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[Updated 9/11/2020]
Saving money can be hard.
Sometimes it seems like there just isn’t enough money to save. Like you’re always coming up short.
And wow, can that be stressful. Have you felt that too?
But there’s a better way.
What if saving money was actually fun?
What if you could get paid and win money, just by adding money to your savings account?
Awesome right?!
In October I partnered with a nonprofit called SaverLife, whose simple mission is to help Americans save money. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m all about saving more money.
If you have even $500 stashed away in your savings account, you’ll be more prepared than 30% of Americans.
And SaverLife wants to help you with that.
When you sign up at saverlife.org and start playing savings challenges, you can win cash prizes. In the past three years, SaverLife members have earned over $600,000 in prizes, and that doesn’t even count the actual money they deposited into their savings accounts.
Read that again ??
That’s a lot, and the best news is IT’S ALL FREE!
Yep. Free to sign up, and free to use. No fees, no interest, just plain old free.
Ready to learn how you can save money with SaverLife, and get paid as you save money?
Let’s dive in.
What is SaverLife?
I met Grace from SaverLife at FinCon2019, a money nerd’s dream event.
I was immediately impressed and blown away by SaverLife’s simple mission to help Americans save money. Add to that the fact you can get cash prizes just for adding money to your saving account every month.
AND IT’S FREE! (I know I already said that, but it still blows my mind)
I kept waiting for the catch – fees, sign up costs, or some other way to pay to play. But there’s no catch. You can seriously save money with SaverLife and win extra money.
I also like that SaverLife is a nonprofit. They truly work their butts off to help you save money.
Saving more money is something most Americans struggle with. I know I struggled for YEARS! And so did my family when I was growing up.
That’s probably the reason saving money is one of the top New Year’s Resolutions every year.
Over a third of Americans don’t have $500 in the bank.
Even that small amount of money can help you survive emergencies like flat tires, a burst pipe, or your pet eating a bowl of rotten eggs like our dog Sadie did. We left the pet ER with a healthy dog, but we were out $500.
How Does SaverLife Make Saving Money Easier?
One way SaverLife makes saving money easier is with games and challenges.
Saving money is a really abstract idea, and unless you have specific goals, is actually hard to do. But if you have small savings games and challenges to keep you motivated, saving money might be more attainable.
Scratch And Save
For example, one of the challenges SaverLife offers is the Scratch and Save.
Recently SaverLife updated the way you can win money.
Previously, the scratch and save worked like this – if you add $5 or more to your savings account in a week, SaverLife would send you a digital scratch card every week that you save at least $5.
Now SaverLife created a “points store” where you can accumulate points for different things. And you can redeem points for Scratch and Save digital scratch offs for a chance to win $5.
Here are a few ways you can earn points.
- Transfer $5 to your savings in a week – 250 points
- Log into your SaverLife dashboard once a week – 50 points
- Read the “Article of the Day” – 15 points
- Post a question or response in the money forums – 15 points
- Log your budget with SaverLife – 25 points
These are all ongoing challenges and ways to earn points.
There are also a few “one time” opportunities to earn points for signing up, linking your account, and taking a couple quizzes about money. It all adds up to more points for you and more chances to win money.
What can you do with points?
You can exchange your points for a Scratch and Save, which gives you a chance to win $5.
Each Scratch and Save costs 250 points, and you can get up to 3 every week if you have enough points.
And it’s pretty dang cool when you win.
The first time this happened, I got an email to open my Scratch & Save card. AND I WON!!!
It was so cool! It was only $5 but I literally did NOTHING besides transfer money into my savings account. I don’t know about you, but I like free money.
I opened the email, scratched it off and won $5. The money was deposited directly into my PayPal account.
Sadly I lost the second and third Scratch & Saves I got. 🙁 I definitely lose more times than I win, but that’s going to happen with any scratch off ticket, and these ones are free.
