This Genius Start-Up Helps You Save for That Gucci Bag You're Eyeing

Saving money is a skill to be learned. And while yes, it's possible to throw coins into your piggy bank (and it does add up quickly, to be honest), it can be hard to save up large sums when you take into account everything we have to pay for on a day-to-day basis. So it can seem quite an impossible feat to actually put aside money for, say, that Gucci bag you've had your eye on. Enter Reel, a new L.A.-based startup that does the work—i.e., the saving— for you, making it possible to purchase an investment piece sans racking up serious credit card debt.

Reel is all about "guilt-free shopping," and per its website, helps you save up for the items you want, allowing you to "buy with savings" not credit. Intrigued yet? We definitely were. So we went straight to the mastermind behind the idea—Daniela Corrente, CEO of Reel—and asked her about everything from what spurred this business model to the most popular items "Reelers" are saving up for.

Corrente's experiences with credit cards (and the consequences of over-swiping) prompted her to "create a way to make saving simple and fun, and buy what [she] wanted without feeling trapped by debt." And simple it is indeed.

All you have to do to is sign up for Reel, search through its database for the product you eventually want to purchase, and set up a savings plan (noting how much money you want to save up daily or weekly). Then you can link your bank account to your Reel profile to allow the app to automatically set aside the specified amount, track your savings toward the item, and once you've reached the full amount, Reel will place the order for you. 

Corrente explained that in order to purchase an item that costs around $500, Reelers should expect to save up for about six to nine weeks, adding that it depends on how much someone chooses to set aside.

"If you think about it, by just stashing away $5 a day, you could get there pretty quickly," she shared with us. "So Reelers save within the $5 to $10 a day range. More importantly, we are super flexible, you can change the item you are saving for, pause it at any time, and resume it once [you] are ready to keep going." 

Of course, we had to ask about the number one item people are "Reeling." Corrente explained, "Our Reelers are savvy, hardworking women who want to look amazing, yet they want to do it smartly, so definitely fashion is the number one category." She added, "By far designer handbags are our number one… Gucci is our best seller so far—looks like the Gucci fever is all around us these days." Now, head to Reel to start saving for your dream purchase today.