Even including our coop maintenance fee, we're paying less for housing now (with a mortgage) than we were renting 2 years ago.

For us rent vs buy was strongly influenced by the fact that we couldn't rent the equivalent for the same amt as our mortgage. We'd either need to move to an entirely different area or we'd need to significantly downsize or both. But in general I'd say that rent vs own needs to be decided on an individual basis. I do worry sometimes that having virtually all our equity in our home = not having equity.

Also?

I went to California when I was in my old house. I mentioned in a conversation that it was a 3BR house I bought for $45,000 and I think some locals almost went into shock.

Not shock, just tears.

Do those people still have those accounts, and if so, with whom and how has that worked?

Don't know if I'm one of those people, but I have an ING savings account. It's great, although the interest's been going down recently.

I have an ING savings account

That's the one. I want someplace where I can squirrel away maybe $20 bucks a month for a Vegas trip and not have it eaten up by maintenance fees.

eople here were talking about some online bank that had a great savings plan. Do those people still have those accounts, and if so, with whom and how has that worked?

connie, we have had ING accounts for several years now and it's worked out really well for us. Obviously the interest rates these days aren't so great but when things were better, they got to 4.5, 4.75%. We have different accounts for different things and we are able to schedule automatic payments really easily to line up with paydays, etc.

The only potential downside is that it takes a day or two for the monesy to transfer back to your checking if you need it. I actually see this as an upside, because it keeps my mitts off the money unless I really need it.

If you're interested in opening an account, let me know, and I'll do a refer a friend thing- I think it gets you $25 and me $10 if you join up (with a deposit of $250).

No maintenance fees, I don't believe. Yeah, it's totally great for things like that, although I think there are other companies offering good deals too.

That article mentions online savings. People here were talking about some online bank that had a great savings plan. Do those people still have those accounts, and if so, with whom and how has that worked?

We have accounts with ING as well. We also have a few CDs with them. I love how easy it all is.

Yeah, our mortgage is almost 3k per month which is an obscene amount of money. But it's still cheaper than renting the equivalent. We loved our last place, but the landlord was in ill health and they told us they might sell if they decided to retire. Living month-to-month in a place which could be pulled out from under you is no fun, and we are LOVING being able to garden and putter.

If you're interested in opening an account, let me know

I'll need to convince my husband the money luddite, since it's a joint checking account, but that sounds like a plan.

That article mentions online savings. People here were talking about some online bank that had a great savings plan. Do those people still have those accounts, and if so, with whom and how has that worked?

I think the most popular one is with ING; the benefit to most online savings accounts is that they offer APYs that are much higher than those offered by a B&M bank. For instance: my B&M bank's savings account APY is currently (I shit you not) 0.09%.

I have a savings account with HSBC Direct, and the APY is currently 3.50% Therefore, most of my emergency fund is with HSBC.

The benefit to the online savings accounts like ING, HSBC, etc., is that they have no minimum balance (or possibly literally $1), unlike CDs and money-market accounts (which are the other savings vehicles that yield high APYs). Also, you can withdraw the money whenever you need to; there's no maturity date like with a CD.

t edit Or, whatever everyone else said while I was googling APYs.

I've been using ING as well very recently, and I like it because I can set it up to just remove the money from my checking account. I have never had an "emergency fund" before, and now I am socking away money without missing it.