How I Saved $600 Without Even Trying

I am notoriously bad at saving money. Budgeting has always been a struggle for me, mainly because I screwed up my credit pretty bad when I was younger.

I sign up for recurring subscriptions and forget about them until the money is taken out of my bank account.

I’m still struggling with having a proper budget (and believe me, I’ve read about a zillion blog posts and have tried different programs, apps, and templates).

Even when I have a separate savings account, it’s easy for me to just transfer the money to cover bills.

Investing seems too much like a challenge.

So, how do I have over $600 saved right now? [Edit: Since I’ve written this post, my savings are now up to $1000)

Enter Digit

Well, I mentioned the “signing up for things and forgetting about them”. That’s sort of what happened with the savings. A few months ago, in one of those money-saving articles, I read about Digit. Their tagline is “Save money, without thinking about it.”

Appealing, right?

I couldn’t even tell you when I signed up for it, but according to my history, the first withdrawal of $1.74 happened in November. The first few withdrawals were small – less than $5. That’s a direct correlation of what was available in my bank account.

Digit checks your spending habits and moves money from your checking account to your Digit account, if you can afford it.

I know it sounds pretty crazy but I see the transactions with “Hello Digit” on my bank statement and don’t really think about it. Sometimes, it’s as much as a cup of coffee. Other times, it’s what I would spend on a dinner at a restaurant (but didn’t).

I don’t have to think about it – and that’s been the most effective way of saving money right now.

If you’re interested in trying it out, use my referral link.  (I do get $5 if you sign up using my link). You can always pause the withdrawals, and your money is available for withdrawal 24/7/365 (but I personally try to forget about that).

Update: Since I’ve written this post, Digit has announced that they will now be charging a $2.99 monthly fee for their service after the first 100 days. They will also be upping their Savings Bonus from 0.20% to 1%. More details here.

What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to budgeting? How are you overcoming the challenges when it comes to saving money?