So, last year I started up a habit of sticking any extra monies I had on hand into my IRA since I'd not maxed that out yet. This year, my IRA and HSA both will be maxed out through my normal contributions every paycheck. So stuffing windfalls and money left over from coming in under the month's budget into my IRA won't work this year. So I intend to open a taxable account with Vanguard.
However. Looking at Vanguard's funds, the ones available to me all have a minimum investment of $3000. Being a MMM neophyte, monthly budget surpluses and windfalls are still only on the order of tens to low hundreds of dollars, not thousands. So, it's gonna be a few months as I continue to analyze my spending and trim unnecessary bits before I have $3k to hand.
In the interim, where to stick the accumulating funds? Savings accounts offer palltry returns at the moment, tenths of a percent at best. Or am I over thinking this? Should I just hold onto the cash over the next N months until I have the minimum investment amount? Try for one of those fancy online savings accounts you have to jump through a few hoops to get better than tenths of a percent? Something else?