When many banks begin competing in the online savings world, they offer an inordinately high interest rate for a good 6 months or so and then drop back to something less competitive once they gain a significant amount of customers. More fickle customers that are chasing the highest interest rates simply move onto the next bank offering a great deal, but a few online savings banks consistently offer interest rates well above the rest, and one of those is KeyDirect. For over a year, KeyDirect has been offering an interest rate of 2.00% APY or above on their money market savings account, even after two rate-cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The account has a minimum opening balance of just $50.00 which puts it within the realm of almost all savers. You’ll earn an interest rate of 2.00% APY on any balance up to $250,000.00. There are no monthly service charges to speak of and you’ll receive free checks to take money out of the account with.

You can apply online through their website or over the phone. If you fill out the online application, a customer service representative will call you by phone to verify your identity by asking you questions about your credit report. It’s a pretty straight-forward process compared to some other online savings banks. When opening an account, a hard-credit pull will not be confirmed so that your credit score will not be negatively affected.

The major down-side of this bank is the limitations it puts on ACH electronic transfers. KeyDirect will limit you to $2,000 in transfers per day and a total of $20,000 per month in transfers. If you have a large amount of money in other accounts you want to transfer in, it might take several days with of transfers to move all of your money over to KeyDirect. The bank does not block external ACH transfers from your outside checking or savings account.

Because of some state laws, KeyDirect only operates in 37 dates and Washington, DC. If you live in AK, CO, ID, IN, KY, ME, MI, NY, OH, OR, UT, VT, or WA, you won’t be able to open an account with them. The bank is FDIC insured and has been for the last 51 years, so chances are it’ll be around for a while.

A lot of people who listen to audio books believe Audible is the only real place to go, but there are actually a lot of different ways to find and download mp3 audio books online. There are services which allow you to download public domain books for free to listen to of varying qualities and a number of other subscription sites which can, in a lot of cases, save you money over Audible’s $15.00 per month subscription service.

One of these services is music-clubs.com. They offer both fiction and non-fiction audio books. Some of the types of books available include business, careers, self-help, children’s, young adult, and spirituality. Whatever you’re looking for, chances are music-club.com has what you’re looking for. Their collection is fairly large in size, it’s not the biggest out there, but chances are you’ll be able to find something worth listening to.

Music-Club really shines when it comes to fiction books. Regardless of which audio books authors you’re looking for, you’ll find it. If you’re looking for the latest fantasy novel or a science fiction adventure, Music-Club is the place.  One of the recently released definitely worth checking out is ‘Anathem’ by Neal Stephensen. It’s a science fiction mystery about a world where scientists and intelligent people are herded and locked into sanctuaries so they don’t create something that will destroy humanity.

Music-Club offers two subscription plans, a gold membership, and a platinum membership. The gold membership has a special where you can get 50% off for the first three months, and pay a mere $14.95 per month after that. With the gold subscription, you get one book of any size. Unlike audible, there aren’t books that are “two credits” which make the book take two months of one’s subscription. There is also a platinum level membership for $22.95 per month that comes with 2 free audio books up-front, 2 downloads per month, and after that you can purchase additional audio books for just $11.47 for each download. Both of the plans offered are very competitive with Audible’s services, and depending on which books you buy, you can save a substantial amount of money.

This service might not be the best fit for everyone, but it’s very competitive with Audible’s, iTunes’ and other stores pricing levels, so check it out.

Unfortunately, with a difficult economy, some people need a little extra cash from time to time. Unexpected expenses can make it impossible to make it to your next paycheck without a little assistance.

If you have poor credit, your only option may be to consider a cash advance. Advances in technology can make it easy to get a faxless payday loan. These loans are easy to apply for.

Before you take out a payday loan, make sure you consider two important things.

First: You need to understand how much payday loans cost. Payday lenders, like other lenders in the U.S., must disclose the “Annual Percentage Rate” (or “APR”) of each loan. The APR is a way for you to compare two different loans to each other. The loan with a higher APR is more expensive. Payday lenders typically charge between $10 to $30 for each $100 borrowed. When disclosed as an annual percentage rate, this can range from around 390 percent to 780 percent.

