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I swear one of the hardest things to do in life is to save money. It’s easy to spend $5 on a latte at Starbucks, but for some unknown reason I have an issue with forking over $5 to a savings account. Anybody hear me on that?
In this generation, we rely on our phones for almost everything. They give us connection to others (social media, calling, texting), our cameras, and they offer apps for almost any purpose you could possibly think of.
Since there are millions of apps out there to choose from, it only makes sense that there have to be apps that help us in the most basic of ways– like saving money.
Here are some of the best apps that I’ve found for easy ways to save money.
Ready to start saving with apps?
1. Qapital
This is a personal favorite of mine and one that I used to use every single day. It’s simple, creative, and 100% free.
(Update 10/21/19: Qapital is now a paid app, $3 a month for basic or $6 a month for complete, I’ve since switched over to Digit).
You can create savings goals and save through creating rules when you use your debit/credit cards. An example of a rule to save would be if you “rounded up” to the nearest dollar on every purchase on the card or account you have set up.
Ready to sign up for Qapital? Sign up under my referral link and you’ll get $5 for FREE, click here to sign up!
Examples of rules that I’ve created: the round-up rule mentioned above as well as my “guilty pleasure” rule. In this instance, I save $1 every time that I cave and purchase anything from Starbucks (oops, guilty).
Related: Ways to Make Money from Home
2. Digit
Digit is a smart app. You connect your bank account and it automatically analyzes your spending habits in order to save you money based on what is still in your account. That way, if you are spending less, Digit will save more, but if you are spending more, digit will save less. Also, if you don’t have a lot in your account it will take out cents to save rather than larger amounts.
I’ve saved over $120 already in only a month!
Digit is free for a trial period, but it’s $2.99/month after that, which is a downfall for many in taking advantage of this service.
3. Acorns
Acorns mixes saving and investing, unlike the other two mentioned above. It’s similar to Qapital in that it links to your debit/credit card(s) and “rounds-up” on purchases in order to save that money and then invest it for you. There are other rules that you can add in this app as well, although I think it’s more straightforward rules-based and less creative than Qapital.
Acorns has also partnered with several companies to give you “cash-back” options of 10% based on regular purchases with these said companies. I made over $15 in one month by signing up for various services that I already used or needed.
This app is the perfect choice if you’re interested in the investing side of saving. Acorns takes your data and transforms it into a recommended portfolio based on your preferences.
The downfall to Acorns is the $1/month fee for service. This becomes 0.25% of balances per year for accounts with over $5,000.
Related: 10 Reasons you aren’t saving Money
I know I said only 3 apps, but I figured I’d throw in a bonus just for good measure. 😉
4. Ibotta
What kind of list would I have here if I didn’t include the cash-back savings app Ibotta? I discovered this through a friend who told me that she took pictures of receipts, added offers to her queue and earned cash-back almost instantly!
The beauty of Ibotta is that you can save money on groceries or purchases that you’re already making. You don’t have to go out of your way to do anything that you don’t normally do, with the exception of adding in the step of checking Ibotta for cash back offers.
You can save money on groceries, retail items, alcohol (seriously) and more! There are even bonuses offered throughout the month, whether it be referral bonuses or specific purchases to make in order to redeem. The typical user makes around $20-25 in their first month.
Click here to get your $10 referral bonus for cash back app Ibotta and start saving money with your everyday purchases! Think of it like the cooler way to cut coupons. And hey, it won’t make you rich but it’s $20-25 more than what you would have had if you weren’t using it!
What now?
The more automated your savings becomes, the more likely you are to actually save. I’d recommend that you try each of these for a trial period and get a feel for which works the best for you and then stick with it!
Sure you can save money on your own but these apps let you do that in a more calculated and consistent way. You won’t rely on your own self-discipline to manage your money, but rather on algorithms and technology to make sure you do what you say you want to do.
Have you used any of these savings apps before? If so, what has your experience been?