With the current cost of living crisis in the UK ongoing, budgeting and saving has never been more important. Inflation is a continuing problem for the majority of households in the UK but one small solace is the evolution of budgeting and finance apps which help people get a better grip on their finances in what are difficult times.
The following list of apps are all designed to help people in the UK either budget or save better so if you are finding it difficult to merely get by each month or if you are looking at better ways to save cash for a new car or holiday, then you are in the right place.
UK’s best budgeting and finance apps: Five of the best
Snoop
Snoop is one of the most popular budgeting apps in the UK and for good reason. To get the most out of Snoop, link all of you bank accounts to the platform and allow it to analyse your spending habits to provide you with solutions to any budgeting problems.
The app will be able to tell you where you are overspending and recommend alternatives if there are better offers on the market for things like utility bills and insurance costs. All recommendations from Snoop are tailored to each individual and their spending habits meaning you aren’t simply going to be provided with the same automated suggestions as others.
Emma
Emma is very similar to Snoop but is a viable alternative if you are ready to be told that some of your transactions/subscriptions are a waste of time. Emma is perhaps more brutal than Snoop when it comes to its spending recommendations but for people who regularly find themselves short each month, it is perhaps what the doctor ordered.
Like with Snoop, you will need to provide access to all of your bank accounts which is helpful in itself as it will bring all of your spending information to one platform. You can set up categories for each spending type, set budgets for each one and then ask the app to notify you when you are getting close to exceeding your budget for chocolate, for example.
Splitwise
In a day and age where 90% of transactions are digital, splitting costs with friends and/or family on days out can be problematic. This is where Splitwise comes in. If a group needs to share the cost of a taxi ride, for example, then Splitwise calculates each person’s share and notifies them to pay it via the app. No more “I’ll do it later, mate” or “Oh, I forgot about that, how much was it again?”
Users can make notes on the app to provide more information about each transaction, such as who owes what and what it’s for. By using Splitwise, individuals will no longer have to keep hold of receipts to ensure they receive the money they are owed.
Moneybox
Moneybox is a financial app all about investments and savings. The app provides users with quick and hassle-free access to things like ISAs, stocks, shares, mortgages and round-up saving pots. The beauty of Moneybox is that an individual can now have all of these services in one place rather than dotted around different banking apps.
There is also no need to invest heavily through Moneybox as the app allows users to get started with just £1. The minimum for recurring weekly payments is just £2, so it’s an ideal platform for people just starting on their saving and/or investing journey.
HyperJar
HyperJar is a unique budgeting app in that it provides users with a prepaid card. Instead of bringing all of your different accounts to the app, you are asked to send all of your expendable money to the HyperJar card so that only bills come out of your other accounts.
From there, you can then allocate your remaining to digital jars on the app. These jars can be anything you like but they should be relevant to your usual spending habits. For example, you may have one jar for nights out and another for shopping.
Everytime you then make a transaction, the app will recognise the transaction and allocate it to one of your jars. Then, once you’ve spent all your allocated money from a specific jar, you can call it quits for the month.
