BoostUp – Saving Money for Important Life Adventures

Most people who visit my blog are looking for a chance to make some money online part-time or full-time, but I fully believe that a large part of the WAH lifestyle is using the tools available to make your money stretch further.  Today’s post is on BoostUp (this link will take you to my personal BoostUp page for the account I created and you can click on “Get Started” to create your own goal while giving me credit for helping you find the service).  I came across this site, and I have to say that I’m very intrigued by the concept. 

You save for something big in your life and have the opportunity to have friends and family donate along with some businesses offering a “boost” to your savings.  The categories that you can save in is car, home, wedding, and vacation.  I signed up myself for a BoostUp account to save for a vacation as eventually we hope to take the boys to Disney to see “Mickey Mouse’s house” or Harry Potter/Star Wars depending on which kiddo you’re talking to about it.  Sign up is easy and free (both pluses in my book).  You pick an amount, what you are saving for and some basic information.  The dashboard to add to your goal is rather straightforward and easy to understand.  You select how much money, how often to deposit it with how many weeks, when to start it up, and your bank information.  The best part is you can change your goal if you decide to put off that big vacation as wedding bells are going to be ringing or a house is looming on the horizon.  Right now, signing up has a perk as there is a contest for a new 2 year lease or $5,000.  Referring others, liking on Facebook and following on Twitter can also get you some extra entries into the contest.  I know if I won, we’d be heading to Disney!!

To withdrawal your money once you hit your goal for a car, you will create a key code that will be used to transfer the funds from your account to the dealership.  This can be used at any dealership in the country, but some dealerships offer an incentive Boost.  To withdrawal your money for a house, you will need to call BoostUp support, and they will give you the instructions that you need to transfer the money to your title company.  Both wedding and vacations are a little different where you can get 5% extra if you get gift cards that are offered, but they send a check to you once you hit your amount.  They seem to be always on the lookout for new companies to partner with, so I’ll be keeping an eye on that.   

Now, if you decide you are not interested in saving for your particular goal, no problem.  You are able to request a withdrawal which will close your account by requesting to deactivate your account.  It does have a fee involved of $25.00 for more than $25.00 in your account or 2.5% if you have more than $2,500 in your account.  It comes in a check and takes about 10-15 days.

I contacted the company to get some questions answered, and I have to say that the person that I spoke with was very responsive.  My household doesn’t make phone conversations very easy, so he was willing to chat with me through email after I tried to call the one time.

Pros –

• Free
• Easy to Use
• A great way to keep funds away from temptation of using them for bills
• Variety of things to save for
• Incentives that can add to your amount for free
• Allows for others to help you save
• Responsive customer support
• You are in charge
• Change your goals
• Change your deposit details

Cons –

• Fee if you want to withdrawal before hitting your goal
• Some transactions may take some time to fund
• 30 day wait on removing funds

Overall, I am in total love with this company.  I know I’m guilty of raiding the savings account when I’m low on funds for bills or want to splurge on something now rather than later.  This will prevent me from doing that as my cheap husband would never allow me to pay a fee, and the wait would probably cool off my ardor to getting the money out anyhow.