Exit Strategy

Money Saving Tips That Are Proven To Work

Over and over again, I’m reminded of one simple fact:  “Wealthy people save; poor people spend.”   This is a simple fact, but it is often overlooked.  In this article, let’s explore some ways that you can start saving more and spending less.  If you implement these suggestions, you will find that your wealth will increase even if you don’t produce more income.

One thing the current economy has showcased to most Americans is the necessity of being frugal in nearly everything they do. Frugality isn’t taught in schools, and it’s a lesson that most of us have to learn the hard way by falling short on some bills.

Even worse, we’re bombarded with misleading messages that tell us that “going into debt is fine…”

Debt is not fine, especially consumer debt. Debt is an addiction, and an expensive one. If you’re learning this the hard way, it’s time to look at trimming expenses. It’s even better to learn these lessons early, but better late than never.

The ultimate aim is to live on 80-90% of what you earn. Starting out, you can bank the rest in an interest bearing account. You don’t need to get into complex investment vehicles; a good bank account that pays interest in both checking and savings and has no fees is a head start.

First things first, tabulate your current expenses. List three months of expenses and find out what you’re spending on restaurants, coffee, eating at home, going to movies, and everything else.

What you find may be painful, but it’s worth the effort writing out your expenses. You’ll quickly notice that there are fixed expenses (like your mortgage and utility bills) and variable expenses (like food and entertainment). You’ll discover lots of ways for money to vanish down rabbit holes by examining your variable expenses!

Now look for things to trim:

1. Do you regularly buy a latte on the way to work? That’s costing you $20 a week or a bit over a thousand dollars a year. Make a latte at home and drink it on the way to work and save the rest.
2. Do you smoke? Kick the habit. It’s not just killing your lungs; it’s costing you anywhere from $100 to $200 a month or more. That adds up to almost 2 grand per year.
3. Do you eat out at lunch? Even a fast food meal is around six bucks. If you figure you spend 240 days a year at work, and eat out for a hundred of them. Is that $600 you’d rather have back?
   • Get in the habit of spending Sunday afternoons packing a week’s worth of lunches. You can make your favorite foods and freeze them or cook a little extra for dinner each night.
4. Unnecessary ‘convenience food’ costs you. While you’re in the kitchen, look at how many pre-packaged meals you eat. Every single one of them represents two to three dollars you’re paying someone to cook something for you.
   • It’s amazing how much money you can save by learning how to cook your own food! The general rule is that for the same quantity of food, a pre-packaged meal costs twice to three times as much.
5. Make your own fast food. Once you start cooking, you can look at other ways to be frugal, like cooking large batches and freezing the leftovers. When you need food fast, grab something out of the freezer and just heat it up.
6. Drink water. You pay a lot less for water from the tap than you do for soda or bottled water. Buy a water filtration pitcher, and keep it filled.
   • Any time you feel the urge to grab a soda, drink an 8-ounce glass of water first. Then see if you’re still thirsty. This will cut down your soda habit tremendously.
7. Use coupons. Save even more money by using coupons when items are on sale. You might end up paying only a few cents for an item you use all the time.

8. Follow the ‘wait 30 days’ rule before buying anything that costs more than $50 or so.

Being frugal and learning how to save money takes patience and practice, but the rewards are worth it when you find you’ve saved enough money to get out of debt, go on vacation, or buy a new car.

Make small changes every week to form new habits, and before you know it, you’ll have a whole new way of living and extra money in the bank.

Where Were You When Opportunity Knocked?

Where were you when opportunity knocked?  If you’re like most people I know, you’ve missed out on several chances to become a millionaire already because you were too busy wasting your time on things that don’t add value to your life.

Do you fall into the trap of wasting time? Time is a valuable commodity! When you waste your precious time, you’re actually preventing yourself from achieving the things you desire.

Below is a list of the top ten time wasters. If you find yourself spending too much time on these activities, try changing some of your habits so your time can be more productive and rewarding.

