Pigs and a Cruise

This past spring I decided that when I turn 30 (in a few years) I am going to treat myself to a cruise.  I went on a cruise with my family, compliments of my grandparents, when I was 15.  And I loved every minute of it!

Who wouldn't?!  

Food....all the time.  

Sunshine...all the time.

Beautiful weather...all the time.

I was literally in paradise.  Just thinking about palm trees makes me happy.  Remember, I have a thing for beaches and palm trees. 

Turning 30 is a big deal and I'm going to celebrate. I love birthday's and it only makes sense that:

birthday + cruise= best birthday EVER!!

So being the smart and ingenious person that I am, I decided I needed to start saving now.  Mostly because I'm a spender, and if I don't start now there's no way I'll have enough money just laying around when I'm 30.

My cousin showed me her tool for saving money. SmartyPig. I was instantly hooked.  It is a legit online savings account bank.  They are backed by FDIC, been hailed by reputable people such as The Wall Street Journal; The New York Times; Fox Business; CNN Living and many more.  It is a secure website that asks for obvious username and password, but also answers to two of your security questions.  But the thing that really got me was their great interest rate.  0.70% APY.  Since I started saving in April, I have earned $.30 in interest.  

Hello!!! 

And it's not like I even have tons of money in my account.  Couldn't believe it.  $.30!  Another perk to SmartyPig you can set up specific goals with time frames and amounts.  So my goal appropriately named "cruise" is $1,000.  I told the magical piggy when I wanted to reach my goal, and it told me how much I would need to set aside each month.  It pulls directly from my checking account, so I don't have to remember to transfer funds.  Seriously people, if you aren't hooked by now, I don't understand why not.

If you want to sign up with SmartyPig I can send you a referral (selfish reason...I get a little bonus...but you can do the same thing with your friends). Send me your email to menmoneyandme@gmail.com and I'll send you an invite. 

Have you ever heard of SmartyPig before??

P.S. They didn't ask me to write this.  I just simply love the site and want to share with you.  Because I'm nice like that.