacturer. Also, you might be eligible for promotions or additional incentive accumulation offer by the card.

To Establish Credit History
You need to establish solid credit history if you’re just starting out… or starting over. Do so by purchasing an item on the credit card and paying it off entirely at the end of the month or by meeting minimal payment requirements. Note: minimal payments will greatly extend the cost of whatever you’ve purchased.

Curious minds want to know – what is your current savings account balance?  Hopefully with the state of the current economy you have been looking for ways to build that savings account up.  Maybe you have been meaning to start transferring some money in to a savings account, but have just let it linger in your checking account.  Check out these 5 reasons for reconsidering that choice.  Maybe you are like many Americans who barely make enough to get by.  But you can definitely start small and simple – save your coins!  Most importantly, you need to remember that what you do today will allow you to have a better tomorrow!

What would you do with $1,000,000?  Many would save most of it.  Some would split it down the middle and buy a few items they have been longing for, but also put some away for safe keeping.  Others would take the money and run wild!  What do you think you would do?

Did you know AAA is not only good for your car, but also on a wide variety of different products?  User hwaters provides a list of several that she found available in her area.  It’s definitely worth checking into to see if it’s worth it to you.

There is still a lot of talk about “Seven Jeans”.  Do you own a pair?  Did you pay full price or did you catch them at a great bargain?  Let us know how you got your pair!  Also check out these 4 Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping.

When I started my very first summer job – as a lifeguard – my father simply laid down the law. He told me that I had to save 10% of every paycheck, and we opened a checking and savings account at the local bank. My dad was the resident expert: a former CPA and manager of the family’s finances, so I just assumed this was how everyone handled their paychecks. By the end of that summer I’d saved up enough money to last me through the first part of the school year. I was completely surprised when my friends had to keep their jobs going into the academic year. What happened to their 10%? I was even more shocked to hear that none of them had saved any of their summer money – or even thought to do so. That one lesson has been invaluable to me over the years, and I’m here to spread the word!

Establishing a savings cushion is a goal of many, and it’s so much easier to do than you think:

Start small – but start! Even 10% of a summer of 1991 lifeguard’s paycheck adds up. If all you can manage now is $10 a week – do it! As an adviser, I like to recommend my clients start with a number just beyond their reach because it is easy to pull back, but really difficult to increase. If you think you can do $10 a week, try $15.

Make it habit. If you don’t trust yourself to sock money into savings at regular intervals, set up an auto-deposit from your checking account to your savings account.

Save even if you have debt. Debt should be a priority, but it should not stop you from saving a few dollars every week.

Online banking makes it easy. There are so many benefits to online banking. You get a higher interest rate than is offered at most “offline” banks; transferring money back and forth between your checking account couldn’t be easier; establishing a separate savings account apart from your checking will keep the funds even more separate in your mind – which cuts down on the potential to use the money; and you typically won’t receive an ATM card with an online account. This last benefit eliminates the 2AM cash run you know you’ll regret later.