These days, financial management is as important a topic as personal health management and self-care. The truth is we live in challenging times, with many businesses and individuals facing financial difficulties. This can be because of their own decisions or simply the economy and unforeseen circumstances like a global pandemic.
Is there a way you can get out of the cycle of financial hardships? Saving money can be an excellent start!
Luckily, as much as there are challenges, there are also resources and tech solutions for most issues people face. So, how much do you know about turning these resources into YOUR solutions?
For money matters, it can take something as simple as your PC or mobile device, because
money-saving apps are freely available. And they can help you in creative ways. Here are the best of them for the 2021 consumer or business leader.
1. Swagbucks
On the Swagbucks platform, your shopping becomes much smarter, so you’ll save extensive amounts on your monthly expenses. Via the app, you’ll find exclusive offers. The bonus is, it’s on everyday items. So, buying your groceries or clothes now becomes a money-saving activity. Best of all, you save in the form of the cash paid back to you or gift cards at the completion of an order, rather than waiting to redeem points. They’ve partnered with thousands of your favourite bands and there’s even a browser extension to make sure you never miss a deal.
What can You Save?
You can earn a $10 welcome bonus to start.
Since 2008, Swagbucks has paid back more than $614 million to its clients.
Get it Here Browser extension iOS
2. Raiz
With Raiz, it’s like having your own personal financial advisor and banker. It can manage money by setting aside a part of your paycheck and give you advice on managing your finances. A handy saving feature is rounding up each purchase and saving that difference as part of your investments. You save effortlessly and automatically, so there’s no chance of spending what you should be saving.
What can You Save?
While creating an account has some fees attached, for example $3.50 each month and 0.272%/yr, if you’re not a natural saver or are looking for a way to enter the stock market as a beginner than a tool like Raiz could be a great option. You won’t even notice it but check your records and within months you can save up and invest hundreds of dollars, depending on what you spend your money on.
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3. Parkhound
Parking, especially in Australia’s major cities, can quickly become a significant expense. Especially if you’re driving to work each day, or needing parking near your university. What starts off at $30 a day, quickly adds up to become upwards of a thousand dollars. That right there could be the difference between you and your next holiday, and Parkhound is here to help. Parkhound is an app and a website that is essentially the Airbnb of parking. They match you up with locals who have a spare garage, driveway or car space right where you need parking, helping you save up to 60% on traditional parking alternatives. If you’re needing reliable and convenient options for parking Melbourne, parking Sydney or parking Perth then Parkhound is well worth trying out.
What can You Save?
You can save up to $400 a month when compared with other traditional monthly parking options. Not to mention, if you have a spare garage or driveway of your own you could start earning up to
$450 a month and listing is free.
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4. Goodbudget
Often, the key to saving weekly is simply tracking your money more effectively. Goodbudget does this efficiently, while you experience it as effortlessly.
What can You Save?
There’s a free version and the app tracks debt, so you’re empowered with information to pay off debt faster.
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5. Australian Taxation Office
If you’re anything like most Aussies, when it comes around to tax time each year it can be incredibly difficult to remember what you’ve spent throughout the year that could be classed as a deductible. With more and more people working from home there are even more relevant expenses that you might be able to claim, including office equipment, internet bills, stationery and more.
Saving these as you go with the ‘My Deductibles’ section of the ATO app means that by the time it comes around to doing your tax, everything is in one place and you can quickly work out how much you are owed manually, rather than going for the automatic rate and risking losing out on thousands.
This will depend greatly on how much you’ve spent on relevant items throughout the year but claiming each item individually has the potential to save you thousands when compared to opting for the default tax-back rate on working from home deductibles.
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6. Pocketbook
Pocketbook is another budgeting app to consider. Its advanced design can track everything from your credit cards and super to investments.
What can You Save?
A handy feature is that the app tells you when a subscription—or subscriptions—increased. You may not want to pay more for some of them, but you don’t always keep an eye on the details, right? Now the app does it for you, so you can cancel when you’re spending more than you planned to.
Also get reminders for payments, so you save on those late payment fees you often incur.
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7. Honey
Coupons are amazing, but who has the time to look for them? Honey does it for you by scouring the net on your behalf. You can simply go about your usual shopping—groceries, fast food or clothing—and Honey notifies you when there’s a relevant voucher available.
What can You Save?
The app is free to use and you’ll earn even more in cashback offers if you register with Honey as a user, rather than just using the extension anonymously.
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8. Car Next Door
Your car is likely one of the biggest expenses you have. Between insurance, green slips, petrol and general maintenance it can quickly creep up into a big chunk of cash. For those who don’t use their car regularly enough to justify this expense it may be time to look into the switch to a car-free life.
If that is the car, car next door is a great platform to still help you get around cheaply and efficiently. With car rentals starting at $5 an hour or $25 a day, if you’re only making a handful of trips a month this change could be well worth it!
If you decide to try out a car-free life you could be looking at saving over $10,000 a year, even after taking into account the extra ride fars for services like Uber or Car Next Door.
Get it Here
Time to Enjoy that Extra Cash!
Yes, apps that save you money could be the key to having a less stressful 2021 from now on. With the solution in the palm of your hand, it will also be easier to keep to your smart decision making and form new habits where needed.
Here’s to a future that will be less financially daunting and much healthier!