Monthly and Yearly Challenges to Win Money
Last year, there was a big challenge to encourage people to save $500 before Thanksgiving.
Everyone who reached their $500 goal was entered into a drawing to win money.
There are:
- 30 $100 winners
- 30 $200 winners
- 30 $500 winners
Recently they’ve been hosting a “Race to $100” with the goal of saving $100 in a month, and if you do, you get entered into a drawing to win $100.
SaverLife is giving away a lot of money, and even if I don’t win, I still have more money in my savings that I didn’t have before I started the these challenges.
Either way, I WIN!
How Does SaverLife Track How Much Money I Save?
SaverLife connects directly to your savings account and tracks your money based on your banking activity. So you save money in your OWN bank account. No need to set up any new accounts.
They don’t touch or move your money. SaverLife just tracks how much you’re actually saving and applies that to the current savings challenges you’re in.
If you transfer at least $5 to your savings account every week, you’ll get a chance to win $5 with a Scratch and Save. I just signed into SaverLife and noticed I had 1 day left to qualify for this week’s Scratch and Save. So I sent $50 to savings, which I was planning to do anyway.
Now I have $50 in my savings account and I have a chance to win $5 next week.
Even if you don’t win any prizes, you’re actively adding money to your savings account every week or every month. If you keep your money there and don’t withdraw it, your savings will grow and you’ll earn interest on it.
The real winning is changing your money habits and focusing on saving money.
Plus, you’ll eventually win a prize at some point 🙂
How Does SaverLife Protect My Data?
This is a quote directly from SaverLife:
“We take security very seriously. We don’t store sensitive information such as date of birth, social security numbers, or bank credentials. We encrypt and anonymize our data, and we’ve been verified by third party data audits.”
I don’t know a ton about encryptions or how to protect data, but it helps knowing that none of my sensitive information is stored in their systems.
SaverLife uses the same technology to protect your data as other programs like Mint and YNAB.
Is SaverLife for Me? Can I Actually Save Money with SaverLife?
SaverLife is a non-profit, and their major goal is to help families create and grow their savings accounts.
The majority of new SaverLife members are not saving regularly and often spend more than they make. This is a huge problem, especially if an emergency comes along. It’s hard to fix a car if you don’t have any savings. And if you put it on a credit card, you’re digging a hole of debt.
When that happens over and over again, it creates a vicious cycle of debt and creates extra stress you don’t need.
If that’s you, and you don’t have a lot of money in savings, then SaverLife is absolutely for you. Remember, everyone starts somewhere and there’s no reason to feel guilt or shame about where you’re at. If you’re reading this, you obviously want to grow and save money. That’s a great place to start.
SaverLife helps create long-lasting savings habits; most people save an average of $700+ in the first six months of using SaverLife.
How would your life change with an extra $1,400 in your savings every year? Would you feel less stress and anxiety with money?
I know I would.
COVID and Unemployment Relief
SaverLife is an incredible company and is always trying to help people save money.
They created extra sections on their site to provide resources to people struggling due to COVID-19 or unemployment.
They really do care and are working hard to help people who need it most. And when you log in, it’s the first information available.
Who Can Sign Up for SaverLife?
The qualifications are pretty minimal.
To sign up for SaverLife:
- You must be 18 years or older
- Have an email address
- Bank with a U.S. bank account that has online banking. SaverLife supports over 9,000 financial institutions so there’s a good chance your bank will qualify.
That’s it. There’s no costs, no sign up fees, just a great community helping and encouraging you to save money.
How do I Sign Up for SaverLife and Get Paid to Save Money?
The sign up process is really simple, and won’t take more than a few minutes. I signed up, and I’ll walk you through the exact steps and process.
Step 1 – Go to SaverLife.org
(pssst. This is an affiliate link, so if you click on it, I’ll get a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything extra. I really love SaverLife and their mission aligns with mine. If you want a non-affiliate link, use this link instead.)
