Whilst we all have regular direct debits in place, including monthly household bills, unexpected costs can still take us by surprise and throw personal finances into disarray. Whether its a car repair or your hot water boiler decides to call it a day, this extra expense could be hugely damaging. It would be true to say that many of us are in a constant cycle of spending from the moment our wages come in until the next time we are paid. Keeping track of where your money has gone via the use of an iPhone application will allow you to visualise how much money you have spent and where exactly your money has gone.
With the price of goods in the UK increasing, such as fuel, transport, food and electricity, money management applications are becoming increasingly valuable in their own right. As many of them give you a clear breakdown on where your money has gone, you can work out where you need to decrease your monthly spend and the areas you can afford to spend a little more. There are a number of applications available in the Apple online store and you might be asking yourself, which one would be best for me? To help with this question we are going to take a look at some of the best apps to download for your phone in order to help you keep track of your spending.
First up on the list is iWallet. This nifty app allows you to view reports on your spending habits and email them in a PDF format. With this app, like many others available, you need to manually enter the amounts that you spend so that the programme can pull together all of your spending statistics. Currently selling on the Apple store for around 3.00, its a good price and a popular choice for many people.
Another popular choice is MoneyBook, which is easy to use and features an appealing interface. One of the benefits of this application is you dont need to be connected to the Internet in order to use it. MoneyBook features overview, expenses, recurring, and history tabs on the main menu and lets you set a monthly budget so that you can limit your spending in certain areas. If you are looking for an app which is simple but effective to use then this one is a good shout.
Mint is a particularly good app at keeping track of your spending because it will automatically update your transactions without you having to enter the information manually. But how is it able to do this? Well the technology is very clever, as it securely connects directly to your bank account and automatically categorises the transactions for you. If this wasnt enough, the app even sends you an alert when it thinks there is a suspicious transaction coming out of your account.
There are literally hundreds of applications available on the Apple store and it really depends on what you are looking for. You might want an app that is easy to manage and maintain, or you might prefer one that features a report and statistics facility. Whatever your preferences, be sure to have a look at some of the ones mentioned above as they are popular choices for those looking to keep track of their finances. If you find that these apps dont meet your requirements then look online and see if you can find a review of an app that is more likely to suit you. Its all about finding what you want, sticking to your budgets, and watching where your money goes.