The APR is calculated by a formula that takes into account the amount the lender is charging you, the amount you are borrowing, and the length of the loan. It breaks down all the costs of the loan, including the interest rate, and that rate is known as the annual percentage rate. On a 30-year fixed-rate loan, the APR is the actual annual cost of the loan if you make 360 payments. Since payday loans are typically short term loans, the APRs can be quite high.

Don’t use the APR of a payday loan to compare with an APR of a mortgage (a long-term loan). Use APRs to compare different payday loans of equal lengths. Use it to decide Which lender is going to give you the best loan rate. Here are two examples to show how to use the APR to decide which payday loan is a better deal.

Example One: If you are going to borrow $200, the lender is charging you a fee of $30, and the loan is due to be repaid in two weeks, the APR is 782%.

Example Two: If another lender is going to charge you a fee of $20 for the same $200, two week loan, the APR will be 521%.
Obviously, the second lender is a better deal. Use a payday loan calculator to figure out which loan is cheapest.

Next, before you take out a payday loan, you need to understand what a “rollover” is. Most payday loan borrowers renew or rollover their loan at least once. When a borrower files for an extension on their loan, it effectively rolls it over to a future repayment date which is the next paycheck. Additional fees are paid for each rollover which can create a seemingly endless cycle of debt. Many States allow unlimited rollovers.

Before you take out a payday loan, make sure you will have enough money to repay the principal in its entirety on the first due date. Do not get sucked into an endless cycle of rollovers, as you will end up in a worse situation than you are currently in.

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People are constantly looking to save money without reducing their quality of life. The trick to saving money is to make frugality a habit; so you don’t even have to think about it. Here are 4 money saving tips you maybe overlooked that could save you substantial amounts of money over time:

1. Maintain Your “Things”: Everything has a limited lifespan, however, most items will have a longer useful lifespan if they are maintained properly. Maintaining your car is a prime example – keeping the oil changed, tires properly inflated, and brakes replaced regularly will help extend your car’s lifespan. Maintaining household appliances and clothing are other areas that you can extend the use and save money over having to replace them more frequently.

2. Shop Around: When you do have to buy something, take the extra time to bargain hunt. With the invention of such websites as pricegrabber.com and bizrate.com you can take a look at what many different retailers are selling the item you need for. Don’t forget to check the Consumer Reports guide (also online, consumerreports.org) before making a large purchase, as they offer unbiased reviews and advice for many products.

3. Discount Clothing: There are many ways to reduce the amount of money you spend on clothes that it seems a little ridiculous to spend $70 on a pair of jeans when you can get a similar pair for $20. Try shopping at outlet stores, or Cosco for reduced prices on clothing. If you’re up for it, you can buy used clothing on eBay, at yard sales or consignment shops, or the Goodwill Store (as a bonus, you’ll know the profits Goodwill earns from the sale of items in their retail shops goes towards charity). Many times you can find clothing in perfectly good condition for a fraction of what it would cost new – and sometimes there are items with the tags still on them!

4. Grocery Shopping: Unfortunately, we can’t completely eliminate paying for food but there are many tricks to paying less for our food. First, shop with a list and use cash. This way, you can only get what you have cash on hand to buy and you won’t be tempted to throw a few extra items into the cart. You might be surprised at how much extra you spend on each shopping trip with those little “extra” items that make their way into the cart! Clip and use coupons on items you ALREADY buy, but don’t clip or use a coupon just because you have one. That defeats the purpose and doesn’t help you save money.

For many living paycheck to paycheck, it often feels like there is never anything left over to tuck into a savings account. Saving money may not be a priority and therefore will always end up feeling more and more like a struggle. There are a number of ways to start saving, whether it be to set specific savings goals or to budget your money with savings in mind.

One particularly simple way to save cash is to automate the process. By establishing and an automated withdrawal and deposit of funds from one account to the other, you are more likely to stick to your savings plan. One reason is because the automated process doesn’t allow you to get your hands on the cash that you are likely to spend. Many people find saving money to be a nearly-impossible task. Because of the onslaught of bills and expenses each month, they have a hard time making saving cash a priority.  They feel that whatever money is “left over” will go into the savings account and are surprised each and every time when there is no money left over.