1. Wasting Your Worry. Many people will worry until doomsday about every little thing in their lives. This is simply unproductive and bad for your health, mind, and spirit.
   • If you have something worrisome coming up, craft a plan of positive action on paper, then let it go. After all, worrying doesn’t accomplish anything positive.
2. Television. We’re a couch potato society! We schedule our lives around our favorite television shows and we spend less time doing more important activities like attending social events that could strengthen our relationships.
   • Record your favorite TV shows and watch them during your leisure time, or limit your TV intake to just a couple hours a week.
3. Video and Computer Games. This is becoming such a time waster that gamers are actually developing what is called “gamers thumb,” a repetitive stress injury.
   • Set time limits for yourself and your kids and help your kids understand why this is important.
4. Internet time. Are you constantly browsing the Internet, Facebook or Twitter? Are your kids hearing you say, “In a minute,” much too often when they ask you to spend time with them?
   • Keep your time on the Internet short and get involved in life. Instead of chatting with your online friends, spend more time with your real-life friends and family!
5. Telephone Chatter. Sure, we like to call old friends and chat, but do you chat on the phone all day long? If you do, you may find that you get hardly anything done all day.
   • Keep phone calls to a minimum or set a timer to go off after 15 minutes. This way you won’t feel deprived of a good conversation, but it won’t take over your whole day.
6. Traffic and Commuting. Some of us spend an enormous amount of time traveling to and from work. You can turn your commuting time into productive time!
   • Try carpooling or taking the bus, subway or train to work. You can use this time to read, plan your day, complete paperwork, or even relax your mind before a productive day.

   • If you drive, you can listen to inspiring and informative CDs or tapes to sharpen your mind each morning.
7. Hobbies. Yes, there are people who are so obsessed with a hobby that they don’t make time to do anything else. They rush home from work to their hobby, even skipping dinner.
   • If this is you, schedule your hobby time so you’re not skipping meals, missing time with your family, or cutting into other productive time.
8. Daydreaming. It’s fun and healthy to dream about career ambitions or future aspirations, but when those dreams prevent you from taking action in your life, then you’re wasting time. Avoid getting bogged down with too much dreaming.
   • Make a list of your goals or dreams, then take action to make those dreams come true.
9. Meetings. Although necessary, meetings can be one of the biggest time wasters of our workday. If everyone is wiped out from sitting in long meetings all day, productive time will be low.
   • If you’re in charge of meetings, set timeframes for them and stick to your stated time.
   • Limit the length of your meetings: keep needless chatter and agendas out of the meeting.
10. Planning. If you don’t take the time to plan your day, the important things you need to accomplish may not get done.
    • Write down your daily goals and tasks.
    • Schedule your day in the order of your top priorities.

There are many ways we waste our time in our everyday lives, but with a little effort, you can avoid time-wasting activities and turn that time into an advantage.  When you stop wasting time, you make yourself available to opportunities.

5 Things You Need to Know About Debt

Every day, I meet people who ask me, “Dan, what is the secret to financial freedom?”  I always tell them the same thing: Stay Out Of Debt! 

Here’s why: If you are still trading your time for money, then carrying a debt is nothing more than putting a lien on your future.  When you have debt, you can’t decide on a whim to downsize your job and go live in Fiji for 6 months because you’re tired of the scenery in Los Angeles: You have to keep on trading your time for money in order to fulfill your obligations.   And this becomes a mental and financial prison that you cannot easily escape.

Now, for all you financial “geniuses” out there, who may be saying, “It’s all about leverage!” I agree with you to a point.  Leverage is great, as long as you have other money or assets to back it up, so that you’re overall networth is in a very comfortable positive range.  Sadly, for most people, their debt causes their total networth to be well under $100,000… and for many, it can be as low as $0 or even in the negative territory! (hard to believe, but true!)

So, that’s why I tell people to stay out of debt.  If you have a networth of $500,000 (excluding your home and its mortgage) and you want to leverage up to 10% of that ($50,000) to start a new venture, then by all means, do it – you can afford to risk that much!

So for the purpose of this article, let’s focus on the scenario that most people in this day and time are faced with:  Their Debt Is A Prison!  And, most people are looking for ways to reduce debt and save money. It is possible to wipe out your existing debt and learn how to live your life within your means.

