About Me

Denise T.

Denise is a freelance journalist and crafter who dreams of starting her own business-- a hometown Tiki bar. She is a former New Orleans Bourbon Street bartender.

The challenge: I can't use my primary income to fund the tiki bar. I can only use money I earn in other ways. Part of the challenge will be to develop new, creative revenue sources. It's like a pumped-up,long-term $20 challenge.

***2008 Tiki Fund goal: $1,500***
$990.56 in fund, $509.44 to go

***Monthly Tiki Fund Total***

June: $2.21
$2.21 interest on tiki saving act.
: (

May 2008: $98.70
$9.00 Web sales
$87.61 Google Adsense
$2.09 Tiki savings interest

For a full breakdown of Tiki fund money, visit my $20 challenge page.

***Personal Savings Goals for 2008***
$5,000 into my IRA
$2,000 into hubby's Roth IRA
$2,000 into 529 plan
$6,000 into savings account
$3,600 into brokerage account
$650 into new car fund
Total: $19,250

***Progress Report***
$4,199 in my IRA, $801 to go
$1459 to Roth, $541 to go
$1100 to 529 plan, $900 to go
$5200 to savings, $800 to go
$1995 to brokerage, $1605 to go
$357.25 in car fund, $292.75 to go
Total: $14,310

***
Debt to pay off:
Student Loan: $14,841.42
(Down from $40,000 in 2001)

***
No Drive Days (where me AND the hubby don't drive! Since May 15):2

New car fund balance: $285
For a Hybrid Honda Fit!!

***
All of these goals will be a little harder to reach this year because I am now a self-employed journalist and the hubby and I had our first baby in April. Last year, I was a staff reporter at a major metro newspaper so saving was easy.

We have always lived on one salary only. But we aren't quite sure how a new baby is going to affect our finances.

***The Big Picture***
Me 33, Hubby 35
-No credit card debt
-No car loan
-House paid off because we moved to a cheaper city

My Pages

$20 Tiki challenge

Savings act interest =lead balloon

March 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am

All these Fed rate cuts are killing me. I just keep watching the interest rate on my savings act. go down. It was 5 percent a couple of months ago. Now I'll be lucky if it stays above 3. Anyone have any ideas on a better place to stash my cash??

Posted in Savings | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Savings act interest =lead balloon”

luxlivingfrugalis Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 am

What's the cash for?
thriftorama Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 am

It's just our emergency fund plus we use it for big home repairs. Up next, a new roof. Basically, it's our liquid fund account.
luxlivingfrugalis Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 05:24 pm

Could you do a CD ladder? 3 mth, 6 mth, 9 mth, etc. Where a portion would become available each time and if not needed then you can reinvest at hopefully higher rates!
thriftorama Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 07:12 pm

I've never had a CD before. Maybe I should look into it.

Thrift-o-rama and the quest for a Tiki Bar

One girl's quest to shore up her personal finances and save for her own business

Savings act interest =lead balloon

4 Responses to “Savings act interest =lead balloon”

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