Thankfully, with the influx of smartphone apps focused on finances, it’s getting easier to save and manage your money. Here’s 5 apps that will help you save money in 2018. 

 

 Tip Yourself

 

Tip Yourself has the creative idea of combining social media and saving with the aim of motivating and encouraging users to save. The idea is that every time you do something good, feel generous, or have some spare cash, you tip yourself. It can be as small or as large as you want, the main thing to focus on is the reason. Others will then give you props for saving as you encourage them to do the same. Of course, you can set up a private account.

 

The app also has a great tracking feature which shows you your daily, weekly and monthly progress. 

 

 

 

Does it ever feel counterintuitive to go to work, only to pay a small fortune in parking fees? Well Parkhound aims to help you save on parking by matching you with people with empty driveways, garages and parking spaces.

 

Parkhound is a community sharing service, where users can list their free space and drivers can rent it out at a price much cheaper than commercial spaces. If you get free parking at work, why not rent out your space at home to make some extra cash on the side?

 

 

 

Do you still put your loose change into a money jar? Acorns runs on the same concept, rounding each transaction you make up to the nearest dollar and saving it. For example, if you buy a coffee for $3.75, $0.25 will be sent to the app. 

 

What’s more is that Acorns invests your savings, meaning it can grow overtime. You get to decide what risk level the investments are, can set up recurring investments and invest lump sums in addition to the small automatic transactions. There is a small monthly fee which depends on the total of your account, so it’s important to understand what’s involved.

 

 

 

Eating out with friends is something most of us enjoy, even those of us on a budget. Often not everyone has cash, which can cause a bit of a problem when the waiter politely informs you that there are no split bills.

 

Splitwise understands this predicament and aims to make it easy to split bills or any costs between friends. The app keeps a record of who paid for what and who owes who. You can create multiple groups which is great for regular friend groups, housemates and even family members. You can add pictures of receipts, make note of cash or electronic payments and of course get handy notifications. No more arguments of who owes who what!

 

 

 

This app from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an easy-to-use service for anyone looking to create or refine their budget. The interface makes it very simple to set up your income and expenses and can even be used offline. 

 

This is a great way to understand what you need, as opposed to what you simply want, which will help you identify areas you can save. 

 

 

Make 2018 the year you finally achieve your financial goals. These 5 apps are simple but effective ways to save, and in some cases, make money. Use it to pay off your car, or save for that trip of a lifetime.