If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m obsessed with the Bahamas. So obsessed that I sometimes find my interest slightly embarrassing. But, screw being embarrassed – it’s 2019 and I’m determined to be myself no matter how unusual anyone else thinks I am.
The only downside to my love affair with this tiny country is that it’s expensive. Especially my favorite island, Harbour Island. Most hotels on the rock cost $400 a night, minimum and go up from there. Once you factor in spending 30% more on food + the new 12% VAT tax, along with a $600+ flight to get there, my bank account is screaming, “No, Lace! Don’t go back to Briland. Your funds are drying up faster than your forehead in the dead of winter.”
But… I always ignore my bank account. I have, however, started to be more proactive in my approach to saving. Since I wasn’t born with the “financial awareness” gene, I’ve found that automating my savings is the easiest and most painless way for me to build a travel fund – or any fund.
About 2 years ago, my husband and I started using the most clever little banking app called Qapital. With Qapital, we can create joint savings goals and contribute to them using “rules” that work for us. For instance, if I spend less than $20 a week at Starbucks, Qapital contributes the rest of that $20 to my account. I also have a rule that saves 7% of my paychecks and a round-up rule that snags several cents from my everyday purchases.
Last year, I set up a “Christmas Gift” savings goal, too. Qapital takes $10 from me each week + “roundups” from my purchases and stows the cash away in my Christmas goal. By the time December rolled around, I had more than $1,000 just waiting to be spent. This was HUGE for me because my family goes all out on Christmas gifts. This was the first year I didn’t have a massive credit card bill to pay off after the holidays.
I have goals set up for trips, our future house, my next car down payment and my Harvard graduate school classes. Even though personal finance is still an area I’m learning to manage, Qapital has been a lifesaver on my path to so-called “financial freedom.”
I also ordered a Qapital debit card. I out $150 in that account every week to spend on lunch, gas, trips to Walgreens to buy a fresh tube of mascara – whatever comes up!
If you’re interested in a “set it and forget it” approach to savings, I HIGHLY recommend Qapital. If you sign up with my link, you’ll get $5 added to your account right away (which equals a free latte, if your brain works like mine!).
Have other personal finance and budgeting tips to share? I’m all ears! I need all the help I can get, but hope Qapital can be as much of a *blessing* on your life as it has been to mine.
