Crack the Safe

STEP 1: GET A HAMMER

There's something everyone needs to realize when they start to teach children to put pennies into piggy banks. Yes it's a great way to teach them how to save up, but it's also pretty useless if it just sits there. This is why you need the Hammer. Your money, while sitting safe in that jar, isn't doing anything for you other than just sitting. This is where you learn your first step at INVESTING. While the piggy bank keeps you from spending it the real bank can help you earn more of it! Banks have a thing call interest on certain and nearly all accounts. This interest is based on how much you have in the bank and you can earn up plenty of free cash that's deposited automatically to your account month.

STEP 2: GO TO THE BANK

Going to the Bank-While unlike Mary Poppins, it can be a rewarding experience. But there are some snags you'd want to check into first before just hoping on down there and presenting yourself and your Piggy Bank. Familiarize yourself with your Local Bank(s) in your area or call and ask them for their RATES. I know it's a scary word and most don't realize that it applies even to a Checking and Savings Account. Rates are what earn you interest and create free money for you. Right now, since we're just starting our fortune from scratch, the only rates you'll need are SAVINGS and CHECKING

Rates change and are different for everyone. Your best option would be to search the net or call the bank and ask them the following:

• What their current rates are

• When do they change

Once you have them all written down or posted in front of you then compare. The one with the highest rates is what you're looking for.

An example of this would be:
As you can see by looking at the list, I've posted 3 different Banks and their current rates for Checking and Savings. (The two last white ones are from the same bank one checking one savings) What you're looking at is the first steps of deciding what bank is right for you. I know it looks hard but it's really not.

1st- Look at how much you need to open up a SAVINGS account. Since we're starting out small there's no need for a checking just yet. That will come later.

$$-Please note that all Banks are different and offer specials. An example would be receiving 100$ for opening up an account with them.

For the Green Bank I can have just a penny to open up a Savings Account. With an interest rate of .05% with an APY of .05%

 Red Bank looks like they offer several types of Savings Accounts, we just want a basic account. As you can see they're all sitting at the same rates so that makes it a little easier. The one we want is called a Passbook or Statement Savings who both carry an interest rate of .797% and an APY of .80% much higher than Green Bank.

The last one is Blue Bank with an entire NEW outlook on rates. We want a Passbook savings, we would need 50-100$ to open one. Then we see the Features category where it tells us that we can't have ATM access. That's ok we're not going to be touching these funds. We also have to keep a minimum balance in there of 50/100$ or we'll get charged a penalty for falling below it. Well that doesn't sound good even if we weren't going to touch it. What else? We gain a dollar and get charged for accessing our own account?!  

Not good! Not good at all. That will never do.

Looks like out of Green, Red and Blue Bank. Red Bank has the Best Rates.

Please Note $$: Banks will explain to you when you open an account everything you need to abide by their rules and requirements for having an account with them. Even if you don't have a job and only make 5$ a month with allowance that's still money you can put in the bank! Keep your account active by putting money in it every 2-3 months so that it doesn't go dormant and possibly fall into a late fee. Even if it's .50 cents it's still better than nothing! Secondly the reason Statement savings was chosen was because of what was found in the fine print. A Statement Savings gives compound intrest Daily while the Passbook happens monthly. Be sure to understand your banks accounts and how they work before opening an account with them!  

STEP 3: COIN MACHINES

Now let’s look at what we have in our Piggy Bank! Before we go dumping and rolling all of those coins into paper tubes I want everyone to be aware of something. Technology. There's a thing called a Coin Machine but before you all go crazy and rush out to go use the one at your local super market STOP and Call the BANK! I know I say this a lot but what you don't realize is that when you take that hard earned or gathered up pocket change to a local coin machine it takes a percentage of what you put in it! You're losing money to have it count it for you! So call the bank! Most banks will have a coin machine inside and if you have an account with them they'll let you use the coin machine for FREE! Yes that's right! I cashed in over 800$'s worth of coins and got to keep all of it and put it in my account!

FINAL STEP: OPENING AN ACCOUNT

All bank policies are different but once you've chosen a bank go and set up a Savings account. Whether you're just getting your first paper route, your new job or simply to put the allowance money you've bottled up and hid under your bed a Savings account would be one of the best things you can do providing you do one very important thing. DON'T SPEND IT. I know, I know it sounds absurd to work hard and make money only to not be able to use it but try to think in moderation. If you start saving up now, even if you're only 15, you could have gained enough by the time you're 18 or older to buy your first car or something even greater later on in life like an IRA! (That will all come in later posts though)

WANTS & NEEDS

The point is Saving now equals bigger money later. You want to be rich right? Learn to live without some things. You've heard people, psychologists and advice columns say; "When you're shopping, instead of buying on impulse ask yourself this question. Do I NEED it or do I WANT it?" There's a fine line between Needing something and Wanting something. We all need food to survive on but do you really NEED that magazine off the rack at the front of the store along with your groceries or do you WANT it? 3$ or 4$ dollars might not seem that much on a single shopping trip but add that "splurge" up each time you go out and you're looking at 20$ in magazines. Why spend it? You can probably go on line to the magazine’s website and find it to read for free or visit a friend’s house who reads it or even the LIBRARY to see if they have it to look through. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to get caught up in the WANTS mistaking them for NEEDS.