6 Best Money-Saving Apps
Load your phone up with these apps that’ll help you save money and send an instant cash boost straight to your pocket.
Without sounding too much like your granny, smartphones have changed how we do pretty much everything in life, and saving money is no exception.
There are literally hundreds of apps out there with the sole purpose of helping you save. It’s just a matter of digging them out and working out which are best.
Best apps to save money
Here are the best money-saving apps:
1. Starling
- Cost – Free
- Available on – iPhone and Android
- Suitable for – Knowing your spending and learning to budget.
Starling Bank is purely app-based, leading the way in the digital banking revolution. Despite having no high street branches they hold a full banking license, allowing you to open a current account from your phone in minutes.
You even earn interest on money held in the account!
As an app, Starling goes way beyond traditional banking with a whole raft of helpful budgeting and security features built into the experience.
2. Monzo
- Cost – Free
- Available on – iPhone and Android
- Good for – Smartphone-based money management.
Now, this app is very similar to Starling but we love to offer an alternative for balance.
They’ve got all the best bits about app-based banking including real-time notifications, the ability to freeze your card if you lose it, and lots of saving features.
3. ATM Locator
- Cost – Free
- Available on – Android
- Good for – Finding free cash machines.
This is a great little app, especially for those days and nights out in a city you don’t know so well. We’ve all been there, where you’re running about like a headless chicken looking for a cash machine because you’re somewhere that only takes cash, or their card machine is broken.
What’s even worse is if you finally end your headless chicken pilgrimage only to find that the ATM you’ve found charges an arm and a leg to use. Seriously?
4. Chip
- Cost – Free
- Available on – iPhone and Android
- Good for – Putting aside money without even trying.
Saving money can be hard – especially as a student when you’re reluctant to put any money away in case you need it later (which, let’s face it, you probably will).
Fortunately, automatic save bots like Chip can do it all for you, without you ever having to worry about a thing.
Once you’ve given it access to your bank account, Chip will start monitoring your spending. It’ll look at your incomings and outgoings and from there it calculates how much you can afford to save each week.
5. Curve
- Cost – Free
- Available on – iPhone and Android
- Suitable for – Streamlining your spending.
Managing how much you’re spending, where you’re spending it, and on what card can be a tricky one to get your head around. This is why Curve has streamlined all of your cards into one!
Allow us to explain. You register all of your cards on the app and once you receive your Curve Mastercard you’ll be able to spend from any of your accounts using just that one card!
You can choose which account you’d like to pay with by selecting the relevant card on the app. The account then becomes “active” and ready for you to use! You can also use your Curve card to draw out money from cash points too.
6. CheckoutSmart
- Cost – Free
- Available on – iPhone and Android
- Suitable for – Getting cashback.
If ever there’s a smart way to save money on your shopping. CheckoutSmart works by providing shoppers with a daily list of items they’re offering cashback on, with different symbols indicating which major supermarkets the deal will be available at.
All you have to then do is chase up those items, pay for them at checkout, take a photo of your receipt with your phone and then submit it on the app (although do try to be sensible here and only buy what you actually need – being lead astray by offers doesn’t really count as money saving!).
