The new year is in full swing, and by this time, a lot of people have an idea of the financial goals they want to achieve on a short, medium and long term basis. You may be feeling slightly out of touch and overwhelmed with how to handle your finances in order for you to reach your personal finance goals, but worry not. In this article, we will discuss ways you can streamline your finances online and achieve your financial goals. We will also take a look at some of the apps that offer you money management services to help you out.
The Importance Of Streamlining Your Finances
Aside from the fact that you will have a better understanding of your money and manage it properly at all times, streamlining your finances is easy and will save you time and money in the long run. It is important that you are always aware of where your money goes so that you are able to account for any and everything. Managing your money also affords you the opportunity to set goals and achieve them as your discipline and relationship with your money will change for the better.
Banking Apps Make Better Bankers
Banking apps have become a convenient way for many people to access their funds and make transactions since their creation, with the biggest downloaded banking app in South Africa being the Capitec App (at over 11 million downloads). This means a large portion of South Africa’s gadget users trusts banking apps to make their lives easier. Banking apps also offer a range of services such as creating multiple accounts under your profile, password protection, life and funeral cover options, loan application access, and so much more. There has been a huge need to migrate into the technical worldwide pandemic, and banking apps proved to be beneficial for consumers during this time. If you have a banking app on your smartphone or tablet, take a look at the offerings it has. What can your banking app do for you, and how can it make your financial life easier? Explore these and use them to help you manage your money.
Also, give yourself time daily (an hour or so) to take a look at your finances. This will allow you to learn more about where your money is going, how you can budget and how you will manage your next income.
Become Your Best At Budgeting
Budgeting is one of the most difficult things to do for many people. We live in an impulsive world and are constantly tempted to tamper with our goals and fall into the traps of impulsive buying. Budgeting apps help with managing this. You can input your income and expenses and get an idea of where your money goes, plus how much of it goes where and, most importantly, WHY. Here are some of the recommended budgeting apps in South Africa, from financial advisors and experts:
- 22Seven: The application is available on iOS, Android and web. It gives you a complete overview of your finance and a personalised budget – automatically.
- MyMoney: This application, available online and on Android, sets up automatic bank feeds so that your income, expenditure, and bank transfers are automatically updated in My Money. The free version doesn’t update your accounts automatically.
- GoodBudget: Can be used on both iPhone and Android phones and allows you to track your spending in relation to your budget. If you have a tendency to overspend, this smart little app can be set up to prevent you from doing so. It also has a built-in function that allows you to sync your budget across all of your devices so that you have a real handle on your family’s finances. It also helps you stay on track (and stay accountable) when it comes to your saving goals.
Shop And Live Smart
Many people have adjusted to the new normal and how it has forced us to consider doing most of our living online. Shopping has also changed for many people, and shopping apps from our favourite stores are all popping up to make things better for us. Many stores also host a range of promotions and offers that usually exist online only to encourage traffic, and your purchase history stays on the app for whenever you need to go over your finances. If you haven’t, consider trying shopping apps for a month to see how it will affect your money. You must note, though; the biggest thing with shopping apps is that they usually charge for delivery services, so a pro-tip would be to do all your shopping at a time in order to manage delivery costs. Here are some of South Africa’s favourite shopping apps:
- SHEIN: Fashion
- TakeALot: Household items and gadgets
- CheckersSixty60: Groceries
When In Need Of Financial Assistance
You can also manage your financial assistance accounts with banking apps from the service provider you are lending from. Say you need to buy a car or a quad bike, or maybe you need to boost your business with some office equipment; you do not need to visit a brick and mortar institution anymore. There are financial service providers such as WesBank that offer a convenient and easy way to apply for financial assistance, manage your account, calculate your premiums, and so much more through their WesBank App. With such apps, you are able to get an idea of how much your premiums will cost, set up easy ways to pay your premiums, and can keep track of how much you still have left to pay off.
Insurance? Always
If you have any assets that are insured under your name, consider downloading the app to manage that too. While with insurance, you aren’t getting a breakdown of how you should be saving and spending your money, it does help in giving you an idea of how much you spend there and makes it easier for you to submit claims instead of wasting money by going all the way to your insurer’s offices.
Final Words
Managing and streamlining your finances should not send anxiety up your chest but rather give you comfort in knowing that you are well aware of where your money goes and comes from. Normalise taking a look at your financial goals to remind yourself of where you need to be and where you have come. Managing money is not easy, but it can be fun with the right tools.
