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How To Make Money By Stealing From Yourself

Now that I have you wondering if this blog is just one big sick joke, let me explain.

There are literally thousands of methods for saving money. No one method works for each person in every situation, but by knowing and trying different methods, you can quickly find one that works for you.

By learning what works for you, saving will become second nature and you will begin to see progress.

Save Money By Stealing From Yourself

This method doesn’t involve an elaborate plan in which you set up a safe full of money with a random combination, crack the code to gain entry, then pawn your skills as a safe cracker for thousands of dollars an hour. All that is required are a couple bank accounts, one or both of which you probably already have.

Let me first say that I use Ally for my online savings. It has absolutely no fees, is super easy to set up, and the web interface is all about clarity and ease of use. On top of that, one of my favorite features of my Ally checking account is that I can withdraw cash from any ATM and have the fees reimbursed at the end of the month.

The process is so simple, it can be broken down into just three steps:

1. Open a checking or savings (or other) account with Ally.
2. Connect an existing checking or savings account to your newly opened Ally account.
3. Set up an automatic weekly transfer of $25, or any amount that you feel comfortable with, for the same time every week.

That’s it. When planning to save money, sometimes we forget, or in the moment, decide that we just have to buy that new Avatar Blu-Ray instead.

Benefits Of Stealing Your Own Money

By setting it up to automatically transfer the money you will do three things.

1. Guarantee that you will not forget to save.
2. Spend less because you can’t spend what is already taken out of your account.
3. Not even notice that money is missing in the first place, which is why you might consider it stealing from yourself and is one of the biggest benefits of automatic transfers.

Like I said in the beginning, people save differently, and this method may not work for everyone, but it certainly works for me.

I actually take it one step further and match my weekly 401k contributions when transferring money to my savings account. With a 100% employer match on my retirement account, it almost feels like I’m saving 300% more than normal, and when you feel like you’re making progress at 3x the normal speed, you get even more motivated to save.

What are some other methods of saving that you employ? Have automatic transfers worked for you?

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