A Few of My Favorite Money Saving Tools
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.
Whenever a new year gets started, I always find myself thinking of new ways to make money, save money, and invest money. Sometimes these ideas are also accompanied by thoughts like, “If I knew then what I know now…” or “If I started earlier, I’d have X, Y or Z amount by now.” That line of thinking is well, unproductive, BUT I have found a few things that ARE productive, easy, and actually make a difference! Check out the following and see if any will work for you. Remember, I do earn a commission through items purchased from my links, so as always thank you for visiting my page!
ACORNS: Acorns is an app that makes investing extra money so easy. You can set it so that anytime you spend money, Acorns will round up to the nearest dollar and invest that spare change into your Acorns account. The app has some cool features like a tool that can project earnings, partner sites where you can shop and get money from Acorns added to your Acorns account, and referral bonuses to share with your friends. I signed up with Acorns last year, and have it connected to one account for round-ups. So far, I have over $280 in my Acorns account, and their projection tool shows that at the rate I am going, my small investments can lead to a potential of $90,000 over 40 years!! The best part, is that I don’t even notice when the round ups happen- I just spend like normal, and Acorns takes care of the rest! Get your Acorns account by clicking here.
Start Thinking Rich: Start Thinking Rich is a book about finance and changing one’s mindset around wealth and how to creat it. It was written by Dr. Brad Klontz, a renowned psychologist who studies the psychology of money, and Adrian Brambila, who is a well-know content creator and affiliate marketer. Adrian became widely known a few years ago as someone who embraced “Van Life” and earned over a million dollars in a year with Wi-Fi access only for an hour each week! Adrian is also the person who taught me everything I know through his 90-Day Scholarship Challenge (you can learn more about that here). Start Thinking Rich is an easy book to read, with actionable steps to take, whether you are brand new to learning about money or well on your way, and looking to grow your knowledge. I read this book in about 2 days, and found it SO helpful. Get your copy here
Ally Bank: Ally Bank is another great tool where small change adds up. Ally Bank offers what is known as a High-Yield Savings Account, meaning the interest a person can earn is a greater amount than most other banks can offer. Check out what Ally has to offere here and see if it is right for you. My boyfriend and I opened an account with Ally a few months ago to use as a place to save for travel, and earning a higher amount in interest each month will help us be buying plane tickets in no time!
Rakuten: Ok, I might be saving the best for last here, because so far I have earned over $375.00 in cash back from Rakuten, just by activating my Rakuten extension when I am shopping online. How it works is if I am on a website that is affiliated with Rakuten, I will earn a certain percentage of what I spend on that site back. For example, if I buy shoes off of Zappos.com, I will get 10% back from Rakuten. Rakuten pays out every quarter, so 4 times a year I get my earning deposited straight into my checking account- couldn’t be simpler! Check out Rakuten here and see what you think!
At the end of the day, these sites have all become easy ways for me to save a little extra money, no matter how small. Now, of course, I can’t guarantee anything to anyone else, but for me, these sites have shown me that saving money can be pretty painless and almost totally unnoticeable!
