These Apps Are the Perfect Money Saving Tool for Lazy People Like Me
I am terrible at saving money, hate studying personal finance, and tend to have a carpe diem mentality when it comes to buying the things I want. Fortunately, several automated savings apps have allowed me to hold my money harder by doing most of the hard stuff for me.
Sure, there are many great budgeting programs like Mint or YNAB , but I’m too lazy and impatient for them. However, over the past year, I’ve saved over $ 3,000 by using just these three apps: Digit , Acorns, and Tip Yourself . This may not sound like a lot to some, but it’s a fortune compared to my previous record of $ 0. Savings automation has also helped me develop a leaner mindset. When the app helps me save money, I realize that I’m spending less. Oddly enough, the fact that I didn’t learn to save helped me better manage my money. I just needed someone to take over the reins and show the way.
Digit protects money from my lucky hands
When I see something that I want to buy, nothing prevents me from purchasing it. I’m a retailer’s dream, so I need to get my money from my wallet to the bank before I turn into a kid who wants to spend his allowance at a toy store. That’s where Digit comes in .
Digitally link to your online bank accounts and monitor your income and expenses, carefully select the dollar amount you want to save and automatically move it from your bank account to a savings account for you. Sounds like a clever way for a hacker to steal money without being noticed, and it is, but this hacker works for you. You “steal” money from yourself and put it in a separate savings account. If your linked account has had better times and little standing money coming in, Digit will only save you a few dollars here and there. But if you have a lot of funds, Digit is more aggressive and starts saving larger amounts. Whatever happens, you won’t notice.
Now when I go to buy something I want, I know I have already saved up and the amount I see in my checking account is more in line with the money I am allowed to spend without completely ruining my savings plan. Best of all, Digit is free to use and your account is accessible anywhere via SMS ( iOS also has a dedicated app ).
Acorns allow me to invest without forcing me to learn about investing
The closest thing I’ve ever gotten from studying investing is watching movies like The Big Short and The Wolf of Wall Street . I thought I could get into investing since I love gambling, but it turns out that good long-term investing is not gambling at all and I would rather sip free drinks at the dice table. Luckily, Acorns gives me the ability to invest without forcing me to leave my lair, talk to a broker, or really find out how it all works. And to top it all off, it automates the entire process.
Like Bank of America’s Keep Change program , Acorns rounds up your purchases to the next dollar and keeps the remaining free change. However, instead of having to go into a savings account, Acorns invests this money in traded on the stock exchange investment funds (ETF). It is also possible to add more money to your account and set up additional recurring investments. You have five investment strategy options: conservative, moderately conservative, moderate, moderately aggressive, and aggressive. If you want to delve into each portfolio and see what’s what, the information is available , but you don’t need to. I’ve been investing in the stock market for over a year now and have no idea what I’m investing in. I do not care. All I care about is that I didn’t spend that money on stupid things and managed to build a tiny nest egg out of it that will grow as I contribute to it.
You won’t be able to ditch your Acorns portfolio – there are much better ways to do it – but this is a great “install and forget” option to have in addition to a 401k or Roth IRA. And this is especially gratifying for people like me who want to start investing without getting out of bed. Acorns cost a dollar a month, so they won’t make you money until they are big enough to pay for themselves, but it’s still money set aside, invested, and not spent. Plus, your money and index funds are available through the Acorns app for iOS and Android .
Tip so it’s easy to pay yourself first
“Paying yourself first” is a fundamental aspect of saving money . Before paying bills, buying groceries, and filling your car with gas, you must set aside some of your hard-earned money for your future. You should also set aside some fun money to stay sane. Hint Yourself acts like a virtual savings bank, so you pay yourself any amount of money for any reason. All you have to do is link it to one of your online bank accounts.
Whenever I have a great idea and write it down, I open the Self-Help app and add $ 2 to my “fun money” savings. I do the same for writing assignments outside of work, completing personal projects, exercise milestones, and times when I know I’ve made a big decision. If I refuse, for example, to spend money on something frivolous, I can give myself a few dollars to spend on fun things in the future without breaking the bank. The very fact of tipping made me consciously consider saving money on a regular basis – which is a feat in itself – but it also made me more productive.
Tip Yourself also lets you set savings goals in the app and gives you a breakdown of how much and how often you save so you know if you need to increase them. The app is free to download and use, but for now it is only available for iOS (an Android version is under development).
If you don’t know how to start saving, or are just really lazy like me, these apps are a great place to start. When it comes to saving money, the most important thing is to get started. A few apps on your phone won’t get you in the mood for life, but they will make you understand that saving money doesn’t have to be difficult and will get you on the right track.