It’s free to register. SaverLife is a nonprofit and wants to help you save money, not spend it. And on top of that, SaverLife will PAY YOU when you save money.
Step 2 – Link Your Savings Account
I already mentioned this, but it’s very secure and you don’t need to open a new account. As long as you have a savings account, you’re all set.
They can only link one savings account, so choose the account you use the most and add money to regularly. If you don’t add money consistently right now, choose a savings account you are going to add money to going forward.
Step 3 – Take a Short Survey (you can skip if you want)
The survey is about 12 questions and only takes a few minutes. You’ll be asked questions about budgeting, saving money, your spending habits, your zip code, whether you’re a veteran, race, and whether you can currently afford to cover an emergency.
This survey helps SaverLife get to know your spending and savings habits so they can help you better.
And you can skip the survey if you don’t have time, or feel uncomfortable answering any of the questions.
Step 4 – Another Survey: Find Your Money Personality Survey
At first glance, this survey seemed super useful. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know their money personality? It sounds helpful, and like it would increase your awareness.
Honestly, I’m not sure what the point of it was after I took it. It did give me a suggested reading and asked if I had an accountability partner with my finances. Accountability is crazy important, and I’m thankful my wife Jenna is fully on board with our budget and savings plans.
If you don’t have a partner right now, find a friend who wants the same things as you (pay off debt, control your spending, save money, etc) and work side by side to reach your money goals.
And if saving money is your goal, SaverLife is a great place to start. You can even go through the SaverLife challenges together.
Step 5 – Enroll in Challenges so You Can Save Money and Get Paid For It
If you save money, you can get paid for it. Entering challenges is how you get started.
The first challenge you’ll see is the Weekly Scratch and Save. I’ve already explained this a couple times. If you transfer money to savings, you get a chance for SaverLife to pay you $5 a week just for transferring money to your savings account.
When I first enrolled, it was mid October and there was a challenge to save $500 by Thanksgiving. There was even a Facebook Group to join others who were working toward the same goal. It’s great built in accountability.
You can see how much money you’re saving on your SaverLife dashboard, which you can access on your computer or your smart phone. Sadly there’s no app, so just open a web browser and go to the SaverLife website.
Race to $100
Right now SaverLife is doing a monthly challenges encouraging people to put $100 in their savings account every month.
If I save $100, I get entered into a drawing to win $100.
This challenge has been going on for a few months now, and it’s exciting to see my progress saving money.
That sounds like another no brainer way for a chance to get paid to save money from SaverLife.
Other Great Benefits of SaverLife
The concept of SaverLife is to help you save money, build an emergency fund, and improve your financial skills.
Challenging you to save money is only part of the equation.
SaverLife also has a heavy focus on education and helping you change your behavior, and create new habits with money.
The way to get people into a financial community to learn better money habits is the games and challenges for saving money. It’s an amazing incentive and what can I say, money talks, so it seems like a no-brainer to start saving money with SaverLife.
But the endgame of SaverLife is to improve your financial health and literacy. They provide stats and information on saving money, how to save money, and benefits of having an emergency fund.
Additionally, SaverLife has an entire section titled Money 101, which is full of resources to learn about financial health and wellness, and ways you can improve your own finances.
The resources are even broken down by category to help you find the most relevant resources.
Are You Ready to Get Paid to Save Money with SaverLife?
Quick summary:
- Sign up for SaverLife for free (here’s my affiliate link)
- Link your savings account
- Join challenges, earn points, and start winning money
- Be part of a community trying to win with money and grow your savings account
- Keep saving money and keep getting paid to save money
It sounds like a no brainer to me, which is why I signed up with my own SaverLife account and have already won $5 and plan on winning a lot more.
What’s the worst that could happen?
You sign up, start transferring money and grow your savings account, but you never win any extra money.
You still win because now your savings account has grown and you have a cushion when your next financial emergency hits.
Head on over to SaverLife and start getting paid to save money today.
Our budget and goals changed our lives and it can change yours too.
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