Savings Account at Emigrant Direct.Com

I love this site for stashing away some extra cash for that rainy day and so should you!   You can have money transferred directly from your own checking account which is very easy to do online.  So go ahead and check it out.

Start out small then set up an automatic draft for say 25.00 month or more and just watch it add up.  But remember this is your rainy day fund or perhaps you Christmas fund ...who knows.  I like knowing I have a little cash tucked away for those hiccups that come along once in awhile that can really throw you for a loop.  You will have to wait about 3 business days to get the money transferred back into your checking account but to me that is not a problem and again you never know you might just decided you really didn't need it after all.

Go ahead see what your current bank is offering in the way of interest and I bet it won't be as high as Emigrant Direct is offering.  Right now it is at  0.80%  APY and that's better than my bank Chase I am sure.
  
       High Interest Savings Account Highlights Emigrant Direct

• No Fees. No Minimums.
• Open your high interest savings account online. It's quick and easy.
• No need to change your checking account. Your AmericanDream SavingsAccount™ will be linked to your current checking account.
• Up late? Access your high yield savings account 24/7 at EmigrantDirect.com.
• Have a question? Visit our online banking FAQ page.

 In fact I couldn't even get Chase to tell me what the APY is ...oh wait I called back and they wanted my name full name...grrrr I didn't give it only my first name...what state I was in and if I had a checking account they wanted that too, I did not get them my checking account info I did give the State then she asked was it North Texas I said yes finally got an 0.50% APY .  That was like pulling teeth just to get that information and me trying to explode on this lady, in fact the second person I had to talk to just to get the freaking APY.  Can we say O.M.G.!!!

It almost makes me want to change banks because every time I call just to get a bit of information they give me the 3rd degree.  What happened to customer service and just answering a customers questions.  And if your going to ask me a bunch of what I think is unrelated questions then tell me why you need that information.  How will that benefit me in the long run.  It makes me think that if you see I have a small checking account you will give me a smaller APY?  What the heck.  Who knows why all the questions because know one told me how it would benefit me and that might have helped me be not so aggravated with the 3rd degree.

Anywho....just check Emigrant Direct out see if it's a good match for you.  Happy Savings to all.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.....yummmm

Well I had my grand kids at my house today and so we made Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Oh my goodness I had bought sometime late in December some Tom Thumb chocolate chips they are the Safeway brand because they were on sale for like 0.88 cents a bag and bought 4 of them thinking I would use them for Christmas and I didn't.

However I dragged those puppies out and decided to make a double batch.  That makes 10 dozen cookies.  I have some in my big cookie jar, some in the freezer and the last batch is cooling off now....opps I put a dozen in a tupperware container to take to work on Monday.  I have cookies coming out my ears.  This recipe is really quite good.  I am one of those people to doesn't really like hard or really soft cookies but these are just right.

Here is the recipe from the back on the package:

1/2 lb Butter  (2 sticks)  softened
1  cup Packed Brown sugar
1/2 cup Granulated sugar (white)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
12 oz bag Safeway Chocolate chips from Tom Thumb
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, mix butter until creamy.  Mix in brown and white sugars, salt and vanilla until fluffy.  Mix in eggs and baking soda.  Add flour.  Mix on low until incorporated.  Mix in chocolate chips and nuts (optional).   Drop onto greased or sprayed baking sheets by rounded tablespoon about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until tops are set when lightly pressed with fingertips and color is golden.  Let stand 2 minutes and remove to racks.  You can store air tight for several days or freeze them. Makes 5 dozen cookies depending on how much dough you drop for each cookie.

I estimated the cost of making a double batch of these to be about 0.06 cents a cookie. Try comparing that to store bought cookies and I think you will agree that making homemade cookies is cheaper.
And if you look at it this way I would call them free....lol since I already had the ingredients on hand!  I did not try to figure the cost of the electric stove use but I still feel homemade is better simply because I know what went into the cookies.  No additives except for what was in the Chocolate chips themselves and fresh ingredients!  Simply yummy.

Hope you try these out sometime this is now my favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe!

If your a Nestles Toll House cookie fan then go here for a .50 cent off coupon for their Chocolate chips and if your store doubles then that's even better. 
Here is the Nestles Toll House Chocolate Chip link for coupon.

Saving Money and Knowing Sale Cycles

I found this great site called the Krazy Coupon Lady and they have an awesome article that can really help you stock up on the best deals and the right time of the year buy them. This year is my year of savings. I am learning to be a Krazy Coupon Lady myself and I am find it really is worth my time and effort to ......yes CLIP COUPONS!

I have started by going to Wally World on Sunday and getting 4 of the Sundays papers which mine have them 2/$5.00 and as a bonus for the Mc Donalds customers I simply pull out the plastic insert that holds all the sales flyers and I leave the Sunday papers for their customers to ready while eating there. And it saves me the trouble of tossing or recycling the paper when I get home.

So it's a win win for all.

So for the article CLICK HERE and happy savings! Oh and be sure to bookmark that site it has a wealth of information and coupon data base and it's all free. Be sure to check out their new book too "Pick another CHECK OUT LANE, honey!" I am ording mine today.


Live well, help others and you will prosper!
Dianne