Politics

America Saves Week 2013: Apps to help advance your savings goals

When you automate your savings, it makes it a lot easier to put money aside. If you set up direct deposit from your paycheck directly into a high-yield savings institution like Ally Bank or Capital One 360, you can take advantage of higher interest rates and save money easily. Both of these banks have apps (links above) where you can manage your account and deposit checks directly into your account via smartphone, reaching your savings goal that much faster.Once your goal is set, then you must plan on how to reach that goal. The first part of planning, as stated before, is cutting your spending and debt, but in order to succeed in savings, you must keep track of spending and set a budget. The free Mint app, from Intuit, the company behind the Quicken money management software, is probably the best tool for this. The app tracks your spending by pulling in data from your bank accounts, then you can set up a budget and get alerts when your spending gets close to limits you set. The whole process is very easy to set up. You can also set savings goals and attach them to certain accounts to track your savings progress.Setting a goal, the first part of the America Saves theme, refers to saving with a goal in mind. Most financial advisors say giving your savings a purpose will make you more determined to save in the long run. Apps like MSN Money Smart Spending and CNN Money can give guidance for setting these goals. They can also help you out with the next step, "Make a Plan", by teaching you how to cut your spending and debt.View the list »
The America Saves Week Logo

Tech Gear newsletter

Related topics

Advertisement

America Saves Week, February 25-March 2, 2013, is an annual opportunity for everyone to assess their savings status, and take steps to improve their financial situation. According to a survey released during last year’s campaign, it was found that having a savings plan with specific goals will have positive financial affect, even in low income households. It’s pretty much a no-brainer that saving money helps you move forward in life, but with most households living from paycheck to paycheck, figuring out how to put money to the side is the hard part.

This theme for this years campaign, "Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically.", calls individuals to develop a sound approach to savings by setting a goal for their savings, then planning how they will save, and then automatically sending part of their paycheck to a savings account. While smartphone apps can't do a lot of this directly, they can help to manage the process, so here's some ways they can help.

View the list
  • Setting a goal, the first part of the America Saves theme, refers to saving with a goal in mind. Most financial advisors say giving your savings a purpose will make you more determined to save in the long run. Apps like MSN Money Smart Spending and CNN Money can give guidance for setting these goals. They can also help you out with the next step, "Make a Plan", by teaching you how to cut your spending and debt.
  • Once your goal is set, then you must plan on how to reach that goal. The first part of planning, as stated before, is cutting your spending and debt, but in order to succeed in savings, you must keep track of spending and set a budget. The free Mint app, from Intuit, the company behind the Quicken money management software, is probably the best tool for this. The app tracks your spending by pulling in data from your bank accounts, then you can set up a budget and get alerts when your spending gets close to limits you set. The whole process is very easy to set up. You can also set savings goals and attach them to certain accounts to track your savings progress.
  • When you automate your savings, it makes it a lot easier to put money aside. If you set up direct deposit from your paycheck directly into a high-yield savings institution like Ally Bank or Capital One 360, you can take advantage of higher interest rates and save money easily. Both of these banks have apps (links above) where you can manage your account and deposit checks directly into your account via smartphone, reaching your savings goal that much faster.
View the list

, Chicago Android Examiner

Paul Cash is a 10-year veteran of the consumer electronics industry, with five of those spent working for a major electronics manufacturer. He is a unrepentant gadget junkie who loves to share his knowledge with anyone who will listen. Contact him at this address with any questions or story ideas!

Advertisement

Today's top buzz...