Finance & Technology
Budgeting, finance and our household money management is one area I am always looking to improve on. Taking the easy option and going for the most convenient, quickest option when it comes to spending on things like grocery shopping has in the past meant I have spent more than I could, or should. Last year I took a conscious decision to be more aware of these choices and started off trying to track spending in a spreadsheet which was a real eye opener. Using a spreadsheet was time consuming though and I really needed something more instant and easier to use which is why I started looking at apps both for the iPhone and Android tablets.Money Lover - Money Manager App
One of my favorite money apps is Money Lover - Money Manager. I needed something to help me track our daily spending, mainly to make me more conscious of what exactly all those quick trips to the shops for an emergency pint of milk, loaf of bread and other "little bits" were actually adding up to. Money Lover is perfect for this, it lets me enter in any purchases I make during the day and as it allows you set a budget and a warning limit, it helps you to keep track of and control your spending throughout the week, month and longer.
Ability to customise and add campaigns and budgets
I love the fact that you can analyze your money (incomes, expenses, and savings) with help from the financial reports it produces. These include charts, stats, and calculated spending trends, all of which give you a clear picture of your current financial state. Yep I do love my statistics and there is something very satisfying when you can see savings in a pretty graph or chart, it definitely is encouraging.
Visualise your finances easily
The great thing is you can totally customise the app to add spending and budgets for different members of your family, add Categories to fit your lifestyle and needs and you can also set up Savings Campaigns for thing such as holidays, Christmas, new car fund, moving house and so on.
One thing I haven't tried yet is the cloud sync feature which offers a solution to pooled money and enables you to synchronise your data across different platforms which sounds perfect for family and household money management. I could see this being really useful to manage and control a shared family budget with clearer visibility and transparency so I may have to get my husband to install it too.
One other thing worth mentioning are the useful Tools such as Currency Exchange, Tip Calculator and ATM Finder.
Useful Tools include a Currency Exchange
I can definitely recommend the Money Lover app, it is quick and easy to set up and use and works for you to help you budget and manage your finances. It has worked for me with very little effort, in fact a lot less than it did to keep track of things on a spreadsheet so it definitely get a thumbs up from me.Working Towards a Long Term Goal
Now I am starting to get a bit more control over the day-to-day spending and household finances, my next goal is to work towards setting up some regular savings and investments. It may be awhile yet but thanks to the great visibility I have on our spending working towards such a goal is looking a lot more achievable.*Disclaimer: I received a Samsung Galaxy Tablet to test out some money management apps on. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.