Here are five tips that will help you on your way to debt free living:

1. Stop using credit cards. One of the leading factors in the current economic crisis is people buying things on credit they cannot afford. The next thing they know, they find themselves unable to do anything more than make minimum monthly payments.
   • Minimum payments will keep you in debt because every month interest continues to accrue on your original balance. A $1,000 balance on a typical credit card can take 22 years to pay off if you make only the minimum monthly payments!
   • Don’t fall into the trap of credit card debt. Instead, avoid the hassle and expense by paying cash for the things you buy. If you want a big-ticket item, save the cash before you make the purchase. Only buy when you can afford to pay for the item in full before you bring it home.
2. Buy luxury items with cash. We all have extras and luxuries we want, but using credit to get them is a dangerous path to take. You’ll get much greater enjoyment from the extras in your life when you pay cash, rather than ongoing monthly payments.
   • Nothing takes the excitement out of a new toy or nice vacation more than the large payments that strain your budget month after month.
3. Create a realistic budget that includes debt repayment. The first step in gaining control over your debt is creating a workable budget. Rather than stifling you, a budget can bring you freedom! You’ll know where your money goes and you’ll set a spending plan so you can continue buying the most important things in your life.
   • Your budget should take into consideration all facets of your lifestyle, including housing, food and household items, utilities, savings, recreation and debt repayment.
   • If your budget doesn’t include room for debt repayment, there will never be enough money to pay off your debt. Take control of your financial reality by working with a realistic budget every month. Before long, you’ll see your debt diminishing while your savings grow.
4. Seek the help of a professional credit counselor, accountant or financial planner. The best way to be sure you’re making sound financial decisions is to seek out the help of a financial professional.
   • Credit counselors, financial planners and accountants are experts in the areas of savings, debt repayment, investments and tax deductions. Implement each of these areas into your finances to eliminate financial strain and secure a stable financial future.
5. Negotiate better rates with the banks or credit card companies. Many people assume they have no choice but to accept the interest and finance rates offered by their banks and credit card companies, but that isn’t always the case!
   • Talk to the people at your financial institutions. You may be surprised at how willing they are to budge.
   • If your credit is in good shape or you’ve made steady, progressive strides to improve it, you may be able to get lower interest rates on your debts.

   • You might also receive higher interest rates on your savings, giving you a double shot at eliminating your debt entirely and moving forward with your finances in a positive direction.

You can repair your debt problems and learn to avoid creating them in the future. These five steps will point you in the right direction and get you started on a new path to financial freedom and prosperity!

What Drives Success?

If you’ve shopped around the Internet for business opportunities, you’ve invariably seen opportunity gurus pictured beside their expensive luxury cars.  You know what these successful people drive.  But, have you ever thought about what drives success?

What is it about successful people that has enabled them to realize success?  Are they really any smarter than you?  Is it just that they just seemed to have better timing – they were in the right place at the right time?  Or, maybe they were just “lucky”?   Or, they have a talent that nobody else has? Or, they just had amazing foresight?

Well, if that’s what you think, then chances are, you will never realize the kind of success that you dream about.  All of these rationalizations of success (and I should point out that this is not a complete list) are things that people tell themselves so that they can justify their own lack of success.

So, what drives success?

To answer this question, I took  a look at two variables, which I’m listing below. 

• Aptitude: This is just another word for what people commonly refer to as “talent” – an innate or acquired ability to do something.  People with talent are often perceived as quick studies, and seem to be better at doing a particular thing when compared with others who do not have the same talent.
• Attitude: This is your mental state of mind, which influences how you perceive yourself and the world around you.  We commonly say that someone has a “good attitude” or a “bad attitude” based on how they respond to stress or difficult situations.

As I mentioned above, people with talent or aptitude are often perceived as being able to do something better than those who do not have the same talent.  Because of these initial impressions, those without talent often give up before they are able to acquire the skills necessary to compete with those of seemingly natural ability.  This is partly because when we perceive that we lack the aptitude to do something, we allow this to influence our attitude. 

This is the single most detrimental thing a person can do to undermine their own success.  And this fact alone  is what causes a lot of people to give up before realizing the kind of success they are really aiming for.

Let’s compare aptitude and attitude in a graph from, so that you can really see how this dynamic works.

As you can see in this graph, the amount of effort expended for achieving success is indicated on the x-axis, and the amount of success achieved through that effort is measured on the y-access.  The red line charts the success of the person with aptitude alone.  The blue line charts the success of the person with attitude alone.

As you can see, starting out at the beginning, the person with aptitude seems to outperform and outpace the person with attitude.  What’s truly amazing, however, is that as the amount of effort increases, the person with attitude is quickly able to overtake the success of the person with aptitude.  And, you will also notice that the person with aptitude seems to reach a wall which cannot be crossed with aptitude alone, no matter how much effort is expended.

The person with a winning attitude has monumental gains in success for each additional amount of effort expended.

This is a VERY POWERFUL phenomenon to witness, and you can see it happening all over the place, if you will only look for it.

