Make Money From Home

In addition to sharing tips on how to stretch the dollars you already have, I am always looking for new ways to share how to generate extra income. I posted about my experience mystery shopping here and had a guest post here with more ideas to earn money from home.

Then I stumbled upon Carrie’s blog, Money Saving Methods, and saw how she was making hundreds of dollars by taking advantage of bank offers. It never even occurred to me to take advantage of these offers as changing banks seems like such a hassle. Carrie has it down to a science though and keeps an ongoing list of banks with new offers running. Right after I started thinking about this, I noticed a lot of offers coming in the mail for opening new accounts at various banks.

Then I went into my bank (which shall remain nameless but was just taken over by a bigger bank) and was told I would no longer be able to make deposits (I am not kidding). Withdrawls OK- deposits no go. Rather than bore you with the exciting details of my life, suffice it to say we need to change banks. So I spotted an offer from a bank that is closer to my house, offers the same free everything and is running a promotion for $100 to open a new checking account! The minimum deposit is just $1.

So while this might not be an option for everyone, it is a way to start thinking a little differently about the everyday things you do. Changing all our direct deposits and withdrawals etc.. is going to be a headache, but I needed to do it anyway and found a way to compensate myself for the hassle.

I also just opened another ING account for our newborn and got $25. We love ING and have accounts for both girls (to deposit any gift checks they receive), an account for property taxes that we deposit money into monthly, an account for home repairs and yet another account for homeowner’s insurance which we also pay into monthly and then we generate a little interest and the annual bill doesn’t sneak up on us. I told you all about ING here – we have been customers for several years now and are very happy with the service. It takes about 5 minutes to manage all these accounts every month and we have everything in one place- which I love.

I asked about passing along the offer from the bank I just switched to but it is only located in my area. I can however pass along the code for ING to anyone interested to get a $25 bonus- just email me directly at myfrugaladventures at yahoo dot com. They require a $250 opening deposit.

If you are thinking of opening a new account at a bank make sure to read the fine print on the offer. My bank requires 1 transaction per week and the money is deposited after 120 days. You don’t want to go to all the trouble and then lose out on the bonus for a small oversight!