Yikes! That is a huge number of Aussies just winging it and not leaving a lot in the bank for a rainy day. We all know the cost of living isn’t getting any cheaper, and in comparison, wages haven’t increased much in the last 5 – 10 years, so with that being said, it is more important than ever to take control of your spending habits so you can actually give yourself a good chance to actually be able to save.
There is no doubt that tracking expenses, saving money and trying to stick to a weekly budget can be hard work. It’s going to mean saying no to some things, like eating out and drinks with friends, but ultimately it is going to mean a lot less stress for you and hopefully in time, set you up for any financial goals you might have in the future! Short term pain, long term gain…
As with most things in life these days there are apps that can help you to get organised, track your expenses easily and help you reach your saving goals faster. Check our favourite budgeting apps to get you well on the way to financial freedom.
Dubbed ‘The Fitness Tracker for your finances’ this app helps you to put your budgeting on autopilot by giving you a daily spend limit that adapts in real-time.
You can input your income, add any fixed expenses you may have and then set your savings goals. The app will then generate your daily spend limit to get you to that savings goal the quickest.
Pros: This app is aimed towards ‘struggling savers’ and will give you help by evaluating your money decisions in real time.
Cons: You must be a UBank member to access the app.
This app tracks all of your expenses and lets you know exactly what you are spending each month. You can set it up to automatically sync data from your bank account to give you a clear overview on where you are spending your money. Once you have a breakdown of where your money goes you can then set a monthly allowance for each type of spend (like travels, bills, food and so forth). You can also set up notifications so the app will flag with you when you’re getting too close to your monthly spending limits.
Pros: This app is a great tool for analysing your spending habits and seeing where exactly you can cut back your spending.
Cons: If you lose the card that is linked to the account, you may also lose the data associated with that card.
by AsicThis app is super easy to use and it allows you to:
- Record your weekly household budget as well as travel and work expenses.
- Separate your ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ and create favourites to view frequent expenses quickly.
- You can also nominate a spending limit, either weekly, fortnightly or monthly depending on your pay cycle.
Pros: This is a simple but effective budgeting tool that is much closer to the spreadsheets you’re probably used to using.
Cons: The app doesn’t link to your bank account so you will have to enter the information manually.
This app helps you save through a variety of methods, once you have linked your bank account the app will then analyse your spending behaviours and identifies opportunities to save you money, such as discount and coupons for your bills. Cool huh?
Pros: You can transfer money between bank accounts using this app.
Cons: So far we couldn’t find any!
Photo by Lilly Rum on Unsplash