Top 3 Personal Finance Apps To Download In 2023
One for tracking, one for investing, and one for saving money.
After publishing, “79 Apps That Will Make You Better With Money (Some Will Even Pay You),” I received a lot of good feedback! A reader reached out to me and asked what my top 3 personal cash management software from the long list where ( I get that it can be a little overwhelming). So today, I’m going to share with you my favorite apps that I think you need to have on your smartphone in 2020.
Personal Capital
When I first learned about Personal Capital I was like, “ehhhh, I’m not sure if I like it. I think I’ll stick with Mint.” It seemed a little complicated at first and I didn’t want to take the time to familiarize myself with the platform.
But, I decided that I would just connect my accounts. What I really liked was how simple the graphs were for me to see my net worth. Later. I discovered how to know if my investments were doing good. Before I had no idea if my investments were doing good compared to the market. Afterward, I was able to see that I was outperforming the S&P 500, foreign markets and the bond markets. When I would hear the radio host talk about the markets for the day, it started to make sense to me. I’m way more clear on a daily basis how my investments are doing and how that is impacting my overall financial future.
The second thing that really benefited me was the fee analyzer. When I first started investing in a Roth IRA a few years back, I just signed up for whatever my bank recommended. After looking at how much I was paying in fees through Personal Capital (something my bank didn’t want me to know). I decided that paying 1.5% in fees was WAY too much for me (I didn’t even have a financial advisor to work with). I was able to switch my investment into a Vanguard fund where the fees are essentially zero. This will have a HUGE impact on my financial future.
This is an example of what their dashboard looks like. If it looks a little intimidating at first, that’s ok! Give it a try and as you become more familiar, you’re going to love it. Did I mention it’s completely free?
Robinhood
When I was in college, a good friend of mine suggested I check out this new investing platform called Robinhood. The name didn’t make sense at first but after learning about the company it totally makes sense.
Their mission is to democratize investing.
You no longer need a lot of money to get started investing. One of the features I really liked from the beginning was how simple it was to use. Some of the other platforms I had used in the past made things difficult.
After you’re approved, simply connect your bank account and start investing in companies that you love or purchase index funds! There is no cost or heavy commissions to get started. It’s one of the easiest ways to get started investing that I know of. It can be super fun as well!
As mentioned in my earlier articles, only get started investing if you’ve created a budget, paid off high-interest debt, and you have some emergency savings.
Ibotta
An app you use at the grocery store to get cashback on things that you are already buying. We all spend a good amount of money at the grocery store on basic necessities such as milk, eggs and other products. Think if you could go back say, 10 years and get $0.25 for every gallon of milk you had ever bought, that’s $130 just in milk.
This one took me a week or two to learn how it was done. But once I got the hang of it it was so easy to use. I’ve never left a grocery store with at least making $0.25. Sometimes a lot more! You simply click the + button to redeem an item, scan the receipt after you buy it, and cash will be deposited into your account within minutes.
You must meet a minimum of $10 in order to cash out and get paid through either Venmo or PayPal.
Get started with $5.00 when you use my link!
That’s it for my three favorite apps for 2020! Let me know what you think! For more ideas on ways to save money and earn extra money, click here.