By establishing an automatic plan to save, you essentially set your mind to accepting the withdrawals each time. You no longer have a reason to worry about what’s left to save and as time goes on and you see the account grow, you will likely become a more motivated, more confident saver.

How Automation Makes It Easy

Setting up an automated savings plan is pretty simple. In fact, there is more than one way to do automatically deposit a set amount of money into your account on a regular basis. The first way you can automate your savings deposit is through your employer. If you have signed up for direct deposit of your paychecks, you can complete a form that allows you to direct deposit the bulk of your money into one account and assign another amount to your savings account. This way, each time your direct deposit goes into the bank, you will add a little more to your savings account on a regular basis without any extra steps.

For those who do not have access to direct deposits, you can visit your local bank branch and request that your checking and savings accounts link together so you can establish an automated transfer from one account to the other. Again, with automated money transfers, you never have to touch the cash or remember to make a deposit.

Set It and Forget It

Once you start depositing money into your savings account, forget about that money. Of course, you should always keep your eye on your banking statement for errors but as for the money, forget you ever had it. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you could “borrow” from your savings account unless it is for a true emergency. The likelihood of you paying yourself back early on is not realistic. Over time, as you begin to see the account growing, you may be less likely to use the money impulsively. But in the beginning, you have to learn to practice self-control and leave the money alone.

Keep the Accounts Updated

If you get a raise or other increase in income, don’t forget to make adjustments to your automated savings accordingly. Should you pay increase, it makes sense to have your savings deposit increase as well. Don’t forget to update your bank accounts and automated deposits of your paycheck. In the event you get a cash bonus or other unexpected windfall, plan to put it into the savings account and let it sit for awhile, otherwise it will probably burn a hole into your pocket.

Whenever you go to a wedding and want to purchase a gift, there is usually a list of stores that the couple is registered at. You’ll go to the store, look up their registry, and purchase an item on their list that hasn’t already been taken. Recently the idea of a gift registry has expanded to monetary gift registries for weddings, gift registries for baby showers, and now there are even monetary gift registries for college savings.

Most 529 college savings plans allow parents to invest money on behalf of their children to pay for college on a tax-advantageous basis. Depending on your 529 plan, the money could be invested in stocks, bonds, CDs, or just about anything. Freshman Fund has brought a unique take on the idea of a 529 college savings plan.

Freshman Fund allows parents to setup a 529 savings plan for their children and then invite friends and relatives to contribute to their child’s college education. Imagine for a moment that you have a child who was having their one year old birthday. Friends and Family members might buy them a toy to play with or a new outfit that they’ll inevitably grow out of in a few months. Either way, the gift given is usually forgotten about within a year.

Imagine for a moment that your friends and family invested that money on behalf of your child into their 529 savings plan. If you were to receive 10 $25 gifts for your child, you would have $250 deposited into your account. Over the course of 18 years, that money would grow to $1,922 if it were invested into a decent mutual fund. That’s a lot better than a few toys or items of clothing that will be gone in a few months.

The monetary gifts from friends and family members won’t replace your personal college savings for your child, but it’s a great way to reduce the amount of money that you and your child will have to pay for school. There’s no reason why a few decent sized gifts throughout the course of your child’s childhood couldn’t pay for a semester or two of college.

ING Direct is another long lived online savings bank. Adding to their ways to help you save and grow your money, they recently acquired ShareBuilders to help everyday people invest their money. Since I am only reviewing their savings accounts currently, I will skip this and tell you a little bit about ING Direct.

ING has been around for a while and has been in the US for over 100 years. It offers banking to over 60 million clients and 50 countries. ING Direct is based out of Wilmington, Delaware and they also have ING Direct Cafes around the U.S. currently. These cafes are currently in St. Cloud, Chicago, New York, LA, Wilmington, and Philadelphia.

