The majority of people in society, readily agree that it’s important for everybody to nurture ideal money-saving habit. The idea of saving money for future use has been supported for a long time- even before most of us were born. You’ll agree that there are several advantages attached to an individual’s ability to save out of every money that they get. This is probably the reason why a good number of parents started early, on teaching their kids the importance of saving. It is quite common to hear people talk from experience, on how they were able to meet severe financial needs, from the proceeds of their savings. You would have heard the popular phrase which suggests that it’s essential to save up money, for the rainy days.
Importantly, saving money allows you the opportunity to do other things at convenience. Asides the urgent needs that may arise, there are other acknowledged ways by which your savings can help you lead a better life for yourself and the people that matter to you.
However, here comes the problem;
The practice of saving money as it were, is not as easy as it sounds. A lot of people would relate to the fact that they are not able to meet up with their saving goals because they spent up to the monies before it was gathered. Sometimes, saving can be quite difficult and it may necessarily require some extra efforts or facilitating means before you can successfully save money over some time.
Irrespective of what your spending tendencies are, the ultimate goal is to be able to keep away money that you don’t touch, for a period of time. There are different reasons why people cannot save, and if you want to start saving money, then you must be able to overcome the reasons that had or could hinder you from doing so. According to money experts- who have studied people’s behavior towards money and spending, the final solution to poor saving habits is a framework that actually helps the individual carry out the saving activities.
This is the reason why the various savings apps that have been developed, are continually gaining popularity amongst intending savers. As of now, saving apps seems to be the most effective framework that helps people overcome some of the difficulties associated with their intentions to save. There are general ways by which these apps achieve this, although their working methods may differ significantly.
Before using just any saving app out there, it is advisable to look at the different saving app options that there are, and see which one is designed to meet more of your needs.
The best apps for saving money in 2019
The following are some five selected best apps that could reasonably help you save money, in this current year. Note that others have been released, but these ones are amongst those that have gotten the top reviews:
- Acorns
If you’re looking for that effective money-saving app that works well for all possible category of earners and spenders, then Acorns™ may just be your best shot. The app has been in operation for a while and has successfully served over 3.8 million users on their saving goals.
The app makes use of an ingenious saving method, where it gathers up the change from every transaction you make. What happens is that, if you’re buying goods that worth amounts that are not rounded up to the nearest whole number, Acorns does the rounding up by helping you save the excess on it. Hence, if for instance, you bought a bag of cookies for $9.46, Acorns saves the 54 cents that were left to balance up to $10.
Asides this saving method, users may also make manual inputs of the amounts they’re ready to safe at any time. These amounts then get deducted from their regular accounts and credited to their Acorns’ account. Note that the app gives different bonus packages to users, and may even help you invest the funds that you have with them.
- Chime Bank
Unlike your other regular banks with their enormous charges and fees, Chime bank does your savings with ease and very reduced fees on the user. Although a little of its operations resemble those of the regular banks, Chime bank provides users with a wider variety of value-added advantages. After signing up on this virtual bank, Chime bank sends you a debit card that can be used for your everyday transactions. You may subsequently set a percentage that you wish to save, on all money deposits on the card.
Just like Acorns, users may also decide to save the roundup change on all of their transactions, over time. When you do this, Chime gives you a 10% bonus on your roundup balances, at the end of every month.
- Qapital
Did you know that those little change on your transactions, can also add up to something big that finances your projects and goals? Qapital makes you see the reality in it, using its impressive saving framework. Usually, it happens that people underestimate those little change on their transactions, and this is what Qapital helps you leverage on.
Once you’ve successfully added your bank cards to Qapital, the platform sucks up all the change left from your transactions, unto your dedicated account on the platform.
According to existing users, this has helped them safe petty huge sums, after a long period of time- even without them feeling the impacts of the deducted sums. Hence, if you have a project to execute in the distant future, another effective way to save towards it, maybe to install the Qapital app.
