From brown bagging your lunch and taking the stairs to using your gym membership and shopping from a list, there are dozens of little victories in any given day. Even though these small moments can work wonders for your motivation, finances, and overall happiness, it is sometimes difficult to find meaningful and fun ways to notice them throughout the bustle of every day. Thankfully, now there’s an app for that.
Tip Yourself was featured on last week’s Motivation Monday, and I figured what better way to kick off the week with some pep in my step then to learn more about how the program combines positivity with paying yourself. Created by Mike Lenz and Sam Rodriguez, the Tip Yourself app is connected to your bank account and allows you to divert small amounts of money to your Tip Jar whenever you would like to celebrate a little success in life. Cash out your Tip Jar whenever – perhaps you’re saving up for a certain purchase, aiming to hit a savings milestone, would like to transfer money into an investment account at the year’s end, want to make an extra mortgage payment each month, or something else. The possibilities are endless. To learn how this app combines the power of microsavings with motivation, I was fortunate enough to chat with Mike at length this past week. Read on to discover more about Tip Yourself.
Q: What was the inspiration behind Tip Yourself?
A: The original inspiration for Tip Yourself was people’s relationship with money. Sam and I [Tip Yourself’s cofounders] believe the key with money is a shift in mindset. Tip Yourself builds a positive, self-empowering relationship with money. You’re not saving, you’re tipping yourself. It’s a subtle, but powerful difference.
Q:Describe the typical Tip Yourself user.
A: The wide range of users and uses is the most exciting part of Tip Yourself. I don’t believe there is a typical user. New moms who have just returned to work tip themselves for making it through the day, Many users tip for fitness goals, others tip because they make it through Target without impulse purchases, and some just tip to celebrate the weekend. It’s been amazing to see the community grow in such diverse ways.
Q: How can Tip Yourself benefit users financially?
A: On the surface, Tip Yourself is a great way to save incrementally. You push a button and same some. However, it is a lot more than just a savings tool. Tip Yourself can change your mindset of saving as a chore to saving as a sense of self-empowerment. That’s the real secret – rewiring our relationship with money.
Q: What are the other benefits of using Tip Yourself?
A: The possibilities are endless. Tip Yourself is inspired by the research of Stanford’s BJ Fogg. A mindful, positive approach to habits and behavior is the true way to affect real change in your life. This change can be applied to a wide range of aspirations: finances, fitness, breaking bad habits, or increasing general positivity. Many early users comment on how much they enjoy scrolling through the Tip Yourself feed to see all the positive moments. The benefits related to how users channel that positivity is endless.
After seeing a little slice of all Tip Yourself has to offer, I hope you’ll consider joining me as an early user of the application. As I use the application to celebrate the small wins in my life over the next few months, I’ll chronicle the journey on She Picks Up Pennies. Check back often, and I hope you’ll share your insights with me as well.
Note: If you’re interested in joining, sign up by clicking here and enter code PENNY. I will not receive any compensation for this referral link or this Q&A. But if you join, you will get to see all my awesome tips. Like last week when I was really proud of myself for not eating the entire bag of crackers on the way home from the grocery store. Don’t shop hungry, folks. It’s dangerous.
So Tell Me…Have you heard of Tip Yourself? How else do you reward yourself for a job well done?
Never heard of it! It is a super cute idea. I like it!
I’m kind of hooked on it already. Now I have to figure out what to do with my tip jar.
That’s a cool idea! We have been trying for a while now to find free ways to treat ourselves for certain accomplishments, and it’s been a fun experiment. Like we can watch some big, cheesy action movie on Netflix if we reach a certain milestone. But, to make it feel like a treat, we make a big deal about it — put it on the calendar, make some popcorn, burn the volume up nice and loud. 🙂 Or we’ll plan a picnic or give ourselves a no-chores weekend day. It’s really helped us to think about treats as not having to cost anything — not like the old days, when an accomplishment would have meant an expensive dinner out or a new pair of shoes!
I love the movie celebration idea. Finding ways to cheer yourself along as you work to accomplish any goal makes the road so much smoother, in my experience. Glad you shared!
I absolutely love this! I have to admit I missed the post last week, but this is the coolest concept, and I think it’s so great how it shifts the dynamic of how people think about saving – it’s so important to feel positively about it. I’m going to cross my fingers that it’s available to Canadians and click on the referral link now (nothing is ever available here, haha.)
That’s great feedback for them. Canadians are totally rocking the PF world (and probably every other universe as well), so I can imagine they’d quickly make the app available to you if it isn’t already.