Between balancing your budget, contributing to your savings and keeping track of your accounts, your financial to-do list can start to add up. But you don’t have to do it all yourself. With Ally Bank’s automated spending and savings tools, you can check some of those tedious, recurring tasks off your list — leaving you free to focus on more engaging goals.
The benefits of automating your finances
Automating your finances — whether it’s your savings transfers, recurring expenses or bill payments — saves time and helps you keep up with deadlines to avoid late fees or dings against your credit score. It can be tough to stay on top of prioritizing savings goals, but with automation you can build your savings with less effort.
Learn more: Spend smarter and save more with Ally Bank’s Spending and Savings Accounts
Ways to start automating your personal finances
Ally Bank’s tools can help streamline all aspects of your finances. Before you start, you’ll need to get organized: note your income, pay dates, due dates and typical expenses. With a clear picture of cash flow, you can time your automations right.
Automate your spending
1. Enable automatic one-time or recurring bill payments
Monthly bills never take a break, so consider putting them on autopilot. Most service providers offer automatic payments linked to your bank account or debit/credit card. If they don’t, use Ally Bill Pay to pay any U.S. company or person you’d normally pay by check, debit or cash. Gather the payee details (name, account and address), then, in your mobile app, all you have to do is navigate to Transfer and Pay > Bill Pay > Add a Payee to start. If you’re logged in online, click Payments > Bill Pay > Choose a Payee.
2. Set up early direct deposit
Automation can also apply to money you receive. With an Ally Bank Spending Account, you can set up direct deposit in minutes through the Ally app or your employer’s site and start receiving your income up to two days early. If your employer allows, you can split your direct deposit into multiple accounts — consider sending some straight to an Ally Bank Savings Account to automate your savings.
3. Schedule recurring payments for debt
Most lenders and service providers offer automatic payment options. You can typically set these up through the lender or provider via a direct transfer from your checking account. Depending on the available options, you can decide whether you want to make payments in full (such as for a monthly mortgage or rent payment) or in set amounts (such as a minimum for a credit card bill). You can also use Ally Bill Pay to manage your debt payments.
Tip: Be sure to read the fine print so you know exactly what you’re paying. (As in, is your payment going toward the principal or interest of your loan, or to your full credit card balance?)
4. Use spending buckets to manage recurring expenses
Spending buckets in an Ally Bank Spending Account give you a visual way to budget. Create buckets for things like rent, utilities or groceries, and decide how much goes into each. Pair them with Bill Pay and automatic transfers to create your own well-oiled spending and saving machine.
Read more: Use Ally Bank’s Spending and Savings Account buckets together to streamline your finances
Automate your savings
Saving is essential, but easy to overlook when done manually. Automation helps you stay on track, no matter how much you’re able to set aside.
5. Schedule recurring transfers to your savings accounts
With the recurring transfers tool, you can schedule automatic transfers to your Ally Bank Savings Account, choosing the amount and frequency — and adjusting them anytime. If you use our savings buckets to direct specific amounts to different goals, you can visualize and track exactly where your transfers are going.
6. Enable Surprise Savings to automatically find extra cash
Surprise Savings uses our smart banking technology to help you save more effortlessly. Link your checking account (at Ally or wherever you do the most spending) to your Ally Bank Savings Account, and we analyze your spending habits, find extra cash and automatically transfer it (but never more than three times a week or more than $25 at a time).
7. Turn on Round Ups to save while you spend
Every bit saved adds up. With Rounds Ups, your purchases are rounded up to the nearest dollar, and once you’ve collected at least $5 in spare change, it’s automatically transferred from your Ally Bank Spending Account to your Savings Account.
Monitor and adjust your automations
Automation can simplify your to-do list, but be careful about having a set-it-and-totally-forget-it mindset. Keep an eye on your accounts to ensure everything runs smoothly, and set up alerts to remind you to review and adjust as needed.
Automated tools and tech help you make the most of your money. Employ these smart tools, so you can spend less time thinking about your money and more time on what matters most to you.