ING Direct has several different online savings accounts. Their Orange Savings Account with 2.75% APY (as of 10/09/2008), no minimum balances no specific balance to keep in your account, no fees or service charges. They have direct savings which allows you to automatically move a fixed amount of money regularly to your Orange Savings account.

Basically to open an account, you will need to be 18 years or older, proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent resident, social security number, and a U.S. address. The checking account you are linking to ING Direct needs to be a bank chartered in the United States.

You can link up to three checking accounts to your ING Direct account. Your Orange Savings Account can also be a living trust as well and there is additional information about this online.

Depositing money into your Orange Account is easy. You log into your account and can have the money transferred in two to three business days.

Direct Deposit is available and the forms are online for your employer. You can also set up a fixed amount of money to transfer on a regular basis to your Orange Savings Account.

Once your account is open, you will be asked to verify one or two small amounts deposited into your checking account – each is less than a dollar – within sixty days. You can still deposit money if you have not verified for sixty days at which time they will lock down your account. People, verify your account so you do not have hassles later!

You cannot withdraw money from your account for the first ten days and all subsequent accounts will be a five day hold. Interest starts accruing after two business days when you process your account. All transfers to checking account will take three business days. ING does not charge to do this; however, the bank with your existing checking account may. Withdrawals may not occur more than six times in a month – this is a Federal law – without a fee. If you continually withdraw more than six times in a month, they may close your account.

An interesting draw for me at least is that ING Direct offers a business savings account called Orange for Business. It is currently at 2.9% and is good for sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, corporations, not-for-profits and small organizations. There are no fees or service charges and will allow access to the business account for up to three people. To open this account, you will need a social security number (sole proprietors) or Employee Identification Number (EIN) for your business, personal social security number, and existing business checking account and routing number. There is a ten business day hold before initial deposits can be returned to the account linked business checking and after this hold has expired, all future deposits have a five day hold, similar to the personal Orange Savings Account.

They also give you a list and table of documentation they will need. You will have sixty days to provide ING with these.

Even though the rates are not the greatest currently, I was impressed with what ING does have including the business accounts, living trusts, and joint accounts. They seem to be a decent company and the complaints against the company have been limited to customer service complaints and common sense. I would beg everyone to read the fine print to know when you can withdraw money, how long it will take, how many times you can withdraw money before they close your account, all the legalese. Overall, though people have had issues, this is set up to be a saving account and if you want a checking account to pull money out of, they have those as well.

E-Trade Bank has been around for quite a while in the terms of being an online brokerage and savings firm. Helping them out is that cute baby ad that started last Superbowl. Etrade Bank received accolades from Money Magazine in August 2007 “Etrade Bank – A really complete menu of bank features-and at the best rates.”

Currently, their savings account offers 3.30% APY. There are no minimums and no account fees to keep the savings account. They also allow free online bill pay in your online bank and alerts to your phone. Etrade banking also offers one click transfers to and from your Etrade accounts. Like all online accounts – 24 hour access. You can move money to your investment account, if you invest with Etrade. You can move money between your online savings and checking account.

Etrade offers an Automatic Savings Plan for either a one-time deposit or recurring transfers. Be aware however, that this does not limit your loss in during a down economy…it’s just a way to invest. Transfers also need to be before 4 p.m. ET on a normal business day to be processed that day. Which is the way my brick-and-mortar bank works as well.

To sign up, you will need a minimum of one dollar, 18 years or older, driver’s license, and a U.S. resident with a valid social security number to apply online. Etrade can be funded by mailing a check, wiring funds, direct deposit, ACH transfer, or a transfer from another Etrade account.

Be aware of closing your account too early. You need to keep your money in the online savings account for the first 120 days of opening. For new customers, funds from electronic direct deposits will be available on the day they receive the deposit. Cash, wire transfers, and the first $5,000 of the day’s total deposits will be available on the first business day after you deposit it. Excess over $5,000 will be avaiable on the fifth business day. After your thirty day probation period is over, it will be next day posting. You will be charged $25 for each stop payment and insufficient funds transaction. Cheaper than my bank!

Etrade will offer you an ATM card and you can withdraw funds from anywhere and Etrade will not charge you. However, the owner/operator of that particular ATM may. You are limited to six withdrawals or transfers per calendar month. You can also deposit to Etrade ATMs.

