A fun way to save for your trip to Nepal

It’s no secret the cost of international adoption can be overwhelming, especially in light of the economic challenges we are all facing. So, I thought it might be worth sharing a tip for saving that I have been using this past year. It’s a company called SmartyPig www.smartypig.com. Basically, SmartyPig offers a secure (and fun) way to save towards a specific goal (can you say airline and hotel costs?). Then it also throws in some social networking and added "stuff" to get you to your savings goal even faster.

You can begin using the free service by creating a profile on SmartyPig and establishing a savings account and goal amount—anywhere between $250 and $100,000. I set a goal for travel and accommodations (and other things that might pop up while in Kathmandu).

If it sounds scary, rest assured that SmartyPig has a really strong banking partner that is FDIC insured. On the 16th of each month, SmartyPig sends me an email reminding me that my monthly transaction will occur for my "Trip to Nepal". They basically figure out my monthly contribution based on how many months I have to meet the goal. As you can imagine, setting this timeframe up seemed ridiculous at best. November 2009? July 2010? August 2011? I gave it my best shot and gave myself a year to save. In order to meet the savings goal by the time it's needed, each month it deducts whatever amount I have selected from my existing checking account. This has really forced me to save.

While I haven't gone down this path, it's good to know that you can also choose to make your account "public" and have friends and family members help you meet your goal. Hey, if you are super savvy, you can even put a SmartyPig widget on your MySpace or Facebook page to enlist the whole world to help get you across the pond!

Once I get to my goal, I get to cash out my savings plus 3.25 percent (APY) interest on the SmartyPig MasterCard debit card. You can also get it plus interest and additional savings of up to 5 percent on a gift card from some of the country’s top retailers, including Babies R Us!!

I will make the disclaimer that our agency helped launch SmartyPig in the media last year and although we are not currently working with them, I can't say enough good things about SmartyPig.

Happy Savings!