Best Apps to Help You Save Money and Invest Wisely

Personal finances are very important and not something many people like to discuss. Saving money and investing responsibility can help ensure you are prepared for the future. In a time where apps and technology rule our lives wouldn’t you think there are options that we can download to our mobile phones that will help in this area?

Well, there are several. But what ones can you trust and what ones are junk? After all personal finances and investing is serious stuff. Good finances contribute to living a healthy lifestyle, so it’s wise to pay attention to them. Here are some app recommendations that you can check out to assist you.

Stash

This app is for those who want to invest, yet have little money to put into the market. Many assume you have to have access to large sums of money to get involved in the market, but that just isn’t the case.

“Not everyone is going to have a lot of money to invest,” says Marc L Montgomery, DDS at Montgomery Dental Care, provider of the best types of cosmetic dentistry, “and even if you did, you need to learn how it works before you put your hard earned money into something you aren’t quite familiar with.”

Stash allows you to play the market with small amounts of money. We you beak, learn how it works and don’t be afraid to lose a bit. It can teach you a lot.

Digit

This app uses AI to determine what you can afford to save each month, then pulls that from your checking account to your Digit account. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. The app handles it all.

“When you first set it up you tell them what you are comfortable with and it works around that,” says Andrew Tran of Therapy Blanket. There are also safeguards in place to ensure that your account is never overdrawn or bounces. This is all built into the software.”

The one downside is that you have to have an account with them, as the money pulled from your checking account goes into a Digit savings account.

Acorns

This popular app takes your purchases and rounds up, and over time this adds up. It’s one of the most celebrated personal finance and saving apps, as the media has given it a lot of airtime.

“I like this app,” says April Gillmore  of ClickFirst Marketing. “Let’s say you buy a coffee and it’s $3.78. The app rounds up, takes $4 from your account, paying for the coffee and then putting the extra 22 cents into your Acorn account. It may not seem like a lot, but over time this adds up and over the course of years it can be a significant amount of savings.”

Robinhood

Probably one of the most popular options, as it allows you to place free trades and track your stocks. This is the number one investing and stock apps among the Millennial crowd.

“There are many users that use this app simply to track stocks, even if they don’t use Robinhood for their trades, even though they should look into it,” advises Oliver James, CEO of PWD, Perth’s leading web design agency. ”Their fees are free and when you compare it to what some broker sites charge — around $9 to $15 per trade — you will see there is real value here.”

The name alone has caused this app to go viral, as ‘Robinhood’ is a great play on their whole ‘trade free’ concept.

Credit Karma

This is a credit monitoring service, and it will give you your credit scores for free. This is important says Finance Fox, because if you don’t keep track of your credit then you could potentially put yourself into a bad place down the line, and one that isn’t even necessarily your fault.

You have to constantly monitor your personal credit,” says Tad Thomas of injury attorneys firm Thomas Law Offices. “Not because you are irresponsible, but because your personal information is always at risk of being hacked and used to open accounts in your name. A service like Credit Karma will alert you anytime there is activity on your credit reports.”

SmartyPig

This is a virtual piggy bank that is a tool you can use to help you save. No AI or magic done-for-you technology, but it gives you full control to make decisions based on suggestions.

“This free app doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as other options, but it’s a great free app that makes you think about saving,” says Chris Moberg of IKEA mattress review site Slumber Search. “You have to do the actual saving, but having an app like this is a good reminder. Think of it like a personal training app. You have to do the actual work — it’s just there to motivate you.

Tip Yourself

Imagine you go out to eat and you tip your server, but what about you? Well, now you can. Anytime you want.

“This is just a convenient way to move money into your savings, small amounts at a time,” explains Karen Anderson of The Probate Law House, where they explain that most banks will require a grant of probate. “A lot of people will shy away from making one large lumpsum transfer into a savings account, but they will make several smaller ones.”

At the end of the month it may yield the same results, but the person is able to reach that number because they are doing it in what they feel is tiny little amounts, but what they end up doing is tricking their mind. So, if you need to trick yourself to save more, then so be it.