Now, let’s look at some of the complaints regarding Etrade. Almost all in this case were from people who were trading not saving their money. If any of you read or listen to Dave Ramsey, you know what he would say…”stupid tax”. Too many people are investing without researching. Margin calls, not knowing that trades do not always happen on the day you request them and do take a few days to clear, and just not being aware of what they can and cannot do. This is a topic for a different day.

After reading over everything, looking at their website and online banking demo, their rates, and their business practices, I think this is a fairly good company to use as your bank.

Beverly National Bank Online is the e-banking for Beverly National Bank located out of Beverly, Massachusetts. To say this bank has been around for awhile is an understatement. It first open its brick-and-mortar door in 1802. Beverly National Bank online currently offers 3.10% APY.

This is not a bad yield to get; however, it states point blank that you need $5000 to open an account. Too many people are currently scrapping together to get money together to make the mortgage and groceries so this is a little high for the average joe. It also states that if you let it fall below $5000 anytime during the month, you will get a $15 fee charged. Ouch!

On the plus side, they do use VeriSign to secure the accounts. It also uses Secure Sockets Layer technology (SSL) .

To open an account, they will need your name, address, social security number, date of birth They will also mail statements monthly or you can grab it from your Free Internet Banking production on line twith them.

Like many savings account both on and offline, you are limited to six withdrawals each calednar month thosugh you can make as many deposits as you want. Deposits are pretty simply made by mail or ACH direct deposit. They currently cannot transfer bank to bank as of October 6, 2008. Access is very hard to get as you can only transfer funds between the online account and other accounts at Beverly National Bank.

Deposits are made only by mailing in a check or direct deposits via ACH. Doesn’t help if you need money in a hurry for an emergency, especially one that is so tied down.

After looking this over, the e-Success online account with Beverly National Bank is not the best bank out there for someone who lives outside of the area. Though the money is secure, it is difficult to get the money back out unless you live in the North Boston area and can get to the bank. Given that this review is for the people out there looking to begin savings, $5000 is a hefty amount to put down. In addition to the other limitations, I would suggest going to another online bank.

Venture Bank Direct begins their website with some really cool animation of an owl (wise old owl) and their online savings account beginning at 3.75 APR as of August 25, 2008.

There are several pluses to begin an account with Venture Bank Direct. One is, as mentioned above, their 3.75% interest rate for opening an account and you can begin for as little as $1. You have to enjoy that.

Now let’s take a look at Venture Bank Direct. According to their website, it was originally founded in 1979 by a few local business owners. They have steadily grown and it appears worked together to look at the future of banking. However, it was hard to find any complaints or problems currently since they are so very new.

They are based in Washington State and currently have about $1.2 billion in assets. Like most online banks, it is FDIC secured up to $100,000 per depositor.

Now, how do you open a savings account at Venture Bank Direct? You just apply online with their application and fund the account with your linked bank account from your funding bank. The usual applies – 18 years old, valid social, legal US address, valid driver’s license, state ID or military ID, and a personal bank account in a U.S. bank. Once you finish that up, you will receive an email with you application number and then another email when your account is open and ready to go. Your account number is only available online via instructions from the email that is sent to you.

Deposits and withdrawals are done through your online banking accounts and are linked via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) and it takes about two to four business days. Verification to linked account is done by Venture Bank depositing two small deposits in your account and then you log into your Venture Bank account to tell them what the deposit amounts were in your linked account.

New deposits are available after verification of those deposits and future deposits can be withdrawn after five business days.The interest is compounded monthly and paid monthly on daily collected balances.

You can get a joint account and add a beneficiary to your account as well. Accounts can be checked on line.

The only down part of venture Bank Direct Online Savings is the inability to access via an ATM. However, they will be getting an online checking account soon so this may change.

After looking over Venture Bank it seems like it would be a good savings account to begin online. It has a good opening rate, no minimum balance, and the ability to export to MS Money, Quicken, QuickBooks, and other accounting software. Impressive little down home bank!