Day 4: How to Pay Down Debt Painlessly

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Day 1: Savings Goals

Day 2: The Richest Man

Day 3: Essential Spending

WEEK 1: Money Mindset

Today’s Easy Financial Task: Open up a Money Bucket

How to rock this task:

  • Use www.MagnifyMoney.com to help you find a free, no fee, Savings/ Money Market Account (MMA).
  • Choose the free account that also gives the most interest.
  • Transfer the money you saved from yesterday’s task to your new account.

Today’s Easy Financial Task is to open up a Money Bucket Account. What’s a Money Bucket Account?

Picture this…

Days after it rains, you’d never know…Why? The reason is that the ground soaks up the water soon after a storm. You, my friend, are like the ground, and when it “rains” money (aka payday), you too soak up the water (your funds).

The only way to keep some of the rain is to put out a bucket. An online-only Savings or Money Market Account (MMA) is the perfect Money Bucket.

Why it works:
  • It’s FREE
  • It takes 2-5 business days to transfer your money back into your current bank account. This mandatory wait will stop your impulse spending with savings. Make sure not to open a checking account at the same bank where you have your Money Buckets. If you do, you’ll be able to make faster transfers and use your debit card to spend your savings, and that’s not good.
  • It makes your money inconvenient. This is the best strategy to curb unplanned spending.
  • You can transfer $5 just as easily as $500.

Just in case you’re unsure, here is what you should look for in an online account when looking on www.MagnifyMoney.com :

Money Bucket Bank Criteria:

  • The most essential quality in a bank is that it is FDIC insured. This means that the Federal Government ensures that your money in the bank is protected up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank.
  • Choose the highest interest rate.
  • The amount needed to open up an account should be $0 or as low as possible.
  • There should be no fees associated with the account.
  • It’s best to choose an online-only bank for today’s task. Doing so will make your money inconvenient and inconvenient money doesn’t get spent.
  • Ask if opening an account will trigger a hard inquiry. A hard inquiry can result in you loosing a few credit score points.

The purpose of this task is to get you to see how easy it is to save. Many of us have the mindset that saving is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Once you open your first Money Bucket, throw something in there once a week… no matter how small.

“How?” you ask. Do what you did yesterday during the LIVE RICHER Challenge, Day 3 task, and choose one “essential only” spending day a week and transfer what you save on that day to your new account. You’ll be surprised how quickly the money adds up.

Want an easy way to find even more excess money for savings?

Give the Digit app a try. I love, love, love this app.

Digit is free for the first 30 days, then there’s a $5/month fee.

Digit connects to your checking account to analyze your monthly income and expenses. Then it uses your spending history to locate small amounts of cash you can save. It transfers this savings automatically from your checking account to a Digit savings account every 2 to 3 days.

I use Digit in addition to my other online-only savings accounts to put away a little extra here and there with NO EFFORT.

How’s that for convenient?

Digit transfers are usually between $5 to $50. Don’t worry, Digit won’t transfer money if it’ll put you in overdraft. Your money is also safe with Digit just like the other online accounts we discussed above. Digit uses 128-bit bank-level security and funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000. You can also transfer money from your Digit account at any time.

Even bigger bonus: Every 3 months you receive a savings bonus from Digit, 5 cents for every $100.

Check out some Digit savings success stories from our Dream Catcher Facebook group:

Learn more about Digit here: http://thebudgetnistablog.com/2015/app-for-saving-digit/.

Here’s another great FREE app to help you auto-save for what you want, Qapital. Sign up via this link and get $5 after saving:  http://get.qapital.com/bzAc/hO6qCdMA6s

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Take today’s task one step further and go back to your Day 1 Easy Financial Task and choose one of your financial goals as a focus for your savings. Saving for something specific is the best way to stick to your savings plan.

Now, share your plans today with your tweeps.

I will begin purposefully saving via my @magnify_money Money Bucket. Day 4 #LIVERICHERChallenge

Want to take today’s task a step further? Share the wealth and pass along Day 3’s Easy Financial Task with someone who you know needs financial help.

How do you feel about today’s task? Share in the comments below.

Live richer,

Tiffany

You can reach out to me here:

(If you’re new to the Dream Catchers: LIVE RICHER forum make sure to fill out the questionnaire HERE before requesting to join.)

FYI:

My Lisa Rule: I have 4 sisters and Lisa is the baby (well she’s not a baby anymore). Of all of my sisters I’m the most protective over her. Before I share any product or service with you, it must pass my Lisa Rule.

What’s the Lisa Rule? If I would not advise Lisa to use a product or service, I won’t advise you to. YOU are my Lisa. I feel protective over you and your financial journey.

The products/services mentioned in this post pass my Lisa Rule. Yes, I’m an affiliate, but I would not recommend a product or service that I didn’t believe was helpful and useful. 

Want the LIVE RICHER Challenge in book form? You can find it here: LIVE RICHER

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