Financial Status Update

[Istefan Perþonest]

In accordance with the just-signed budget, I have opened a savings account at Ally Bank (currently at 2.08% interest, 2.10% APY) and begun the transfer of our checking balance (also at Ally, currently paying 0.10% interest) to that account. I simultaneously began the transfer of most of the current PayPal account balance to the checking account, after which most will then be moved into the savings balance.

Functionally, other than the interest rates, the differences are that the checking account is attached to the PayPal account, and we can pull money out of the savings account at most six times per month before paying fees, while we can withdraw from checking at-will.

As a practical matter, given our typical use rates, this will get Talossa rather more substantive interest on our balance, at a very slight increase in intra-account shuffling on my part, for as long as Ally keeps paying a reasonable rate on the savings account.

[Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h]

Does Ally charge a monthly fee on checking and savings accounts?

[Istefan Perþonest]

Jun 28, 2019 12:16:16 GMT -6 Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h said:

Does Ally charge a monthly fee on checking and savings accounts?

No, they do not. "No fees for having an account or basic use" is my minimum standard on financial management. If they start charging, I'll move the accounts over to someone who doesn't (my local credit union, for example).

[Seguxhameir d'Üc]

Excellent! Thank you for your stewardship of the treasury :-)

[Istefan Perþonest]

Transactions begun Friday have completed. Current balances as of this moment are $3.50 in the PayPal account, $50.00 in the checking account, and $1,103.39 in the savings account.

[Istefan Perþonest]

Just in case anyone's interested, we logged more interest on the savings account on the July 10th accrual (based on the partial monthly balance dating from July 1st) than we had all year prior on the balance in the interest checking. It's not anything that'll support mad spending ($0.78), but it's an improvement.

[Angus Mitchell]

Is the budget published anywhere?

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

Jul 23, 2019 19:57:19 GMT -6 Angus Mitchell said:

Is the budget published anywhere?

Yes

[Istefan Perþonest]

So, we've had a couple more interest payments, both a bit over $1.50. Ally's lowered the APY on the savings account to 1.90%, which is still pretty good for a savings account.

[Istefan Perþonest]

And now they've cut it again, to 1.80%. This is getting annoying.

[Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h]

Istefan, you are the Walter Cronkite of the Regipäts.