WooHoo!! I have been meaning to take advantage of all of these bank offers for awhile now, and finally did it today! First stop, Chase. I opened up a savings account with $250, and am getting a $50 bonus. Best part of this deal: They had 3 different bonuses ($25, $50, or $75), and I thought I'd have to go for the $25 one because I didn't want to keep a minimum. I stopped by the branch right across the street from where I work, and it turns out they have a deal for employees of my company, where you can upgrade to the middle account and still not need a minimum. So I qualify for the $50 bonus. Yeah! The money needs to stay in the account for a minimum of 6 months, after which time it can be closed out, penalty free.

Second stop, my computer. Went onto my ING account, and sent links to my 2 kids. Set up accounts for each of them using a $5 deposit. They each get a $25 bonus, and I get a $10 bonus each for referring them. Money only needs to stay in the account for 30 days, then it can be taken out penalty-free.

Third stop, computer/snail mail. I read a post on another site for Affinity Bank. (www.affinitybank.com). They have a Kids Only savings account where they pay 10% interest on balances up to $500. Can't beat that! That's more than my kids are earning in their 529s, and this is FDIC insured! I printed out the applications and need to mail it to them with my $25 opening deposit. My plan is to then fund it with the ING money (after 30 days) and with my almost full piggy bank, for whatever that amount is. Then, I'm going to try my darndest to deposit $50 each per month until it reaches the max $500.

Finally, I stopped at Valley National Bank because they have a Kids Savings program where they will match the first $10 when you open an account. Plus they have free coin counting, which is a really nice perk. However, when I went to the branch, I needed to have the kids' physical Social Security cards, and I only had their numbers. So I will try to get back there tomorrow.

For anyone who's interested in these deals and others, I highly recommend www.fatwallet.com. If you go to their finance forums, they have a link on banking deals. Some of them are unbelievable. It's a great way to build up an emergency fund or a fun money account.

For someone whose as organizationally challenged as I am, all of these accounts may be daunting, but I think I can handle it. This money will make up for the $27 I'm going to lose this weekend. We need to get a bike hitch for the back of our car so we can bring the bikes to NC with us. I found the one hubby wants at our local bike shop for $180 (cheaper than Sports Authority, unbelievably). They sent out a 15% off coupon through those val-Pak mailers, but it expired on June 11th. Missed it by one week. Now I'm out $27. And the kicker is that I priced this out weeks ago, knew what we wanted and where to get it, but wasn't organized enough (again). Frustrating.

This weekend is going to be jam packed with stuff. I'm working late today (unusual for a Friday), so it will be a pretty quiet night. Tomorrow our town has a "day in the park" with carnival rides, fireworks, and the like, that starts at 4:00. Sunday is Father's Day, so I'll be making breakfast in bed, then we'll head down to MIL's. The one variable is my father. I need to get down to see him, and can make it tomorrow morning, or Tuesday, or next Friday evening. I think I need to go Tuesday because he has to have a test done at the hospital, but I'd like to get down there another time. I don't know quite when it happened, but it's amazing when you look at your parents and think, "Wow, they're old". It's like overnight they become old and frail. Leaves me with a weird feeling...

Have a happy Father's Day everyone.