So as you may have guessed from my last post about how I’m using Remember The Milk now, I’ve been messing with how I’m reaching the goals I’ve had all along and making them more deliberate, more mindful, and more focused on what I want to achieve.
And part of that is being kind to myself and recognizing where my own weaknesses lie.
I am not a money person when it comes to my personal finances. (My attitude is different when it comes to business stuff, which is strange, but whatever.) I strive to be prudent and all, but I’m just not particularly interested in the differences from one type of investment to another.
Don’t get me wrong – I know enough to be able to understand the basics of investment and saving, but I sure would have to look up the differences between a 401K and a 403B (and I’m pretty sure I have both).
Which, if I want to save or invest money at all, means that I damn well need to ensure that I do it in a way that doesn’t bore me. Automatically, even.
There’s a couple of interesting tools I’ve run into lately that I’m going to pass on to you. (Please note, the links are referral links; I’ll get a slightly better deal or maybe a buck or two if you use them. Many of them will also get you something extra as well for using the referral link.)
Digit is an interesting service that will examine your spending and balances of your accounts, and every weekday will try to determine a small amount of money that won’t be needed for bills. If it can, it’ll automatically transfer them to your Digit account. Painless, automatic, and therefore not boring.
Acorns looks at your transactions from whatever accounts you link, rounds up spending to the nearest dollar, and then invests it (when it hits $5 or more) into an investment portfolio. You get to choose the risk via a basic slider, which controls what kinds of investment it goes into. Again, painless, automatic, and therefore not boring.
Paribus will look at your email (and your Amazon account, though that won’t count as much as it did before) to see if prices have dropped on any purchases you’ve made recently. If so, it’ll request a price difference refund on your behalf. Again, painless, automatic, and therefore not boring.
None of these services will suddenly make you a millionaire, nor should they be treated as a primary investment or savings plan. But, if you’re like me, they might just help you start saving a little money here and there without any difficulty.