Two Easy Tricks that Doubled My Savings

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Green Dot. All opinions are 100% mine.

Remember when Kanye said, “Single black female addicted to retail”? I’m pretty sure he was talking about me.

Of course, as I grow up I’m realizing how important it is to pay attention to my money. How much I’m spending vs. how much I’m saving.

I know how to make a coin and I definitely know how to spend one, but it takes a little more effort for me to save money and stay on budget.

I’ve been working really hard at being better with my finances.

Part of that for me was hiring a financial advisor. What’s crazy is some of the most simple tweaks in how I manage my money have made a HUGE difference in what my money bag looks like.

My savings account is the biggest it’s ever been and I’m staying on budget because of two tiny money hacks—want to know what they are?

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Do you have direct deposit at work? Did you know that you can split your direct deposit between multiple accounts?

So you can send part of your paycheck to your checking and part of your paycheck directly to savings. This was very helpful for me because, I may not always have the discipline to manually transfer money over to my savings instead of getting the new Gucci loafers. I have an external savings account I never look at and rarely touch. So, the money I allocate to be deposited in savings goes there and I never see it.

Allowance Account

I’ve set a weekly allowance for myself plenty of times, but that doesn’t guarantee I won’t overspend. I want to only spend my weekly allowance no matter how much money is in my checking and the best way to ensure I did that was to open an allowance account.

So, every week I transfer my weekly allowance onto a Green Dot Cash Back Debit Card. I use my Green Dot Debit Card for everything from online shopping and Uber rides, to cash withdrawals.

Using my Green Dot card for every day spending helps me to set an allowance for myself and stick to it. It also eliminates the headache of overdraft fees*!

I can also get a little money back because this is a cash back rewards card. With the 5% Cash Back Visa Debit Card I can earn 5% cash back on all purchases, (up to $100 annually).

Since I’m used to a bank with a robust online banking app, I was pleased to see that I had options to deposit checks from my phone and pay friends back for a split dinner via my connected paypal account.

If you’re looking to step up your finance game and hit your budget goals, you can scoop up a green dot card here. Bank Smart. Get Rewarded. Get a Green Dot card today!

Would you try either of these budget tricks?

*Up to $100 annually. Other fees and limits apply.