Motivational Games

What are your motivations for saving money or paying down your debt? For me, my family is a big factor, as well as setting goals like flying to Dallas to watch one of my closest friends get married. For other people, it’s buying a house, or planning a big move. If you don’t have any big goals in mind, would receiving rewards for getting rid of your debt or saving up motivate you?

SaveUp takes a more comprehensive approach. The San Francisco-based start-up asks consumers to sign up (free of charge) on its website, then lets them link their financial accounts and obligations — from checking to college and car loans. The software helps them track their financial activity.

The motivational key to the program is the prizes that members can earn. For the money they save, they earn points that they can either redeem for rewards or use to enter raffles for prizes that run the gamut from Starbucks gift cards to a $2 million jackpot. (No actual money is in play.)

Other potential rewards include cars and vacations. Of course, although it’s “free” to play, these sort of sites make money by collecting your financial data and information about your spending habits, and selling it to interested parties, or using it for other purposes. I’m interested in knowing if people have tried sites like SaveUp and whether it’s worked.

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