The irony of a New Year’s resolution is that although it takes a lot of thought, people rarely stick to their goal. In fact, a 2021 Finder survey of over 1,000 Australians revealed that 83% of respondents had set a new year’s resolution ahead of 2021. Financial resolutions were the second most popular after health and fitness goals with 42% of respondents wanting to increase their savings or reduce their spending.
Most of us have our phones on us at all times, so what better way to keep track of your new year’s resolutions than with a simple app on your mobile device. We give you 4 apps to help you stick to your 2022 goals.
- Budgeting and expense tracker: Pocketbook
If one of your new year’s resolutions is to cut back on spending or to spend smarter, Pocketbook available on iOS and Google Play will allow you to see exactly where your hard-earned funds have been heading. Pocketbook allows you to securely link your multiple bank accounts to track all your money in just one place. It works by listing your spending and placing it into categories, give or take a few ‘unclassified’ that you can then sort yourself manually.
- Avoid late fees: Get Reminded
Life gets busy, the days get away from us and then suddenly we’re two weeks late paying out mobile bill with a tonne of late fees to follow. Get Reminded is an app, available on Google Play and the app store, that claims it can save families $3,000 per year on their household bills by sending them early reminders and encouraging them to switch providers. Users enter their renewal payment date for subscriptions, mortgage repayments, household bills such as energy, car registration and more and are then reminded when contracts are set to expire. They also inform you of how much money you could be saving if you went with a cheaper deal from a competitor in the same space, saving you even more money and allowing you to get the best value, avoiding loyalty tax.
- Save more money: Shopback
Most of us online shop due to its convenience of being able to purchase on the go and how much time it saves. Shopback is an app available on iOS, Google Play and as an online web app that allow you to make money back on your purchases when you shop through the app. Buying is inevitable no matter how much you budget and cut down your expenses and spending money is a fact of life, however receiving a percentage back on each purchase is like having a constant discount at your fingers. The cash that is accumulates from your purchases can be withdrawn into your bank account as a payment. Simply search the retailer on the Shopback app and proceed to their website through the platform.
- Stay on top of your tax return: ATO
Getting to tax time and realising you’re missing a whole lot of deductible receipts over the financial year, can’t remember how many donations you made or have lost track of your work expenses causes panic and stress. The ATO app allows you to record and track your deductions through the myDeductions feature such as car trips and work-related expenses throughout the year whilst also accessing the ATO provided tools and calculators.
