If you are not using your mobile phone to save money in your daily life, you are missing an excellent opportunity to combine your smartphone habits with good finance habits. These apps are available for most major platforms and most of them are free!
5 Apps To Cut Common Household Expenses
1. Expense Trackers: Expense trackers get a plural entry because there is a plethora available for all platforms, each designed to help people record their expenses or income and manage their budget. The result is a high maintenance app: You have to spend a lot of time with it, but it can make budgeting and controlling expenses much, much easier. Apps like Expenditure, Expensify, and FreshBooks are ideal for iOS platforms and come at a variety of prices. Apps like Expense Manager, Cashbook Expense Tracker, and MoneyWise are similar options for the Android platform. Look for apps that make it easy to record expenses, since the easier the app is to use, the more likely you will be to follow through. Integration with desktop budgeting is another important factor.
2. Mint: Mint.com and its related app offer a variety of financial tools and types of advice. When it comes to saving money, one of the most useful aspects is picking a particular savings goal and forming a plan to meet that goal. Mint will help you keep track of money and encourage you to save month by month. If you want a complete budgeting tool, you can also use the many graphics and planning tools that the app offers to form a complete mobile budget. Mint also links to your bank accounts to automatically update information.
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3. GasBuddy: GasBuddy is an extremely popular app that helps people find the cheapest gas in their area. If you frequently commute in your own car and find that gas is a significant part of your budget, tap into this free app when your tank starts to empty and search for the cheapest gas along your route. GasBuddy saves the most money when you use it aforethought, planning out your route to save the most gas with the least amount of money.
4. RedLaser: Redlaser is both a shopping and a coupon app designed to help people manage their shopping through the latest tech solutions. When shopping, scan barcodes with your phone and the app will show you product information, including any available coupons and the best prices out their. The app also lets you store loyalty cards in a digital format. You can also create your own shopping lists ahead of time for extra strategy – an invaluable tool when it comes meeting budget goals. Even if you do not use RedLaser, at least look for a similar coupon app.
5. Shopkick: Shopkick is a free app, also designed for shopping, that helps you collect shopping rewards. The app works with many major stores, including Target, Old Navy, Exxon, Best Buy, and Macy’s. You bring up the app when you enter a store and use it to scan barcodes and perform similar activities. Every time you use the app, it nets you kickbucks that can eventually earn you coupons and savings – just for common activities you would have done anyway.
Allen Jones is a professional blogger the provides business and personal financial advice and information. He writes for PureChecks.com, the leading source for business checks and personal checks online. [/sociallocker]