Savings on Autopilot: Increasing the Auto-Transfer Amount
I have been automatically transferring a certain amount of money from our checking account to savings account on payday for quite a while. At first, $300 was moved every two weeks from our checking account at Bank of America to savings account at Emigrant Direct as part of our “pay ourselves first” strategy in order to save a little more without any intervention from us. With the scheduled transfer, we make sure that saving is always ahead of spending.
Later on when I switched from Emigrant Direct to FNBO Direct, I increased the bi-weekly auto-transfer amount from $300 to $400 last July. The increased limit had no noticeable impact on our spending for the past half year and we almost made no withdraw from savings account to meet our daily needs.
Last night, after reviewing interest rates of our two main banks, FNBO Direct and IGoBanking, I decided it’s time to make IGoBanking our default savings account because IGoBanking’s interest rate of 3.90% APY is slightly better than FNBO’s 3.85%. At the same time, I also re-directed the auto-transfer from FNBO to IGoBnaking. Since I had to delete the scheduled transfer at FNBO and create a new one at IGoBanking, an idea occurred to me as I was entering the transfer amount: “Why not transfer $500 every two weeks instead?”
Yes, why not? Having to create a new schedule is an excellent opportunity to increase the auto-transfer amount because the autopilot strategy means “set and forget” and I indeed always set and forget. So I entered $500.
Will it make a difference this time? I don’t know. If it does, we can always go back to what has worked for us. If it doesn’t, then we just save $200 more every month without having to make any hard choice 
*Photo from aeronorthwest.com
Related Articles You Don't Want To Miss
- FNBO Direct BillPay Account and IGoBanking Transfer Limit
- My Saving and Investing on Autopilot
- HSBC Dropped Rate for Online Savings Account
- Dollar Savings Direct Savings Account Is Still the Best Option
- Auto Insurance: Should I Switch?
- One More Benefit from Ameriprise Auto Insurance
- IGoBanking Savings Account Opened
- FNBO Direct Review: An Online Bank Offers High-Yield Savings and Checking Account
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Pingback by May 2008 Score Card — Part I: Net Worth on June 2, 2008 @ 10:57 am
- Pingback by ING Posted First Ever Quarterly Loss on November 12, 2008 @ 10:54 am
Tweetbacks
4 Comments
Share Your Thouhgts
Your opinion matters. Please use the form below to share your thoughts on Savings on Autopilot: Increasing the Auto-Transfer Amount with us.Recent Entries
- Weekend Linkage – July 5, 2009
- Bank of America $25 Bonus for Using Online Bill Pay
- optionsXpress Platinum Visa Card Offers 12-month 0% Balance Transfer
- Ally Bank Accounts Fully Functional, But …
- A Look at OptionsHouse for Stocks and Options Trading
- ShareBuilder $25 Bonus Promotion Code
- A New Day, A New Job
- Pre-Order Windows 7 and Save
- Learn Options Trading with TradeKing’s Options Playbook
- Quicken Promotion Codes
- Ally Bank Online Savings Account Opened
- What Can You Expect to See on Your Credit Reports?
- I Hate IGoBanking
- Friday Deal: Amazon Flip HD Camcorder Sale
- Alternatives to MS Money
- Did TurboTax Mis-calculate My Recovery Rebate Credit?
- Where Is Gold Heading to?
- American Express Online Savings Account 2% APY
- Free Online Money Management Tools That Make Your Life Easier
- House and Job Update
- New PineCone Research Sign Up Link
- Strep, House, and Job
- Chase Introduces Ultimate Rewards
- Ally Bank Made Significant Rate Changes
- EverBank Raises Money Market Account Bonus Rate to 3.01%
I agree that the auto transfer is a great tool to use for savings. I have auto transfers set up not only for our emergency fund but for our other savings goals as well. We are saving for a wedding so my fiance and I set up auto transfers into a joint account we opened specifically saving for the wedding. We also have a small auto transfer going into an account for birthday and christmas gifts. After the wedding we want to set up accounts with auto transfers for vacations and cars. I also have auto transfers for our car insurance that is due every six months.
Being able to set it and forget it makes saving so easy.
It’s not exactly the same, but upping your 401k contribution when you get a raise is amazing. You never see the difference, but you’re both saving more and getting a fatter paycheck.