*Disclosure: One or more of the links below are affiliate links, and I might receive a commission at no cost to you if you sign up.*
Personal finance apps range from couponing to budgeting to investing. You use your phone every day, but how many apps do you have related to money? Time magazine estimates that 60% of cell phone users don’t go longer than an hour without checking their phones. Why not put all of that phone usage to good use and improve your financial situation. Looking for a free personal finance app? Here are four you can download that have been tried and tested.
Digit.co
Digit.co is an online savings app. It automatically analyzes your spending and let’s you save a perfect amount in a day. You don’t even have to think about how much to save. It automatically does it for you. All you have to do is sign up and set up. It’s algorithm will analyze your historical spending and check your account balances with just a simple click.
Rakuten (formerly Ebates)
Rakuten is a couponing app. Click the link for the store you want through the website, the browser add-on, or the app, and you can get cashback on your purchase. You can also link your favorite stores to your cards and save in-store. I have been using Rakuten for a few years now and have earned $110.98. I’ve used it to purchase hosting plans for websites and order flowers for Mother’s Day. However, I probably make the majority of my cashback from travel purchases. I would earn more if I weren’t actively reducing my spending. If you’ve reached the minimum of $5.00, Rakuten will send you cash back quarterly via PayPal or a check. You generally can’t use it with other coupon codes, but you can use it with rewards cards to maximize your savings and cashback. You will receive $10.00 when you sign up.
Acorns
Acorns is an investment app that rounds your transactions to the nearest dollar and invests the change into ETFs. You can set up recurring deposits and one-time deposits in addition to your rounded deposits. You can connect your debit or credit cards for Acorns to review and it only takes a few minutes. The app is free to download and offers three-tiered pricing at $1.00, $2.00, and $3.00 per month. Acorns also allows you to earn “Found Money” on transactions with specific advertisers. If you need to, you can withdraw funds without a penalty. Acorns also has a very informative blog that discusses different personal finance topics such as debt, mortgages, and retirement.
Empower
With the Empower app, managing your money can be the easiest thing you do all day. Earn, save, and spend more wisely with a personalized financial expert in your pocket. You can set goals that the app will track and send you updates. It’s very easy to use and makes saving painless.
Robinhood
Robinhood is an investing app for those that are more comfortable with investing on their own but is still accessible for new investors. You can buy and sell stocks, funds, cryptocurrency, and options with no transaction fees, commissions, or account minimums. There is a “Gold” option that costs $5.00 per month, but I don’t encourage you to use it unless you understand margin trading. Robinhood is steadily adding more equities to invest and trade so it may replace your regular brokerage accounts. My favorite perk of using Robinhood is that you can earn free stock just for signing up. One of my friends earned a share of Apple stock when he signed up.