User spencer uresk - The Daily Saver

What personal finance changes are you making for 2010?

2010-01-10T07:14:48Z

With a new year and everyone making New Years Resolutions (some of them finance-related, I hope!), I figured it might be fun and useful to find out what changes to the way you manage your finances you are planning on making for 2010?

Here are 2 that I'm making:

1) More fine-grained budgeting

I've never been that great at budgeting, and even now I tend to do it at a really high level - ie, only 6 or so categories with a lot of leeway. I'm hoping to better track all of my expenses in order to get a better idea of where I can save money. It is really hard to save money without knowing where it all is going!

2) Better use of savings accounts

I used to be really good about keeping tabs on the best interest rates being offered and made the most of my deposit accounts. The past few years I've been a little lazy and have left most of my money in poorly-yielding checking accounts, costing me hundreds of dollars in lost interest. I'm going to find a good bank that pays a good yield and stick most of my money in there. This requires better budgeting since I won't have a huge chunk of cash sitting in my checking account, but that is probably a good thing!

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing what your tips are!

Answer by Spencer Uresk for How long does it take the FDIC to pay out?

2010-01-10T07:01:08Z

Should you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation (a bank that has your deposit funds failing), you can expect to receive payments for any insured funds very quickly. The FDIC tries to reimburse depositors within 2 business days and in most cases meets that goal.

You can find out more information here:

http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/banking/facts/payment.html

Answer by Spencer Uresk for What is the difference between APR and APY?

2010-01-08T04:23:38Z

For starters, APR stands for "Annual Percentage Rate" and APY stands for "Annual Percentage Yield". APR is the actual rate that is offered, but most places will compound your interest at certain intervals. Compounding essentially means adding the interest you've earned to your balance, which means the next time interest is calculated, that money will cost you interest as well. APY takes this into account.

For example, if you are offered an APR of 5%, compounded monthly, this corresponds to a 5.11% APY.

The following links offer more details:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/04/102904.asp

http://www.best-savings-rates.com/apr-apy.php