Hello, beautiful people! We’re back with some more Boujee Boss hacks, and I’m so excited to share my new finds with you! This week we will be focusing on saving apps because glowing up ain’t always free, and we must invest in ourselves if we want to prosper. And manage to maintain a living while doing so! I thought this would be a great starting point for those like me who have trouble being disciplined with their finances. Y’all know I’m all about keeping it real, so this is going to be a straight shot pros vs. cons situation, without all the cute fluff. Let’s jump right in!
ACORN
~Based on automatic saving through spare change, really good for young investors
Pros: FREE management for college students (Holla!), automatic savings with spare change, cash back at select retailers, no minimum investment required to open an account, no withdrawal fee, etc.
Cons: high fee on small account balances, limited range and control of investment options, no tax benefits
QAPITAL
~Based on “goals” and “rules”, goals being things you’re trying to save for like vacations, and rules being transactions that trigger the app to transfer funds for saving
Pros: Failsafe mechanism that helps avoid overdrafts, nonmandatory “if this, then that” rule (ex. If I tweet, then you deposit $ in your qapital account), multiple saving goals, no transfer fee, optional credit card links for “rules”, optional direct deposits for spending accounts, etc.
Cons: You only earn interest if you have a spending account, only available on smartphones, can take up to 10 business days for the round-up feature (ex. You pay $9.56 for a meal, qapital takes $0.44) to start
EMPOWER FINANCE
~Based on financial aggregation and budgeting, can connect the app to all checking, savings, investment and debt accounts
Pros: automatic spending limits, optional money transfers within the app, optional auto-savings/auto-debt payoffs, recognizes bills/subscriptions, high-yield savings accounts within the app, CSV reports, etc.
Cons: must pay extra for custom categorization, must pay to separate business/personal expenses, spending limits may not work for viable incomes
SMARTYPIG
~Based on short term savings goals, really good for emergency funds
Pros: no fee for opening an account, optional interest-bearing accounts, separate goals account option, very easy to achieve short term goals, higher interest rates, etc.
Cons: separate bank account required, outside contributions (from friends and family) have a fee, doesn’t aid in long term investing
DIGIT
~Based on finance analyzation and automation, really good for the more scatterbrained savers
Pros: no minimum balance required, 1% annual savings bonus every 3 months, free 30-day trial, no limits on savings goals, optional prioritization for goals to boost, no withdrawal fee, low balance protection with checking account, etc.
Cons: high monthly fees, doesn’t aid in long term savings, debit card needed to get most accurate results
I hope this was helpful for you guys! I tried to provide as diverse a list as possible to highlight the different focuses. I also understand that I didn’t cover all the details about each app, this was just a general overview of what they can or can’t do for you. I got this information from https://www.creditdonkey.com/, https://thecollegeinvestor.com/, https://investorjunkie.com/, and https://www.nerdwallet.com/, so feel free to check these websites out amongst others to do more research. Catch ya later!