- Clarity Money
The Clarity Money app is another top-notch money-saving app, that lets you in on detailed analysis of your spending curves, and how you too can become a great saver. It's working methods are significantly similar to those as presented by the Trim™ app. Hence, you can let it manage your subscriptions, carry out bill negotiations on your behalf, and push for the cancellation of your high-end subscriptions.
You can also automate specific percentages or definite sums on your accounts, which are sent directly to your Clarity Money savings. This is one important money-saving app that has regularly helped a lot of people save certain percentages of their incomes, as well as cut costs on service bills.
The general benefits of using money-saving apps
If you’re not sure whether the money-saving apps are just right for you, then you may want to know what you stand to gain, when you use one. Generally, the following are just three functions of a money-saving app:
- They help users cut down on their bills
Those money-saving apps that have been designed to help you monitor and cut down on your spending, may turn out to be quite an asset. With these, your expenses are put in check, and you’ll discover how much saving improvements you’re able to make after a while.
The good part of this is that the apps help you make surveys of less expensive products and services that correlate with your regular needs, and implements them for you. Thus, even if you’re the type with a busy schedule or who do not take the time to weigh market options, the apps ensure you’re not missing out- by finding you the deals that suit you. In essence, this means that you could still he saving huge, without taking out or necessarily streamlining any of the product or service items on your regular lists.
- Saving apps saves time and provides you more value-added services
If you’re going to save money in a bank account, you may necessarily need to open an account for this purpose. This would enable you to set aside such accounts solely for your targeted saving purposes alone. Before your account can be opened, however, you may need to do some paperwork here and there, and there might be other expenses involved. All of these look like too much work, and this is consequently the reason why some people don’t have dedicated savings accounts- and are thus not effectively saving.
These excuses are largely removed with the saving apps however, as users can easily install the applications on their devices within minutes, and use it from there. On another hand, there are usually lesser charges and fees to pay on the saving apps, as against the use of a regular account. Since the saving apps are dedicated saving tools, they may also provide you with insights and important analytics that would help you achieve your saving goals.
- Savings apps offer incentives to their users
Another reason to use the best apps for saving is the fact that they give incentives to people who save on them. Sometimes, these apps may state conditions for which you become eligible to partake of their own freebies and bonuses. For instance, some apps may reward users for saving up to certain amounts in a specified number of days, while others may rewards users for their referral efforts.
Asides the fact that you’re saving up some cash for your future use, there’s always something worthwhile to work towards when you use these apps.
- They help users efficiently keep funds away and plan for the future
Another importance of the saving app is the fact that it serves as some form of a savings account for the users. Hence, they’ll diligently help you keep away your money, until the time you have specified to use it.
However, the beneficial aspect of this is the fact that unlike your regular accounts- where there are largely no restricting conditions, saving apps provides certain restrictions on the funds. This help makes sure that the owner of the funds, stays diligent and disciplined in their saving tasks. For instance, some apps may stipulate strict penalties on withdrawals made before a deadline. This makes it easier for savers to set long term goals, with an increased likelihood of achieving them.
- Some saving apps help you invest and provides returns
Many times, you’ll find out that a number of money-saving apps don’t just stop at pilling up your cash, but also putting them in ventures that bring you returns. This means that as you’re having the reserves for the rainy days, you’re also increasing the sums.
On average, most of the best apps for saving money offers users reasonable deals- at least better than what is obtainable with the commercial banks. However, note that there are usually terms and conditions that determine how the company gives returns, so you may find the offers to be quite juicy on one app, and not so juicy on another.
In the end, it is expected that your saving app helps you start saving, or helps you save more- depending on what you aim to achieve. You can always make an evaluation of the progress you’re making, and subsequently, switch apps- if the current one you’re using is not bringing the results. With the best apps for saving money, everyone should be able to always boast of some savings for their future goals, or for very important expenses.
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