technology

Dave Banking App Review

Dave Banking App

Chances are that you’ve already heard of Dave, the personal finance app. However, did you know that there’s a new Dave Banking App? The new tool expands upon what the original app offered by provide a complete online-only banking solution.

What Is The Dave Banking App?

Dave Banking is a mobile bank geared specifically towards millennials, which is obvious from their website design. It implements some of the things that Dave was already known for and adds additional services. For example, you can set up an account with no monthly fees and no overdraft charges.

Dave Banking Benefits

Obviously, people who are concerned about overdraft charges will benefit from utilize this banking option. Here are some of the other benefits:

  • You can easily open an account by connecting your Dave banking app to your existing bank account. Alternatively, you can open your own brand new Dave checking account. There is no account minimum. You do not have to pass a credit check.
  • Dave has partnered with Credit Pop to offer a free credit-boosting service. The app reports your on-time rent and utility payments to the credit agencies. Therefore, you can improve your credit score by switching to this bank.
  • You get a $100 advance free of charge. There is no interest. In other words, if you run out of money, the account will help you without penalty.
  • Dave accepts direct deposits from tens of thousands of different employers.
  • The account is FDIC-insured. Therefore your money is protected as it would be with any other regular bank.

Budgeting Help and Predictive Account Info

The Dave Banking App offers some key benefits that many other regular banks simply don’t provide. For one thing, the tool gives you automatic budgeting help. You can easily use the app to see what you regularly earn and spend, plan for upcoming big expenses, and get other assistance with keeping to your budget.

Moreover, the app has a built in Artificial Intelligence tools. This helps predict your account balance before your next paycheck. Whenever it looks like you’re at risk of going empty in your bank account, you’ll receive an alert. Of course, you can rely on that $100 no-interest cash advance if you do go empty. But this AI and budgeting information helps you avoid that problem.

Dave Banking App Helps You Find a Side Job

This is another really unique featuring of banking with Dave. After all, when was the last time that your regular bank offered to help you find work? Dave has partnered with gig economy / sharing economy companies to help you find local work whenever you need extra money. You can apply for jobs directly through the Dave Banking App. It’s one of the most unique cutting-edge tools for a mobile bank to offer. And although it’s geared towards millennials, people of all generations can take advantage of earning a side income with a new gig.

Important Things To Know

Here are a few key things you’ll want to know before you choose this tool:

  • The Dave Banking App is available on Google Play and in the Apple Store.
  • You can tip the app and for every 1% that you tip Dave will plant a tree.
  • It costs $1 per month to bank with Dave.
  • This is a checking account, not a savings account, so you won’t earn interest on your money.

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Do Smart Homes Save Money?

smart homes

I was thinking about adding some smart technology to my home. I had been visiting a friend who had Alexa set up to control all sorts of different things in the house. I got a kick out of saying, “Alexa, turn on …” and choosing the lights I wanted on and off, the music I wanted playing, and so forth. I’ve seen those commercials with the refrigerators and ovens that practically do everything themselves with just the sound of a voice. We’re all moving towards having some version of smart homes. However, when I looked into the costs of just a few of those things, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

Do Smart Homes Save Money?

I’ve always figured that smart homes generally cost money to set up but have the potential to save money in the long run. However, I think that type of thinking primarily comes from the type of smart technology that makes a home more energy-efficient. When it comes to all of the technology available today to make a home more convenient, it may not actually save money. In fact, setting up a smart home can probably cost a lot of money that you don’t recoup. So, I’m trying to figure it out; do smart homes save money? Or do they at least have the potential to pay for themselves?

Energy-Saving Technology Can Save Money

Doing my research confirmed what I expected. It is possible for smart homes to save money if you’re talking about smart technology that saves energy. In other words, if you update your house to reduce energy waste then over time you can save a lot of money on energy bills. I found a helpful infographic that showed how some of this technology pays for itself then saves you money over the long run.

In fact, that research reminded me that I can make small investments that could make a difference. For example, I never thought about getting smart power strips. I use tons of power strips in my home already. Smart power strips monitor energy usage and turn the power off when it’s not in use. That could be really convenient. It could save energy. I like the green aspect of saving energy in addition to the fact that it helps me save money.

A smart thermostat is another really popular device in smart homes. It seems to also pay for itself in terms of quickly offering cost-effective energy savings. Of course, one could argue that simply setting your own thermostat to appropriate temperatures would achieve the same effect. So it’s not that we need the technology to save energy, necessarily, but it might be a small investment to make doing so more convenient.

Convenient Technology Doesn’t Necessarily Save Money

Some of the other technology in smart homes doesn’t seem like it pays off, though. For example, that same infographic shows details about smart refrigerators. A smart refrigerator can actually show you when items are about to go bad. Arguably, you might then use more of your food in time, and not wasting it could save you money. But it doesn’t save you that much. According to the infographic, it takes thirty years for a smart refrigerator to pay for itself. That’s before you would even start saving money thanks to it. Technology often needs frequent updates and repairs so it’s unlikely you’d keep that refrigerator much longer than thirty years (if you even make it that long).

Will I Invest In Smart Home Technology?

So, here’s what it boils down to … it doesn’t make financial sense for me to buy most types of smart technology for my home. The things that are most fun and add convenience generally cost more than they save. However, there might be a few small changes (smart power strips, smarter lighting) that could actually save me money in the long run. I don’t need them. It’s not something I’m going to get at this time. But as the technology keeps changing, I’ll keep reviewing the costs and benefits. It may make sense for me to look at smart homes again in the future.

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