You probably remember the term “rounding up” from your classroom days in math. Now, it’s become a creative and typically painless way to save money – so much so that some banks offer it as a service. There is also no shortage of apps that automate the rounding up process for you, and some will even take the difference and invest it for you.

How rounding up works

If you make a purchase at a grocery store for $37.75, your bank will “round up” that amount to $38. You can then manually move the additional $0.25 into your savings account or your bank may automatically do it for you.

Does rounding up really make a difference?

Depending on your purchasing habits, the amounts each month may not be significant, but it is an easy way to build savings and even investments over time. Some credit cards also allow you to round up your purchases, or you can select the types of purchases to have rounded up automatically. Combining both your debit and credit card purchases can accelerate your savings for emergencies or to put towards your investment accounts.

Some institutions have apps or programs that allow you to pre-select either a dollar amount increase for rounding up of your debit card purchases, or a percentage of each purchase, for increased savings. In sum, unless you’re a person who likes to strictly adhere to tracking exact purchase amounts, there is really no downside to saving up, by rounding up!