In reality, most people have a combination of aptitude and attitude, and we don’t really see these qualities at work in isolation.  Additionally, the great thing about talent is everybody seems to have a talent for something.  Once you realize that it is more important to have a winning attitude, you free yourself to exploit the talents that you do have in ways that you may have never thought possible, no matter how irrelevent that talent may have seemed when you were starting out.

So in conclusion, it’s not how you acheive success that is important… it is how you handle the failures that will inevitably present themselves to you along the road to success.  And, interestingly enough, that’s where all the real fun is.

Financial Freedom: A Primer

Talk to anybody on the street, and they’ll tell you that they’re in search of financial freedom:  some, perhaps, more than others are actively engaged in the pursuit.  Ask one of them what their idea of financial freedom is, and invariably, you will hear a laundry list of things such as:

• Get out of debt
• Be my own boss; quit my job
• Have sufficient wealth to live a carefree lifestyle
• Work because I want to, not because I have to.
• Not having to worry about money
• Being financially independent
• Being able to buy the company I work for so that I can fire its management — freedom, baby! yah!

Although it is difficult to think about financial freedom without thinking about some of these “goals,” these ideas actually prevent most people from acheiving true financial freedom.  Although many of these goals are either a by-product of financial freedom or a prerequisite to it, none of these is financial freedom itself.  In many respects, these lower goals or selfish ambitions end up being distractions to creating true wealth, or they narrow our focus substantially, preventing us from seeing the big picture: the hidden-in-plain-sight roadmap to financial freedom.

So, what exactly is financial freedom, and how does one attain it?  These are questions that I’ve been thinking through recently.  It’s a process that requires dedication and self-discipline, but it is a process: It can be taught, learned, and, more importantly, duplicated.

Continue

How I Made Over $3000 in One Weekend …

In early December, I made over $3000 profit on ebay in just one weekend, and now I’m going to tell you how… for FREE.

As you may know, Microsoft’s Live.com search engine has been struggling, and it seems that Microsoft will do just about anything to drive traffic to it’s search engine…  Anything from giving cool rewards and incentives to paying cashback at selected merchants for buying products after clicking on a sponsored result.

One of the advertisers who has participated very generously in the Live Search Cashback program is eBay.  The rules are simple.  You search for a product on Live Search, click on the eBay result in the sponsored results section when it has the cashback logo beside it, and then purchase any product on ebay that is a Fixed Price Item (e.g., “Buy It Now”) and use PayPal to purchase the item in the same session.  On Cyber Monday, the Live Search Cashback reward for eBay was 30%!!

Clearly, anyone can see that this is a great opportunity to save money, but how do you use this to your advantage in order to make big profits?  Many sellers on ebay had taken the approach of selling their items for much higher than fair market value, and informing their customers that they can get cashback from Live.com, thereby bringing the price down to fair market value.

That’s probably not a bad idea, but those who tried doing this probably found that they were not able to sell many items, and therefore their profits were limited.

My approach was somewhat different: I viewed this as an opportunity to stock up on precious metals at bargain basement prices… in every case, buying gold at $100-150 below the spot price.

Here is the process I used; perhaps you can learn from it…

1. Never buy gold or any other product on ebay that mentions the LIVE.COM cashback deal.  These sellers have jacked up the price.  That’s a sucker’s bet, and that just makes money for the seller.
2. Search periodically for new “Buy It Now” items, sorting the results by “Newly Listed”.  What you’re looking for is the seller who knows the fair market value, and sets his Buy It Now price not too high above fair market.
3. Once you find the item that matches your criteria, do not hesitate. Write down the auction number, close your browser, open a new browser, navigate to live.com, and search using your eBay cashback keywords.
4. Click on cashback sponsored result to activate the Live.com cashback session in eBay.  If this special session is active, you will see the cashback icon at the top of the page in eBay.
5. Search for the item number that you wrote down in step #3.
6. Click “Buy It Now” and complete your purchase.
7. In many cases, you will get the cashback deposited instantaneously to your PayPal account.  In some cases, Live.com will withold the payment for 60 days.  This seems to be random, although most of the time I was able to get instant cashback.
8. Repeat.

Using this method, I purchased over 22 ounces of gold bullion, primarily Gold American Eagles and South African Krugerrands.  In every instance, I was able to purchase these bullion coins for $650 to $725 per ounce after the cashback was factored into it — and this was at a time when gold was trading at just below $800 an ounce. 

