When it comes to staying out of debt, and avoiding a future tied to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in order to sort out your finances, it's all a matter of keeping track.
With time demands, and financial pressures from everyday life, keeping track can feel easier said than done. However, we're fortunate to be able to whip out our smart phone and manage our finances on the move. 2016 has been a great year for financial apps, and you've now got even more choice than ever.
So get savvy, and select a few that will make tracking your finances a doddle. Use them wisely and you'll be able to stay out of debt and keep Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA's) and the need for other debt management solutions at bay. With these apps there is no excuse that financial management takes up too much time.
OnTrees Personal Finance
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free
OnTrees Personal Finance has moneysupermarket.com behind it, a well-known consumer champion dedicated to ensuring your money goes as far as possible. The beauty of this app is that you can see everything in one place. It conveniently and sensibly splits money in to various categories such as household bills, groceries and travel. In plain speaking (and colourful!) terms you get to make sense of everything coming in and going out and use it to make the most sensible and informed decisions.
mySupermarket
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free
Whilst not a financial app in the sense of many others, we like mySupermarket because it does the important job of ensuring you don't overspend on your groceries. Once you've got another financial spending tracker app on board you'll realise this is imperative as groceries will almost certainly account for one of your biggest expenses. This app enables you to get the cheapest deals without having to laboriously shop around. You simply let the app know what you want and they compare you basket for you across the main British supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Boots, Superdrug, Waitrose, Ocado, Aldi, Poundland and Iceland. It has a hand barcode scanner for when you're out and about and you can set price alerts, get spending suggestions and even cashback vouchers.
Debt Manager
Suitable for: iOS
Cost: 79p
One of a suite of apps available from M H Riley Ltd, you can get Debt Manager as a standalone app, or as part of their Finance Bundle. This app offers a user-friendly way of keeping on track of your spending through the management of your various debts including your mortgage, student loan, overdraft and more. This may be a useful step to take before heading down the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) road. It's simple and intuitive and offers hints and tips along the way as well as tracking your progress. You can choose from different debt payment strategies and ensure a repayment method to suit you.
Spendbook – Personal Finance Tracker
Suitable for: iOS
Cost: £1.49
This is American, so be a little wary of the lingo, but you can edit the categories and subcategories to suit. It's an easy way of keeping track of expenses, and you can even snap a quick photo of the receipt if you want. The sub-categories make it possible to drill down within your spending. For example, you can break transport costs down in to different types. There are plenty of charts and infographics for those who like visual displays and an informative calendar to help keep you in line.
MoneyHub
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free for one month, then 99p per month thereafter
Money Hub allows you to see all of your accounts in one place alongside loans, credit cards and investments. You can set goals and plans and importantly, keep track. There are useful calculators included within the app for things such as taxes, pensions, savings and house prices. You can even use the app to calculate your net worth.
UK Salary Calculator 2016-2017
Suitable for: iOS
Cost: Free
This is a handy little app for knowing where you stand in terms of your income - whether you've got a new job or changes to your existing one. The app works out your take-home salary based on current UK tax and also takes in to account National Insurance, student loans, pensions and your age.
Wally Smart Personal Finance
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free
This app has been named the Number 1 Finance App in 22 countries and with good reason. It's user-friendly and intuitive and displays your income and expenses within the context of setting budgets and planning. You can back-up data on iCloud, and export data to Excel. Furthermore, the app uses location services to predict where you are making updates to spending as fast as possible. It sends notifications if you've forgotten to add anything and uses its various algorithms to make it smarter the more you use it.
Toshl Finance
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free, with in-app purchases
This is a well-designed app with a humorous character. It's got various customisable features making it possible to clearly visualise what you spend and where. It enables you to organise and keep on top of bills. You can export data to Excel, PDF and Google Docs. Additionally, you can use it in conjunction with Toshl.com on your desktop where you can access more graphs. Be warned, this is the basic version. If you want more functionality then you'll need Toshl Pro which requires a monthly or annual subscription.
Spending Tracker
Suitable for: Android and iOS
Cost: Free, with in-app purchases
Another offering from M H Riley Ltd, Spending Tracker is an intuitive platform for keeping a track of your spending enabling you to stick to your budget, and ultimately save, ensuring that you remain out of debt. You can easily log expenditure and look at summaries and reports of your expenses and income.
Conclusion
The best financial apps are the ones that enable you to stay on top of your spending and finances and offer transparency about what is going on. The simplest way to stay out of debt is to be fully knowledgeable on a daily basis on your budget in the context of your expenditure.