Responsible handling of income is important for everyone, so there has been a lot of talk about financial literacy and education in recent years. Smart apps offer a variety of practical ways to keep track of your spending, save and plan your future purchases smartly. Nowadays, almost every bank also has its own app for this purpose, which allows you to make quick payments or view your bank account balance at any time. However, taking into account the increasing spending and the relevance of browsing, other solutions are becoming more and more popular that allow better financial planning, such as apps for savings and current discounts in stores.
Comprehensive cost overview
One of the first and most important steps in financial management is to get an overview of where and how much money is spent on a daily basis. Usually, banking apps allow you to get a good idea by looking at your bank statement. However, not all banks have the option to automatically categorize expenses, for example, by eating out, fuel or leisure criteria.
“Most users have started using apps that allow you to either manually enter expenses and analyze them according to categories, or connect the app to bank accounts and automatically transfer data to the app,” says Audrius Granickas, head of ecosystem development at Huawei in the Baltics, citing apps such as AndroMoney, Revolut or Curve. Sometimes the review can be surprising or even shocking, but it’s a good starting point for developing a plan to gradually cut back on excess spending and build savings.
Savings account as a “safety cushion”
Many financial experts point out the importance of having a savings account to manage your savings even when unexpected expenses arise. Such a savings account should have about one month’s worth of spending.
To make savings more exciting, A. Granickas recommends using apps with interactive and ingenious functions. “The easiest way is to set up an extra bank account, set the amount you want to deposit into it each month, and then use the app to keep track of the money’s growth. However, it’s also possible to be more playful, for example with Simple Piggy Bank, which records each the new savings,” the expert shares tips about the options available in the Huawei AppGallery and other app stores.
Smart and resourceful savings options
When looking for money-saving opportunities, A. Granickas recommends looking at apps that provide not only financial, but also other categories of services. “For example, in many cases, when you buy goods in online stores using the app, you can get a discount, and in a physical store you can get a discount if you show the discount code available in the app,” says the expert, citing the examples of Maxima, Hesburger and other companies.
“You can also use the well-known Bolt Food app to find out about discounts in the nearest grocery stores, as well as about food products that will expire soon. It is also worth looking for coupons and discounts offered by service providers elsewhere. Don’t forget to analyze the utility service provider in the financial app costs, as you can always find cheaper telecommunications, electricity or internet packages to choose to boost your savings account,” advises the expert.
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