Archive for July, 2006

The US governement has a little known, by the general public, treasury bill that is secure from inflation and gives a better rate of return than most banks can give. Even online banks and savings accounts like INGdirect and EmigrantDirect.

TIPS or Treasury Inflation Protected Securities are offered by the government as a great alternative to CD’s offered by banks. The best part about these Treasury Bills is they usually, or at least right now, offer a better rate of return than most banks can offer.

The current rate range on a 6-month CD from a bank is 2.5 to 4.3 percent while recent yields on Treasury Bills is 5.3 percent.

How easy are Treasury Bills to find? Well with a computer, easier than going to your bank and asking for their recent yields on CDs. You can go to TreasuryDirect.gov and for as little as $1000 open an account and start shopping around for the best deal.

The best part is that Treasury Bills are more liquid than CDs because they are traded freely on different markets. Good news for you buyers and sellers types.

Check out more information from this article Treasury bill yields more than 5 percent with little risk

technorati tags:TIPS, Treasury, Bills, Yield, Money, Savings, Government

The Washington Post recently had a great article about saving money during the summer and still being able to enjoy the sun. It was called A Dozen Ways to Skimp in the Sun and showed you ways you could still take that summer vacation to get away from the 9 to 5 while saving a little cash in the process.

A few of the good tips were:

• Go last minute - shopping for last minute deals on discount airfare brokers like travelocity and expedia can get you great prices on exotic destinations. Just make sure your boss is OK with you taking off so unexpected
• Tourism Bureau - use the local tourism bureau. A lot of times they’ll have cheap or free tours and things to do that are just as interesting as that wonderful spa
• Go all inclusive - these deals aren’t just for college kids anymore. All Inclusive resorts are becoming very family friendly and can offer a cheap alternative to the big money spent on high priced hotels

These were just a few of the money saving tips offered by the article. Check out the rest at the article listed above.

technorati tags:vacation, money, saving, tips, summer