Best money saving apps to help you budget and brighten your bank balance

Feeling the January pinch? These apps could help brighten your bank balance...
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Amelia Heathman20 January 2020

It's almost the end of January and it's safe to say that pretty much everyone is broke.

As if it's not enough to torture ourselves with trying to eat healthily and give up alcohol as part of our New Year's resolutions, saving money is another 2020 promise that tops many of our lists.

Whether it's for a house deposit or a holiday, there are so many apps promising to help you save cash. Here are some of our favourites.

The best money-saving apps to try

1. Chip

Shake off the money blues in January with Chip.

This savvy app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse your spending and save money for you weekly. When you sign up, you grant the app read-only access to see the transaction data in your online banking and Chip uses strong encryption to protect your banking login details.

The AI sees how much you’re spending a week and moves over a little amount every few days into a savings account hosted by Barclays. Sit back and let those pounds stack up.

Free on iOS and Android

2. Curve

The Curve app is great if you have several different accounts across different banks. It brings together all your bank accounts and cards in one app, which is great for tracking your money, and allows you to spend money from any account with just the Curve Mastercard.

Curve explains how it works: “You can select the account that you would like to pay with using Curve by simply opening the Curve app and tapping a bank card – that account will instantly become “active”, ready for you to spend with.”

Curve

The company recently added credit cards to its offering too and it offers no fees when spending abroad, which helps you keep more money aside for holiday fun too.

Free on iOS and Android

3. Emma

A money management app, Emma offers a wealth of different ways to track your cash, set budgets and ensure you are spending within your means, which overall makes it easy to save for big purchases.

You can also spend money to make money: the Rewards feature makes it easy to get cashback from online purchases from brands including Beer52 and Pact Coffee.

From free, with Pro subscription £6.99 a month, iOS and Android

4. Moneybox

Before Monzo added the handy spare change pots to round up your spending to the nearest £1, Moneybox was doing it except instead of just allowing you to save money, you could invest it in a stocks and shares ISA so you can (in theory) sit back and watch your savings go up.

The app recently added a socially responsible investing option so you can ensure your money is going towards backing ethical and sustainable companies.

From £1 a month subscription fee plus platform fees, iOS and Android

5. Yolt

If 2020 is the year you've decided to create a budget and stick to it, an app like Yolt can be really helpful.

Yolt brings together all your accounts and credit cards so you can see where all your money is, as well as where it’s going. Monitor your predicted debts, bills, and subscriptions in the app. Yolt then uses this data to offer you better deals, including energy.

Though it might make you realise just how much you are spending on coffee each day with its handy spending categories.

Free on iOS and Android

6. Vibepay

A social payments app in a similar vein to the US-based Venmo, Vibepay makes it easier to get cash off your mates for that round in the pub or the deposit for a holiday regardless of which bank you use.

Vibepay

Powered by Open Banking, the app connects your bank account and enables direct secure payments to your friends or family.

Free on iOS and Android