top of page
Writer's pictureMekkin - Community Guide

5 Apps to Help You Budget Better

Budgeting is difficult, especially if you're new at it. These apps make it a little easier:


Perfect for the easy planning, sharing and spending your money in a organised way.


How does Hyperjar work? You can open different ‘jars’ to allocate and organise your money for different purposes; eg, food shopping and bills.


Want to make sure your grocery budget doesn't get spent on takeaway? No problem, you can actually tell Hyperjar what shops you can spend your jar money at, or block spending with certain companies.


You can also share jars with friends and family, making it easier to split bills on a night out. The prepaid Hyperjar debit card allows you to spend directly from your wallet or any jar, this way you can see what you have spent and where.


Cost: Free

Available on: iOS and Google Play

Note: Also works with Apple Pay and Google Pay





Monzo is a great option if you want to combine your money management tools inside of a proper bank account.


How does Monzo work? Just like a normal current account, except managed entirely through the app. Every time you spend, Monzo will give you a heads up about how much money you've spent that day. It can let you know if you're close to hitting your monthly budget, and will let you know if it detects a change in your spending habits.


There's a lot of functionality - including the ability to automatically split up your monthly income into savings "pots", setting monthly spending limits, and the ability to pay directly out of "pots" for things like bills, so the money for your expenses is always out of sight until its needed.


Cost: Free

Available on: iOS and Google Play

Note: The only way to access your Monzo account is through the app, there is no browser-based portal.



This is a perfect app if you like a more visual approach, as the app uses mood boards and is compatible with Pinterest.


How does Squirrel work? You move your money into a Barclays-help Squirrel account and decide how to split it between spending, savings, and expenses.


The money you need to pay the bills? Squirrel keeps it back for you until the bills are due.


You can also choose to have Squirrel send you a "weekly allowance" out of your spending money, so you know exactly how much you can spend for the week and still keep on track with your budget.


Cost: £3.99 a month

Available on: Google Play

Note: It looks like Squirrel is currently only available for Android users.




If you're a graphs and tables person, or have more than one bank account that you need to keep track of, you'll love this app.


How does Money Dashboard work? To create your daily overview, you add feeds from all your accounts (such as current, savings and credit cards) to your dashboard in the app.


Track your spending across categories, set up budgets by category, and see an overview of your past spending habits, all in one place. Get alerted when your balance is low or when bills are about to be due.


Cost: Free

Available on: Browser, iOS, and Google Play

Note: You can see all of your data, but you cannot make changes to your

accounts through the app.





This app has a big focus on categorising transactions and suggest where you are overspending.


How does Emma work? Emma works by categorising transactions from all your connected bank accounts. You can set budgets for different categories and be alerted when you go over these budgets.


Emma will flag your subscriptions and reoccurring transactions, so you can easily see if there's any subscriptions you might want to cancel.


The app also has some really nifty payment features - instead of needing your bank number and sort code, you can just send someone a link or QR code through Emma. You can also send payment reminders to people, which is a nice way to remind your flatmate the rent is due without needing a face to face conversation.


Cost: Free

Available on: iOS and Google Play

Note: You can see all of your data, but you cannot make changes to your

accounts through the app.

22 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page