Vita's Tip in 10: An Easy Money Making Tip

Hello, hello friend, and welcome to a brand-new episode of Vita’s Tip in 10! Today's episode will be one of those short yet extremely practical ones. I'm not asking you to create a spreadsheet. I'm not encouraging you to start using a project management system. I'm telling you about my own experience with my own money. Yes, today we're talking about money. 

 Back in episode number 70, I told you that I decided to open up two new business accounts at the beginning of this year. One was a rainy day account, and the second was for paying taxes. I heard from several of you who were excited and grateful for that episode. And you took immediate action as you marched into your own banks and opened up similar accounts. 

Okay- so back to my story here. I recently walked into my bank to make a deposit of all the checks we’ve gotten for that period of time, and there I noticed a flyer, just a regular run-of-the-mill basic flyer.  It advertised 4% interest rates - which definitely piqued my interest.  So I took the time to wait for the  customer service rep to get more information. Right then, I decided to move those two accounts from savings accounts to business money market accounts. 

Part of recent talk about the slowdown and getting back to “normal” after COVID, is the unfortunate reality of increased interest rates, especially especially pertaining to mortgages. The flip side of this news is that the interest rates that your regular bank pays are higher than what they have been in the previous three, four, or even five years.  

Typically, when the mortgage rates go down, the bank rates on your savings accounts also decrease. And now, with the mortgage rates increasing, there is an excellent opportunity to put the money you keep in the bank into a higher-producing vehicle. 

So today, I encourage you to walk into your local bank branch again and ask them if they have an account with a higher interest rate than what you’re currently receiving.  

The one downside is that technically, banks view these accounts as “products”, and in order to obtain this higher-yielding account, you have to be put in what the bank calls a “different product”. Meaning, that you have to close your existing accounts and open up new ones. And if you have any bills, invoices, or vendors that draw directly from your existing account, this can be problematic as far as having to go back to all of these vendors and recurring withdrawals to update the payment information.  

So because I knew that it would create that issue for me, I didn't switch my business operating account. I did decide to switch those two savings accounts I mentioned, as well as my own personal savings account, to this higher-yielding product. So now, instead of these three accounts producing 1.75% interest, they now produce just a bit over 4%!   

Depending on how much money you have in the bank, that can make a considerable difference. It certainly can buy you quite a few lunches, and maybe not a trip to Italy, but possibly trips to nearby attractions.  Or it can be a start of your own rainy day account.   

Now, other financial institutions have even higher interest rates than the 4% that my bank has given me. So I encourage you to shop around, and see where you can get the biggest bang for your buck.  

I personally decided that I was going to stay with my bank, even though the 4% is not the highest interest rate that I can get right now. I bypassed the difference between the higher interest rate with the convenience of keeping all of my accounts, especially those accounts that are tied to bills and invoices and other vendors, intact. Having the ability to have all of my accounts in one place is essential because I do a lot of inter-account transfers, and I manage several businesses and entities from the same bank.  

Now in case you’re saying to yourself, “Efficiency Queen Vita, I can’t believe you don’t know about depositing checks using your phone!” I do friend, and I wish it were an option for me. I’m normally over the limit of how many checks I can deposit via the app on my phone, so I normally deposit everything at the drive through.  

On that day, for whatever reason, I decided to physically walk into the branch.  And I am extremely grateful that I did b/c learned about these higher return accounts. 

Situations like this made me realize how important it is to change up our routines sometimes. Had I not walked through that door, I would not have seen the silly little flyer. And while it was quite rudimentary, it caught my eye and got me to ask for more information while in the bank. 

If I hadn’t changed up my routine, I would not have been able to recognize at least two, even two and a quarter, additional percentages on my funds in the bank.  

So there are a couple of lessons here. First and foremost, make sure that you guys know the interest rates in your local banks and your basic bank accounts. There are many opportunities for you to get a bit more out of the cash you have sitting there in your accounts.  

Secondly, another lesson here is the importance of “shaking things up”, and regularly changing what you do. Because you never know what you'll discover, who you will meet, what conversation you will have, and sometimes something very insignificant can make a big difference in your life. 

So go on, my friend.  Go to where ever you bank and see how much money you can be making doing almost nothing.  

That’s my tip for today, my friend! And if you are looking for more tips just like this, if you’re looking to make more money; or to do it more efficiently; if you’re looking for ways to enhance your productivity and workflows, if you’re looking for ways to start using a digital project management tool, if you are looking for ALL the systems to run your business like a well-oiled machine – you have two ways of working with me personally.  

One is through LuAnn University, my Systems Driven Operations class. And the second is a two-day in-person intensive where I hand over all my systems for you to use and put to work immediately in your business. I want you to check out both tools because they are different and equally applicable depending on where you are in your business and how fast you want to achieve your goal. And in the meantime, I will be working on my next episode of Vita’s Tip in 10. See you next Thursday!