http://www.thenerdelement.com/2019/04/19/saving-for-san-diego-comic-con-vacations-or-anything-you-want/

It is that exciting time of year again for all San Diego Comic-Con attendees. Hotel sales just happened and that two-day deposit is due (If you were one of the lucky ones to grab a spot). Concerts, parties, and off-site events will start popping up; some of which will require funds. Do not forget all the SDCC exclusives that will be calling your name come July.

If only we could all win the lottery, right? Well, the reality for me at least is that I need to start saving money for San Diego Comic Con. I am sure some of you out there received a tax refund already; (still waiting on mine) and that may or may not be all you need for comic con. However, should you find yourself in need of a bit more here is the resource I use to save for big events:

Qaptial

• iOS or Android
• https://www.qapital.com/
• Referral link Get $20 with the first goal and deposit
  https://get.qapital.com/bBYx3yFzYV

Qapital is an app for either iOs or Android that allows you to set certain goals and deposit that money towards those goals. For me, this works well because the money is removed from my account so I can’t spend it! To get started with Qapital you are required to link your Qapital account with a funding source (i.e. Bank, Investment account, MMA, etc). You do this within the Qapital app, and most major banks are listed including credit unions and investment firms. If you do not see your bank listed, you can do a quick search. My MMA provider was not listed but I found it quickly using the search feature.

Now for those of you who are wondering how secure this is, Qapital uses plaid for their encryption. Major companies like Venmo and Acorns use the same service. You can find more information on this here .

Once your funding source is linked it is time to set up your goals. Qapital offers many suggestions for your first goal, including saving to pay off debt or going on a vacation. When you create a goal, you can change the background picture of the goal to something that will help motivate you. For example, if you are saving to go to San Diego Comic-Con, slap a picture of the Funko booth right on that goal so that you can look at it daily (I may or may have that picture on mine).

There are several “rules” you can create to start saving. I use the following three rules in my savings goals.

Set and Forget Rule

The set and forget rule allows you to save any amount per day, week or month towards your goal. So say you wanted to save $5 a day, saving an average of $150 a month (used 30 days). This automatically gets deposited into your Qapital account and you don’t have to worry about doing anything yourself. You can use the set and forget rule to deduct any amount daily, weekly or monthly from your account that works within your budget.

Round up Rule

This rule is exactly as it sounds. Any time a payment is deducted from your funding account, Qapital rounds that amount to the nearest dollar (you can vary this to nearest two dollars, three dollars etc.) and deposits that difference into your Qapital account. This works best with accounts tied to a debit card you use frequently but will work on any payment made by that account including reoccurring bills and checks.

52 Week Rule

The 52-week rule is an easy way to save $1378 in 52 weeks (1 year). The “regular” way starts with $1 on week one, moves to $2 on week 2 and so on and so forth until the 52nd week where you deposit $52. The “reverse” way starts you at $52 the first week and then you work your way down to $1. If you can afford it this might be a great jump on saving for SDCC which is about 12 weeks away. You can save a little over $550 using the reverse method. Download the charts below for your reference.

Other Rules

Some other rules which I haven’t had the chance to use yet include:

The payday rule, which allows you to save a certain percentage every time you have a deposit larger than an amount you designate. If you wanted to save 10% of your paycheck and you receive a direct deposit of $1500 each payday then you can set it to take 10% of any deposit over $1499.

The guilty pleasure rule saves a set amount every time you spend money on things you shouldn’t. If I was trying to avoid spending money on Funko this month, I could set it to deduct $10 and put it into my Qapital account every time a charge is made to Funko. Your funding account is tied to Qapital so it can list all the places you have spent money over the last couple of months. You then can choose any of these places as your “guilty pleasure”.

One of the most interesting rule sets that I have yet to experience is the “IFTTT” rule. If you are not familiar with IFTTT, it is basically a service that allows apps to connect and create actions for each other. You can find out more information on that here . The premise is to allow you to save money from things like tweeting or posting on Instagram, hitting your Fitbit goal or even the temperature outside going above a certain point. There are a lot of possibilities when using IFTTT. I may not use any of these prior to San Diego Comic Con, but if you do please share your feedback on IFTTT as a saving method by posting in the comments.

Other Features

I also want to mention some things that may not be obvious. Qapital allows you to add a or partner with a saver, should you want two or more people saving towards a common goal. You can do this by clicking “add saver”. Qapital also puts a hold on your saving goals automatically if you drop below a certain amount in your funding account. This will help you avoid any overdraft fees if your balance is running low.

Qapital also has some built-in tools to help you budget and invest. I suggestion poking around the app after you have set up your savings goals to see all that it has to offer.

I hope this information helps some of you start saving towards your goals, whether it be San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con or just building a nest egg. Please do not feel obligated to use the referral link I am only sharing it as a way to share the $20 reward for signing up. You can always just download the app via your app store and forgo using the link. I do not work for or have any contact with Qapital outside using their app to help me with my savings goals.

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