APPY NEW YEAR
The best apps to help you save money in 2019
IF overhauling your finances is your New Year’s resolution for 2019, we've rounded up the best budgeting apps to help you manage your money
Almost half of Brits (47 per cent) will start the New Year in debt after excessive generosity over the festive period, according to research by MoneySuperMarket.
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The comparison website says 47 per cent of us will overspend at Christmas, with the average Brit owing £740 on credit cards going into 2019.
But if you're worried about your finances, one way to get a grip on spending is to use an app to help you manage your finances.
We've rounded-up our favourite free apps to help you stick to your budget, here's what you need to know.
Chip - best for referral bonuses
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No. While cash saved with Chip is held in a virtual account with Barclays, the app itself isn't covered by the FSCS. But it says that if it were to go under your cash would be protected due to the fact it's held with a third party.
Upside: In-app messaging service which keeps you up-to-date with how you are doing in achieving your saving goals.
Downside: Zero per cent interest on the savings account - although this is boosted to up to 5 per cent for a year if you invite friends to use the app.
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Chip goes further than most other budgeting apps. It's linked to your regular current account, and when it sees you can afford to put some cash aside, it'll move this straight into a Chip savings account for you.
But the savings account doesn't pay any interest unless you can get your friends to sign up - so you might be better off transferring cash to one of our top easy-access cash accounts instead.
If you do refer friends to the app, it boosts your savings account interest by 1 per cent for 12 months up to a maximum of 5 per cent.
Cleo - best for making budgeting less boring
Available on: Android, iOS.
Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protected: No, but Cleo doesn't hold your money - it analyses existing accounts. But it does pledge to cover any losses of up to £85,000 that are caused by the app.
Upside: Signing up takes only two minutes.
Downside: Cleo requires full access to your online banking, which may worry some people.
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Say goodbye to your bank manager as Cleo is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that sends you equal part personal finance tips and funny GIFs.
The chatbot analyses your debit or credit card spending and then offers clear insights into your spending habits and how you need to adjust your budget to save more.
It runs over Facebook Messenger but some customers have complained of poor customer service when there’s been a problem with the app.
Emma - best for avoiding bank charges and fees
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No, but cash isn't saved with Emma - it simply analyses your existing accounts.
Upside: Emma can integrate with even the new digital banks.
Downside: No week-by-week or month-by-month spending comparison.
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Benefit from a breakdown of the week’s spending, take note of your most expensive day and set budget constraints for certain activities with Emma.
The app also boasts a "fee tracker" that helps you sniff out and keep track of any bank charges if you do happen to dip into your overdraft.
But it doesn’t allow you to compare your spending from week-to-week or month-to-month, which makes it more difficult to get to grips with how you can improve your spending habits.
Goodbudget - best for couples
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No, but Goodbudget doesn't hold any of your cash or have access to your existing accounts.
Upside: You can share budgets with other users, such as a spouse or parent - but this comes at a charge.
Downside: It doesn’t sync with bank accounts so you need to input data yourself, which takes up a lot of time. Also, while it's free to use its premium version costs $6 (£4.70) a month.
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The app offers great advice on how to plan out your budget with plenty of easy-to-understand graphs.
If you want to organise more than one account through the app though, you'll need to pay for its premium service, unfortunately.
This extra feature will set you back £4.70 a month.
You can manage your money alongside your loved ones and sync across several devices so you can budget on both your iPhone as well as your Android.
Money Dashboard
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No, but the app doesn't hold your cash - it links to your existing accounts to analyse your spending.
Upside: Money Dashboard doesn't store your bank login information - instead this is passed on to a third party data specialist.
Downside: The app doesn't automatically log refunds.
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Avoid overdrafts and identify fraud, and spot where you can cut costs with Money Dashboard.
While the app doesn’t log refunds, it makes it easy to plan your spending ahead of time.
It also doesn’t hold your banking login information itself, making it extra secure.
Oval Money - best for fun ways to save
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No. Money saved with Oval is put into a digital Barclays account but neither Oval or its payment provider MangoPay are FSCS regulated. But the company says that as cash is ring-fenced it would be safe in the event the firm went under.
Upside: Earn £5 for every friend you refer to Oval Money.
Downside: Takes five to 10 days to return your savings to your current account if you need them.
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Oval Money has a fun feature which allows you to save cash into its digital wallet based on your habits.
If you’re a serial social media user, for example, you can set up an alert to transfer money to your savings every time you post on Facebook.
In the near future, you’ll even be able to connect the app to a Fitbit and transfer money based on how many kilometres you’ve run.
The app also tracks your transactions and saves more when you decide to treat yourself, allowing you to breathe easy knowing that you won’t have to penny pinch at the end of the month.
Yolt - best for budgeting tips
Available on: Android, iOS.
FSCS protected: No, but Yolt doesn't store or save your money - it only accesses your existing accounts to analyse your data.
Upside: Yolt has three-month spending charts that break down what you spend the most money on.
Downside: Positive and negative balances are shown with just a symbol but this isn't very clear - a colour difference might make it easier for users.
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Yolt gives you access to the information from all your bank accounts in one place.
The app crunches the numbers for you and offers helpful tips about how to rein in your spending.
It calculates a smart balance, which shows you what your balance will really be after your regular bills are deducted. This means you can be more selective about what you spend your hard-earned cash on.
Yolt is also expected to add a payments feature soon that will allow you to make payments to friends and family, as well as move money between your own accounts within the app.
But how exactly this will work in practice is still being developed.
More on money
Here's how to budget for holiday treats without feeling the pinch.
Plus, here's how to get out of debt as households now owe £15,400 each.
And Martin Lewis reveals how to cut ALL your debt costs in seven steps.
Mum-of-16 reveals incredible Christmas budget tips
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