Helpful Apps & Resources to Help Manage Family Finances

Virtually everyone I know has money worries in some shape or form. In the UK, for many years, the cost of living has been going up much faster than than the average wage. Living from paycheck to paycheck is really stressful reality for some. But, you can reduce some of that stress by changing a few little things, and taking control by making use of helpful apps and resources.

Find out where the money is going

If you have not already done so, put together a budget. Start by working out what you are spending now and determining where your money is going. You can get access to a great tool to help you to do exactly that via this website.

Set your budget

The next step is to decide how you are going to spend your money in the future. Download a budget and banking app like Mint to get the process started.

Log in and fill in the income section. Then tell the app how much you spend on each expense as it prompts you to do so. Having taken the time to find out how much you are spending on various aspects of your life what you key in will be accurate.

Remember, if you do not enter accurate data into a budgeting app, it will not help you at all. So, if you have skipped step one, I suggest that you go back and get it done.

Once you have done this you should be able to see how much spare cash you have at the end of the month. Use that to pay off or reduce the debt that is accruing the most interest.

Look for cost savings

You should also take a critical look at what you are spending. Usually, there will be ways you can save money. We all get into bad habits without really realising we have done so.

For example, if your daily coffee treat has gone from once a day to three times a day, consider cutting down. You could perhaps make a coffee at home and take it with you and only go to the café at lunchtime. Set up a coffee budget in your app to help you to stay in control. It sounds silly, but sometimes that is what you need to gain control again.

I promise you; regardless of how careful you think you are you will find things you can cut back on. Again, redirect any cash you save into paying off your most expensive debt.

Search out the bargains

Reducing the amount you pay for the things you cannot do without is the next step. You can find a list of great websites that will help you to do that by visiting this page.

It is also worth downloading some discount, shopping comparison and cashback apps for your phone. But, you will have to experiment a bit with this. Which ones work best for you depends on your personal shopping habits. Shop Wiki is a good one that not a lot of people know about yet. It is still growing, so should get better over time.