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Last Updated on December 1, 2020 by Yovana
Saving for life’s most important things doesn’t need to be as complicated as it sounds, especially when you have an app at your fingertips that makes the process simple and fun.
One of the most crucial elements in saving money is giving that money purpose. When we save for a reason, we’re much more likely to stick with it. Setting goals is what makes us human.
And frankly, that’s true of virtually anything we do in life.
Going to the gym every day gets easier when our goal is to lose 25 pounds before a wedding. Taking night classes is easier to stomach when we need those classes to get a promotion.
Goals make life easier, so why should saving money be any different?
Dobot was built to help you visualize your goals and to make it super simple to start saving for them. Dobot makes saving money easy by using the power of automation.
Imagine not having to lift a finger to meticulous meet every one of your savings goals.
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How Dobot Works to Save Money
Dobot helps you and your family save by visualizing your goals and then makes saving easy by automating the entire process. Just connect your checking account, and Dobot goes to work.
And don’t worry. Dobot is 100% free to use.
Key savings features of Dobot include:
- Smart Savings – Dobot does all the work. Every few days, Dobot will calculate “safe savings amounts” and automatically move small amounts of money into your Dobot savings.
- Scheduled Savings – You set your schedule. Just select how much and how often you’d like to save, and Dobot will take care of it automatically.
Save On Your Own – You are always free to save by transferring funds directly into your Dobot savings. Open the app and ‘Add Money’ from your goals, or just send a text like “Save 20” and Dobot will take care of the transfer for you.
The process is simple. To use Dobot, you’ll need to be 18 years of age or older with a checking account from a U.S. financial institution with a valid Social Security or U.S. tax ID number and a current U.S. mailing address.
5 Steps To Using Dobot
Step 1: Download The App
After downloading the app to your phone, create your Dobot account and establish your goals (with photos!). Then, connect your checking account. Simply select your bank from a list of thousands of supported banks, enter your credentials, and you’ll be on your way.
You’re only able to connect a single checking account to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, so keep that in mind when you choose what checking account to connect to Dobot’s app.
Dobot is available for Apple as well as Android.
Dobot and the D Dobot mark are registered trademarks of Fifth Third Acquisition Holdings, LLC.
App Store is a registered service mark of Apple, Inc. Google Play is a registered trademark of Google LLC.
Step 2: Set Up Your Savings Goals
Your goals can include virtually anything, such as saving for your future wedding, a nice vacation, a brand new car or a shiny new computer. Heck, just building up an emergency fund for a rainy day (that’s smart!). Anything that you’d like to save money for is fair game.
You’re not boxed in. Your goals are entirely up to you.
Use Dobot’s “group savings goal” feature to let multiple people – like family or friends, save for the same goal. This feature works great to let a group of people save for larger family vacations and other goals that include more than just you. Save as a group and reach your goal faster.
For example, let’s assume you’re saving up for a trip to Hawaii together with several other friends who use the Dobot app. Dobot will track each person’s contribution and how close they are to reaching their savings goal.
Here’s an example of what that might look like:
Step 3: Decide How Much You’d Like To Save
Typically, Dobot users save between $5 and $25 each time.
Use Dobot’s Smart Savings feature to let the app look for clever opportunities to automatically save every few days, or set up a savings schedule on your own for more granular control.
If you’d rather have complete control over each contribution, Dobot allows you to manually control your savings process by letting you transfer funds yourself whenever you like.
It usually takes about 2 business days to transfer money if the transfer request is initiated before 6 pm ET. Once the money is transferred, it’s immediately available to be withdrawn at any time.
Step 4: Get Regular Updates About Your Savings Goals
You’ll receive a weekly text message at the end of the week with how much money you saved that week, and you always have access to your savings activity straight from the app.
You’ll also receive a monthly email highlighting your savings activity. Additionally, you can text ‘Savings’ to Dobot at any time to receive your account balance.
Step 5: Withdraw Money At Any Time
As I’ve mentioned before, you’re not boxed in when saving money with Dobot. Dobot users can always withdraw money straight from within the app, or you can text Dobot with a message to ‘Save’ or ‘Withdraw’. They make sure your money gets where it needs to be.
It’s a simple and easy process.
If you’re wondering if Dobot is safe, then don’t worry. Dobot uses a variety of measures to anonymize and encrypt your personal information before it’s stored on their secure servers, and they never store bank account log-ins. Your Dobot savings are kept in a bank with all its inherent protections and is FDIC-insured.
Lastly, Dobot is only available for U.S.-based users.
Use Dobot To Boost Your Rainy Day Fund
Dobot doesn’t restrict your savings goals, but popular goals include vacations, travel, cars and other higher-priced items. But, don’t forget that Dobot is great for building emergency savings.
Saving for an emergency (or a “rainy day”) will help with sudden medical bills, job losses or anything else that happens unexpectedly. If you don’t have an emergency or rainy day fund, use Dobot to start building one up immediately. It’s easy.
All you need to do is set up your new Rainy Day Fund goal in the Dobot app, choose your desired contribution frequency using Dobot’s Smart Savings, Scheduled Savings or Save On Your Own feature and watch your emergency fund build slowly but surely over time.
Hopefully, you’ll never need it. But if you do, you’ll be glad that you have it and that money will be immediately available for withdrawal.
The Dobot Savings Movement
Dobot isn’t just an app. It’s also a movement that challenges you to save more of your hard earned cash. For example, if you meet Dobot’s “Future Me” challenge, you’ll be automatically entered to win up to a $100 match in savings each and every month.
Check Dobot’s Money Movement page for the latest savings challenges and start earning gift cards and savings matches – not to mention a more prosperous future you!
This article originally appeared on The Money Mix and has been republished with permission.
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Steve is a 38-year-old early retiree who writes about the intersection of happiness and financial independence. Steve is a regular contributor to MarketWatch, CNBC, and The Ladders and lives full-time in his 30′ Airstream Classic and travels with the country with his wife Courtney and two rescued dogs. He writes at SteveAdcock.us.