Many individuals will more than likely say that it’s hard to save money. And it’s true, it is hard, especially when much of America is living paycheck to paycheck. Setting funds aside for a rainy day seems pointless and even scary when you feel like you need every cent right now, but we can’t express enough how important it is to build strong saving habits.
As with most things in life, there will come a day when you need some savings. It happens to everyone. Whether it be a medical, house, or family emergency, it’s important to be prepared. And there are ways for everyone to save, even if it’s only pennies.
Keep the Change
Some great ways to save small (but it adds up!) is through “Keep the Change” programs that banks offer. Your purchases from your checking account are rounded up to the nearest dollar and the change is deposited into a savings account automatically. Make sure to check to see if your bank offers this sort of program. It’s a great way to start saving without even realizing that you are saving.
Examples that come to mind are Bank of America, Chime, Simple, and Qapital. Digit and Dobot are other examples of change round up programs. These apps actually analyze your spending and take out an amount(s) that they think you’ll be comfortable with.
To show that it can work, I personally have participated in a change round up program for the last two years on my account and saved almost $600. Just from change!
Round-Up Apps
What if you already have savings and want to take it to the next level and start investing? The stock market can be scary, I know. But there are investment accounts out there that have these change round up programs too!
Acorns has both a change round up program and a found money feature (please note there is a monthly subscription amount for your account there from $1-3).
Your money will grow more over time in an investment account, with an average return of 6-8% a year, and even just a little bit adds up! A good suggestion for round ups into an investment account is to think of these funds as more of a long term strategy, not a way to make a quick dollar. Set it and forget it and before you know it, you’re going to have an extra stash of funds that you weren’t expecting!
Use Cash
If you are at a point in your financial journey that you have a solid emergency savings, can set aside funds monthly for investing, and have little (maybe a student loan is still lingering) to no debt, and would possibly want to start donating there is a change round up option for that too! RoundUp will donate your change from spending on both debit and credit cards to the organizations of your choosing.
