Mystery Money

This has happened to me a couple times in the past few months. I've set my budget, predicted what amount my paychecks will be, have it set in my mind what is coming in and going out. Then I get up in the morning, log on to the bank's website, and look up my account balance, only to find that there is more money in there than expected. Click on the account to see the transaction history, and notice there has been a deposit made that I had no idea of. This morning it was $25 from Zions Bank Payroll. Odd, seeing as how payday isn't for another week, and I have no idea what the $25 is for. Its a good thing too, as my mom paid for me to get my nails done a few weeks ago, and I am now needing a fill, and its going to cost exactly $25.

Last time this happened, I woke up to see an extra $2000 in my account. I was shocked. On the transaction history it said it was from ORS, and it was a child support payment, I called ORS to make sure that they hadn't made any mistakes, and found out that it was a back child support payment that they had collected a couple months ago that they were finally able to release. It was definitely a blessing as I was able to get caught up on bills, and put some money aside into savings.

Savings

A savings account is just smart. Saving for a rainy day, because it is going to rain. Something is going to come up, and you are going to need extra money. Lately it seems that many people are not saving, not preparing for those days when the car is going to need repairs, or something else comes up that needs money. Many are using credit cards for those emergencies, which only puts them further into debt.

Right now, the bulk of my savings is in ING Direct, they have a pretty good interest rate, and offer easy transfers.

There are many online banks that offer good rates and are FDIC insured. AmTrust has the best interest rate so far, I am contemplating moving my savings to them. Although I have been with ING for a long time, so I may stay with them, unless their rates go down farther.