Unfortunately, Microsoft pays a maximum of $200 per transaction and $2500 per calendar year to each cashback/paypal account, so this put a cap on the amount of excitement and profits I was able to make.  However, I am not complaining.

In the weeks following Cyber Monday, we saw the cashback percentage drop: On Cyber Monday, the reward was 30%.  The week following, it dropped down to 25%, then to 20%, then to 8%, and finally it went away altogether.  Each of these cashback levels provided a nice opportunity to turn a profit.  I have no doubt that Live.com cashback will come back to eBay, and when it does, I will be ready, and maybe you will be too.

Helpful Hints

• Buying precious metals on eBay has risk – there is a potential for getting counterfeits or gold with lead in it.  I recommend buying only bullion coins that you are familiar with, so that you can spot a fake.  Also, avoid buying bullion bars: I have heard that there are some bars being sold on eBay that have been drilled out and filled with lead.
• Don’t be fooled by “mini” coins; know what you are buying. 
• This technique also works with silver, platinum, or palladium.  I prefer gold, and it makes me happy. 
• Never buy precious metal from someone with a feedback score less than 200, and be sure to actually read the seller’s feedback to make sure the bulk of it is not a result of feedback fraud.  Also, make sure that the PayPal buyer protection feature will protect you for the entire cost of the item.  for example, don’t buy $800 in gold from someone PayPal will only cover up to $200…. This feature is how you get your money back if you happen to get a fake coin or the item is not as described, and the seller doesn’t stand behind the transaction.
• Avoid multi-coin auctions unless you are able to get the price per coin below the current spot value.
• Investing in precious metals is a pretty safe way to play the cashback game; unlike electronics or other goods, you do not have the risk of depreciation or illiquidity.  Although the spot price fluctuates, there is a lot of comfort knowing that no matter what happens, you have bought below the spot price: that gives you a clear psychological and monetary advantage… And, you can always find a buyer for any quantity of precious metal – large or small, any time of day or night.

Some of you may be wondering if this is a legitimite way to make a buck.  Well, why not?  We have followed all the rules of the cashback program, and nobody was taken advantage of.  In my view, this business is fair trade all around.

Just One Example!

As awesome as my experience with Live.com Cashback was, it is important to remember that this is just one example of how you can make a decent profit from promotions, coupons, and incentives.  For more ideas, take a look at the ebook, Coupon Codes Guide, which is available for free on the eBooks Page.

Happy Hunting!!

Big Profits From Incentivized Freebie Websites (IFWs)

Have you ever seen those advertisements for a free laptop or a free iPhone?  Did you think those were scams or ripoffs?  I know I did.

But, a while back I discovered that if done properly, with the right guidance and strategy, there are big profits to be made from incentives like this and Incentivized Freebie Websites (IFWs). It is not unrealistic to earn a minimum of $100, and up to as much as $500 or $1000 in a day, when the right amount of motivation and know-how is applied to the situtation.

I have tried many different “internet” opportunities, from completing surveys online and e-currency exchange to mlm and ebooks, and I can tell you without a doubt, working with IFWs and using proven techniques which limit risk and ensure fast crediting, I was able to make my first $100 in less than an hour! 

One of the really cool things about working with IFWs is that there are a lot of people out there, like me, who are willing to help you get started and walk you through the steps necessary to be successful in this business.  Not only that, but you can easily get many referrals which will help you to qualify for bigger and better incentives.  That means you can easily grow your income from IFWs to over $1000 per week in very little time. 

Sound interesting? 

Well, at this point, most of the programs you’ve probably read about in the past would be asking you to shell out $99, $47, or even $9.95 to get started.  However, I can show you how to get started for FREE, with absolutely no money out of your pocket.  I can provide you with clear, step-by-step instructions.

So, what exactly is an Incentivized Freebie Website (IFW)?

An IFW is a site that pays you for completing offers and for referring others to do so. Most IFWs compensate with free products (you’ve seen the ads for “Free Laptop” or “Free iPod” for example), but many sites out there will pay you cash via PayPal.  They are able to provide these incentives to you, because the advertisers pay the IFW when you complete an offer. 

What does it mean to “Go Green”?

Most IFWs use a Yellow/Red/Green status terminology, which is common throughout the freebie industry.  Yellow status means that you have registered at the IFW website, but you have not yet completed the offers necessary to earn a credit for your referrer.  Green status means that you have completed the necessary offers and met all the requirements so that your referrer can earn credit.  Thus, “Going Green” means the completion of those requirements.  Red status is used to indicate that fraudulent activity is suspected; this status will not happen if you follow the guidelines for completing offers and you comply with the terms and conditions of the IFW.

