All I want for Christmas is to save more money (in direct contrast with my wishlist, perhaps).
I’m not one of those budget-ers, despite enjoying the tough love in the You Need a Budget blog (I haven’t used the software) and employing the budgeting tool in Mint.com—which I do use to look at all my finances in one place, track spending and business expenses—as a reference. Even when I set goals for things like “Israel with Cha!” which I really want to do, I won’t save money in specific accounts for specific purposes. Maybe it’s the work of setting up a dedicated checking account and automating the savings (Ramit Sethi—another blog I love to read—is nodding his head right now). Or maybe it’s the monotony of saving money. So boring.
Which is why I am loving Digit, which sneakily saves money for you, in random amounts based on complicated analysis of your checking account’s spending rhythms, socking it away into an account for you that you access by text message. Sounds all mysterious, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s why it makes saving fun.
I can see my mom giving this blog post the eyeball right now, the one where she’s intrigued by the technology and idea but concerned about turning over her checking account information to the internet. Digit uses bank-level security and does not store you bank login info once it gets access to the account (and only that account). Every 2 or 3 days, Digit transfers some money (usually $5-50) from your checking account to your Digit savings. They never transfer more than you can afford, and have a no-overdraft guarantee. When you want your savings, send a text and they’ll transfer the money from your Digit savings back to your checking account—unlimited transfers, no minimums, and no fees.
One thing I’ve found particularly helpful is that they text me my checking account balance every morning. It helps me monitor what’s happening, and you can respond via text to find out what recent transactions occurred if the balance seems off.
I’ve been using digit for almost five months and really recommend it. It’s a fun way to really save money you might not be saving otherwise.
And then you can take that Israel with Cha! vacation you were going to take anyway, but with more dollars in your pocket and less guilt on your mind.