Let’s face it; money doesn’t grow on trees. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to save money, maybe because we don’t worry enough about unexpected expenses. Fortunately, a couple of great apps are made to help individuals learn how to effectively manage their money so that they do not end up digging for spare change between the sofa cushions a few days before payday.
From budgeting to investing to credit score monitoring, these tools help individuals understand their finances and make smart financial decisions. With that in mind, here are several best tools to help you save money online.
Rakuten
Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten is an online application that helps users save on cash while shopping online. Unlike most online shopping tools, Rakuten is people’s favorite as it does not look for coupon codes. Instead, it helps users earn rewards in the form of rebates. Their partnership with Target enables users to get a cash rebate on their total bill without necessarily logging into Target’s website.
While you may occasionally find coupons in Rakuten, it is primarily a free online deals site that enables users to get cashback on purchases. It works with approximately 2000 plus retailers, and users can earn up to 40% back on purchases. Unfortunately, the rebates are only paid out quarterly.
Capital One Shopping
This is a free computer and laptop extension which helps users save on cash. Capital one shopping is unique in operation as it allows users to see or find available active coupon codes whenever they are shopping online. The extension will help you explore better product deals and promo codes from other online stores immediately after adding products to your online shopping cart.
Surprisingly, capital one shopping is free of charge. It is unbelievable that the extension features a space for users to find universal products, an alert system that informs users of price drops, and not forgetting that it automatically sends users to retailers selling the selected items at a lower price. On the downside, Capital One Shopping doesn’t offer a cash-back option.
Digit
Most people can’t seem to save money no matter how hard they try. If you are one of the people who fall under this category, why not let someone else do it for you? Digit is an efficient digital application that monitors your income and spending habits, takes some of the money, and hides it in a savings account every few days. Unfortunately, there is a $5 monthly fee attached to Digit.
Users should, therefore, be sure to weigh if the investment is worth using their service to save money.
Personal Capital
Personal capital is arguably the best overall money app. It is a free tool that enables subscribers to track their spending, income, bank accounts, crypto, and retirement investment accounts. Its best features center around investing. The platform also offers a wealth of data about the portfolio for users who have connected their retirement and investing accounts. Such data enables them to analyze their asset allocation and investing costs and track their progress towards retirement.
Users can also benefit from personal capital’s Fee Analyzer, a feature that shows them the weighted average cost of their investments and how the costs will affect their wealth over time. Coupled with Investment Analyzer, the feature also evaluates the portfolio and makes recommendations based on users’ risk tolerance.
Chime
Digit is not the only way for users to keep saving no money online. Chime is also a terrific app that manages users’ money and reduces expenses. Users can greatly benefit from this financial tool that helps them keep loads of cash in their pockets. The good news is that the application doesn’t charge users any monthly payment because it offers free ATMs all over the State for users.
With Chime, your savings are set to increase due to eliminating monthly fees. It also helps you split the bill with your friends and family through a bill dividing feature. Unfortunately, Chime is an online application that lacks any physical branches.
Level Money
Level money is an online tool that can basically perform as a money meter. It analyzes all your spending habits and highlights the areas that you waste most of your money on to learn how to save for a rainy day. You will be surprised at how much money you are wasting, but you will also learn what you can do to change your spending habits.
Mint
Mint is among the best budgeting platforms where one can link their accounts to keep and see all records from budgeting to investment. The application also offers bill and subscription trackers and tools that people can check their credits.
The difference between Mint and Personal Capital is that the former is aimed more toward budgeters while the latter is designed with investors in mind. With Mint, individuals can come up with savings goals and various categories monitoring their bills and expenses. One can also expect to see targeted offers of credit accounts and bank accounts as the app uses a specific advertisement model to create revenue.
Goodbudget
Goodbudget is an accounting tool that utilizes the envelopes system of budgeting. Unlike the above platforms, Goodbudget is slightly different as it offers both a free and a paid version. One can utilize this tool to pay down debt and set savings goals. With Goodbudget, one doesn’t necessarily have to own a computer as it can comfortably run on your mobile device.
Users new to budgeting and managing money can tremendously benefit from this app. It offers them a bootcamp that covers everything from saving an emergency fund to making a budget for couples looking to buy a home.
Trim
Trim is a money-saving tool that serves as a bill negotiator. Once the app is connected to the user’s bank account, it analyzes how they spend their money and provides them with a saving plan. Trim has special features that automatically cancel subscriptions and services not frequently used. Additionally, Trim negotiates for lower prices on both subscriptions and services it would need to keep. The only downside is that Trim for mobile phones is unavailable, and one would have to sacrifice 33% of their savings.
As you ponder with the choices, remember that while some of the best tools to save money online are free, some have a paid version. However, none of them is better than the other, taking that they all cover every aspect of our finances. They all have useful features that can be helpful in money management so that one doesn’t spend more than they should.