How can I make money from all this?

There are several ways to make money from IFWs, the most common of which, I have listed below. 

Method 1.  Get Paid For Completing Offers for Others.

This is how most people get started.  You find someone who is willing to pay you a percentage of their referral bonus in exchange for you completing an offer (called “going green” or “greening“).   For example, as a person who refers you to an IFW, I will be paid $60 for each person who registers and completes the necessary offers in order to be “green” on that site.  In exchange for “going green” I pay you $30, or 50% of my earning.  This method is a great way to get started in IFWs, since it provides you with some pocket money right away.

Method 2. Get Paid By the IFWs

Trading Referral For Referral. Two people are in need of referrals at two different IFWs.  They get together and decide to be referrals for each other.  Each is paid by their own IFW as a result of the other going green on their site.  This method is often used as an intermediate method when a person is transitioning from completing offers to paying others to complete offers for them.

Paying Others to Go Green on Your Sites. Once you are registered and in “green” status at a few IFWs, you can start paying others to complete offers for you.  This is where most people want to get to, and for good reason: You spend your time helping and training others in the process, growing your network, and bringing in some serious cash.

Along the way, you may accumulate some stuff as a result of completing the offers.  These things are good candidates for selling on eBay, which is another source of income here.  A lot of offers will sell you something at a greatly reduced price (most often just the cost of shipping and handling), just to get you to try their product.  These things can then be sold on eBay for 2x or 3x the price you paid for the item.  You can also sell the electronics and other items you get for free from the IFWs.

Resources 

Project Payday is a great resource which provides a lot of training materials and links to IFWs.  They also provide a network of mentors who is able to help answer any questions that you migth have in getting started with this business.  I encourage you to at least register for Project Payday, even if you decide not to join. 

Free Lunch Room is a community of people who are working with IFWs to earn extra money. It is a great resource to find out about offers, various IFW programs, as well as to arrange trades (pay to green, trading referral for referral, etc.) on IFW sites.

What’s the next step?

If you don’t already have a PayPal account, I encourage you to sign up for one — it’s free!  This will be necessary in order for you to get paid.  Please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help you get started.  I will pay you 50% ($30 to $50) to go green on any IFW at which I’m registered, and can provide you step-by-step instructions from beginning to end.  This will help you to get started out on the right foot.

HYIPs: Are They Worth The Risk?

Anyone who’s been around the block a time or two knows that most high-yield investment programs (HYIPs) are Ponzi schemes.  When the world discovered that Bernie Madoff was running a Ponzi scam, I fell out of my chair and decided to write this article.  Apparently, a whole lot of investors out there haven’t been around the block (or they were just too greedy to see the truth of the matter).  I’m not here to discuss Bernie Madoff or other Wall Street shenanigans, but I would like to talk about how you can profit from these schemes if you are not a sucker and you know exactly what you are getting into.

Continue

$25 Bonus for Opening an Account at ING Direct

You may have heard about direct internet banking and institutions such as ING Direct, but did you know that these banks usually pay higher interest rates than traditional brick-and-mortar institutions?

Current annual percentage yield (APY) for various account types as follows:

Orange Savings Account – Earn 2.75% Annual Percentage Yield.

Electric Orange – Earn up to 3.05% APY.

Orange CDs – 12-month CDs at 3.50% APY.

In addition to higher interest rates, these direct internet banks are willing to pay a premium for your business.

With ING Direct, for example, there is a $25 BONUS promotion which pays you $25 for opening an account (checking or savings). This bonus is available via the “refer a friend” promotion, which also pays $10 to the person who refers you.

So, opening an account with these banks provides a unique win-win situation.

I have held my account at ING Direct for a number of years, and I have found that it is a convenient way for me to save money.  If you are looking for a place to park some cash, you should consider ING Direct.

The $25 referral bonus can only be sent to you from a current account holder. If you are interested in exploring ING Direct further, please contact me.   I would be happy to send you a referral link that would earn you an extra $25, just for opening a savings or checking account.  Please be sure to include your first and last name, e-mail address, and the type of account (checking or savings) that you would like to sign up for.  Your information will be used ONLY for the purpose of fulfilling your request (ie, you won’t get spammed).