The change jar has been a staple for many years to teach people both young and old about the value of saving a buck. While most people don't think a penny is worth much anymore, the change jar can show you the power of saving money on a daily basis simply by dropping the change in your pocket at the end of the day into a big old glass jar. Before you know it, you can save $50, $100, or even more if you put your mind to it over the course of a few months or even the year. Look for my change jar tips coming up in a new year's article.
For those of you who like the idea of a change jar saving by making small deposits every day, there are now a few electronic websites to help you with a small dollar saving strategy. Try these out as well for your kids!!
- Smarty Pig- Smarty Pig is a FREE online piggy bank for people saving for specific financial goals like a wedding, a vacation, or a flat-screen TV for their new movie room. Even if the goal is to just put away a few buck for a rainy day or next holiday season, Smarty Pig was designed to help people reach their goals faster and give you the most money for your money when you get to your goals (www.smartypig.com). All of your savings go into an FDIC insured bank account and you can even make some interest. What's interesting about this program is that if you redeem your SmartyPig cash for one of their retailer gift cards you can get a cash boost toward your upcoming purchase.
- Tip Yourself- Tip yourself is an app that allows you to "tip yourself" a dollar amount of your choosing. You can give yourself a tip for motivation or habit building, but this app goes along with the concept of saving small amounts dollars each and every day to lead up to a large amount of money.
How does the tip yourself process work? First, you transfer money to yourself as a 'tip' into your secure Tip Jar account. In this world of social sharing much like a fit bit, the reason for your tip is shared with others so you can gain encouragement and support to save more. You are able to track how often you tip, your tip average, and begin building important money savings habits (www.tipyourself.com).
- Digit- Digit is an interesting program that links to your checking account and this piece of software begins to analyze your income spending. The software then detects small opportunities where it thinks you can save money and automatically moves that money into an FDIC insured savings account for you. They use 128-bit bank level security, and they don't store your bank login.
Every 2 to 3 days, Digit transfer money from $5 to $50 from your checking account into the digit savings account. They never transfer more than you can afford, so you don't have to worry about over-drafting your account. In fact, they have a no-overdraft guarantee. Whenever you need your money, you can send Digit a text message and they will transfer the money back into your checking account. Digit allows unlimited transfers, with no minimums, and no fees.
Who wants to start saving in 2016???
Written by:
Ted Jenkin
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Ted Jenkin is a frequent guest columnist for the Wall Street Journal and Headline News Weekend Express. He is the co-CEO of oXYGen Financial. You can follow him on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/theceoadvisor or on Twitter @tedjenkin.
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