Money-saving apps are popping up all over the place – but how do you know which one you should choose? Or even if you should try one at all?
If you find it difficult to build a savings balance, using an app that automatically does it for you can be a good first step. Getting yourself in the habit of regularly putting aside some money — and seeing your balance compound and grow — can put you on track to successfully managing income and expenses.
Check out these seven money-saving apps to see if any resonate with you, how you can use them to the best of their ability and key points on what they offer.
7 Money-Saving Apps You Need to Check Out
1. Qapital
For $3 per month, Qapital offers the option to automate saving rules, but with a twist: customers can create their own saving criteria.
You might, for instance, configure a guilty pleasure rule to have the app deduct money from your savings each time you order takeaway.
Additionally, Qapital can add the change from your purchases, which gets rounded up and deposited to your savings account.
For instance, if you use a debit card to pay for a $4.50 coffee, the app would transfer 50 cents from your checking account to your savings. You can also establish a rule to increase roundups or make a regular, predetermined contribution to your fund.
Additionally, Qapital offers premium memberships that can cost up to $12 per month and come with debit cards and the ability to define investing criteria. To link to Qapital and fund your objectives, you will require a separate checking account. A Qapital account can be withdrawn in one to two business days.
2. Acorns
Acorns will round up your purchases to the next dollar and invest the spare change into a diverse investment portfolio. This is based on your goals, once you’ve linked a debit or credit card to the fintech app. A recurrent transfer into Acorns can also be set up.
A basic Acorns account, which contains a checking, investment, and retirement account, costs $3 per month. (If you add investment accounts for children, there is an additional $5 monthly charge option.)
Exchange-traded funds, which are often a basket of stocks and bonds, make up each Acorns portfolio.
Options range from cautious (having a larger percentage of bonds) to aggressive (having a higher percentage of equities). Portfolios of companies that adhere to environmental, social, and governance standards are also available.
3. Digit
Based on your spending and income trends in a connected bank account, Digit determines how much you can save.
Then it deposits whatever additional funds you have into an account covered by the FDIC.
You can select:
- a safe savings level, which is a minimum checking account balance necessary before transfers are conducted
- or a limited daily amount to transfer from your external bank account
Every three months, you’ll receive a 0.10% annualized savings incentive, based on the average daily balance maintained in your Digit account.
When you sign up for Digit, the first six months are free. After that, it costs $5 per month.
4. Chime
Since its debut in 2014, the digital-only company Chime has attracted millions of customers. It provides bank accounts with a variety of automatic saving capabilities.
You can set up a rule for Chime to transfer a certain amount of your paycheck into savings if you direct deposit to your Chime account. To increase savings, there is also a round-up option available.
The annual percentage yield (APY) of the Chime savings account is significantly higher than the national average. (2% vs. 0.23%)
Since Chime isn’t officially a bank, it doesn’t store your bank deposits like other challenger banks do. The Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank, two FDIC-insured partner banks, are in charge of holding customer funds.
Both Google Play and the App Store have many positive reviews for the Chime app. You can set up automated savings rules and have daily account balance notifications sent to you.
5. Current
Current is a fintech company that offers a variety of financial health tools through a mobile banking app.
Customers can create “pods” (now known as savings goals) to automatically save money aside for the goals of their choice, such as a vacation or a rainy day fund. A direct transfer of funds into your savings pods is also possible.
Savings pod deposits earn a very competitive rate on balances up to $2,000 per pod. Choice Financial Group, a bank with FDIC insurance, offers banking services. The program also allows users to trade cryptocurrencies without paying any commissions.
6. Mint
The Mint money-saving app organizes and monitors your accounts, all in one place.
You can connect all of your different bank and credit card accounts and any loans and investments you may have.
With Mint’s program, you may view a complete financial image, giving you a better understanding of how to manage your funds. Additionally, you may set up specific reminders so that you never forget to pay a payment and keep an eye on any subscriptions you may have.
Even if one of your regular subscriptions increases in price, you can get a notification.
7. You Need a Budget (YNAB)
You may create a budget and keep track of your spending using You Need a Budget (YNAB).
You do this by allocating the money that is currently in your bank account to several budget categories. This method of setting your savings goals aids in maintaining your budget. Every cent in your account has been tracked and given a job.
You can only categorize funds that are already in your bank account through the app. You’ll be able to assign jobs to the new cash on your upcoming payday.
You have the ability to integrate outside accounts, credit cards, and loans in the app so that it can automatically include them in your spending plan. Those who don’t want to link their external accounts can manually enter their balance data.
YNAB asserts that users save an average of $600 in the first two months and more than $6,000 in the first year after starting to use it.
Bonus recommendation: Truist Long Game
Truist Long Game aims to divert some of the money that would have been used to purchase items like lottery tickets to savings.
Users can sign up with partner banks using the app and earn cash rewards for making savings. To achieve goals, users can play games to earn money and finish savings missions.
The software also allows you to obtain advice on how to save money and build up personal financial objectives.
Are You Ready to Try a Money-Saving App?
Using a money-saving app can definitely help you pay more attention to your finances, and even teach you a thing or two. They can also give you more confidence that you know what is happening to your money, which is a barrier for a lot of people.
However, the successful results from using a savings app will be difficult to achieve if you don’t change your behavior and attitudes regarding money as well!
While a savings app can help you set money aside, there are no restrictions on how you can withdraw or access your money. As such, developing the discipline to save money is still more important than using a money-saving app.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash