optimizing - how did you approach it?

[mistymoney]

What is you conception of optimizing?

When and how do you apply this?

I'm asking due the interest on my new EF at vanguard. It is money market with 100 put in, and in one month it got 17 cents in interest. My checking account, with an average daily balance of a couple of thousand, only gets 2-3 cents in interest a month.

It struck me that perhaps this is an opportunity to optimize, but I do worry about how much trouble that might be and if I made a slip up I could get hit with some fees in the checking.

So - when and how do you determine if optimizing is worth it. If 100 gets 17 cents, then 2000+ would be 3-4 dollars a month. Once occasion of not transferring money in time for a bill would be $37.

For those who don't know me, I'm not the greatest at keeping track of all this. I've been focusing on finances much more the past 2-3 months - but I'm still kind of struggling with organizational aspects, and getting things done.

[Buffaloski Boris]

For this kind of thing, I tend to want to look at it once every now and then. It’s really not worth your time to optimize something for a few dollars. Pick a good option and look at it every now and then to see that it’s working OK. Your EF should be something you’re not touching except in an emergency, so maybe increase your checking account balance to insure you have enough to meet expenses.

[Classical_Liberal]

Optimize spending/saving first and then worry about investment vehicles.  How to do it?  I like the ERE 21day makeover, or something similarly extreme.  Cut until it hurts, then add back in if you don't adapt.

[ender]

Optimize the big things first.

The example you presented here is a few bucks a year. You could likely make that much money by selling one item on swap sites every month with considerably less risk. Or save a bunch more in many different ways.