Words by Daniel Mitchell
For young folks, saving money can be pretty damn hard – but luckily, there are plenty of good apps for saving money.
For young folks, saving money can be pretty damn hard – but luckily, there are plenty of good apps
For young people starting out, saving money can be a problem – and given the increase in inflation and just about everything else, it’s only getting harder. Still, where there’s a will, there’s a way. In the age of innovation, there are few things technology can’t solve. Whether it’s self-autonomous cars or automatic vacuum cleaners, a bit of tech can go a long way.
And the same is true when it comes to saving money. These are the top 5 apps for saving:
1. Monzo
Everyone, it seems, has a Monzo card – and that’s probably not an accident. The company is famous for its less than formal pink card. It’s also famous, mind you, for its legion of funny, sweet-talking social media assistants. Branded as the go-to bank for any young person, they’ve made an effort to solve the issues their target customers face. On saving, there are plenty of neat tricks to help you track spending. First, there’s the category breakdown (transport, bills, food, etc), allowing you to get an understanding of where your cash is going – and how to make some better choices (seriously, just get a railcard, will ya?). Second, there’s the app’s ease of use, making everything fairly seamless and simple.
Breakdown of costs, advice on how to spend better – and a shiny pink card to go with it. What’s not to like?
2. Plum
Everyone likes a plum. The fruit, that is. And in truth, most people like Plum the bank, too. Like Monzo, plum understands its market (mainly young people) fairly well. For starters, you have your own chatbot, a sort of virtual money assistant, helping you get to grips with your spending habits. In addition, there’s an array of fun features to like. Powered by artificial intelligence, the app is capable of figuring out how much you can afford to save – meaning there’s very little you have to do.
3. Chip
For those after a more light-hearted way of banking, Chip does the job well. With built-in analytics, the app’s able to your bank transactions, automatically saving spare change and excess funds (according to your settings, of course). In addition, encouraging features such as ‘PayDay Put Away’ and ‘Save Streaks’ make the app a fun place to save money.
4. Moneybox
“Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves” is advice given by most grandparents – and if you didn’t listen, the people at Moneybox did. Their offer is pretty simple: they’ll round up your pennies on purchases to the nearest pound, helping you scoop up extra savings.
Take the purchase of the water bottle at £1.15, for example. Moneybox will automatically round that up to £2 – and save the 85p for you. Simple, neat, and pretty damn effective.
5. Raisin
Raisin connects you with a variety of banks that are ‘Raisin interest rates by an extra 1%! Can the competitive high street banks match this or will they have to sit out this round? Raisin connects you with a variety of banks who are Raisin’ (I’ll see myself out) interest rates by an extra 1%. With Raisin’s fairly easy-to-use service, you’ll be in a good position to make money from your money. For those with endless savings accounts, the app gives you the ability to manage them all under one roof. Add a £50 welcome bonus to the deal and it’s obvious they’re ‘Raisin’ the bar (Okay, I’ll stop).