This is a guest post.
To make the most out of our hard-earned money it pays to be able to budget and manage it effectively. There are more apps and online tools available than ever before that make it easy to plan and save. Here are 5 tools I use to organise my finances that I would recommend to any of my readers.
Cash Lady Loan Affordability Calculator
Cash Lady are an award winning credit broker and their blog provides great insight on how to manage your finances. I use their Loan Affordability Calculator which allows you to plan out your money before you commit to taking out a short term loan. You simply input your salary, along with your outgoings, such as rent, mortgage, utility bills and council tax, and it will tell you how much you will be able to afford. This makes it easier to apply for a loan as you can apply for an amount the lender is more likely to agree to.
Mint app
The Mint app has been around for some time now and is also one of the most popular. I recommend it because it makes life extremely easy for users, doing most of the hard work for you. It works in real time so you get a clear idea of what is being spent by putting transactions into different categories. You can create your own categories, while also tracking bills, setmaximum budget alerts and breakdown how you spend any cash taken out of the ATM. On top of that, you also get a free credit score so you can track that too.
Money Dashboard
If you have a current and savings account, along with any credit cards, the Money Dashboard app allows you to see them all in one place. This makes it much easier to keep on top of money coming into your accounts, and where it is being spent. There is a budget planner feature that allows you to update your monthly limits based on the previous month’s expenditure. It currently supports up to 60 different financial providers, so finding a way for it to work for you shouldn’t be a problem.
Moneyhub
Moneyhub also enables you to combine your various accounts, while also adding any investment funds you may have. All of the usual spending limits can be put in place, while providing helpful analysis on what your money has been spent on. It will also let you know if there are any better deals available for regular payments that are going out of your account. Their ‘Find Advisor’ feature is pretty unique, as it connects you with professional financial advisors if required, and if you allow it, will also share your data with them to use to help you.
Chip
If you don’t trust yourself to be disciplined enough to put aside money to save, then let the Chip app do it for you. The way it works couldn’t be simpler. Chip connects to your current account and it will figure out how much you can afford to save based on your income and spending. The money is then moved from your current account to your savings without having to do a thing. Of course, you still have full control, and can adjust how much is being transferred, as well as pausing and stopping the app anytime you want.
