Dealing with financial stress can be difficult for many. After all, talking about money or asking others for help can be embarrassing. Although it may not seem like it, most people go through periods of financial stress from time to time.
If you’re going through a stressful financial time, there are apps that can help you deal with it. Whether you need to budget, improve your credit score, or earn some extra cash, these smartphone apps can help.
1. Steady
Steady is a revenue-generating app that earns money by directing users to free (or free trial) offers and gives you a percentage of its revenue. Essentially, you get paid to sign up for free stuff.
For example, you can claim $50 when you sign up for a free bank account. Or, $5 when you use a free credit score booster. Steady pays you in-app, so you don’t have to visit each provider to collect your earnings. Although sometimes you can also get additional revenue from vendors.
Steady also has a database of gig-based jobs, where you can earn extra money that day. You also get a bonus from Steady for signing up. Its database also includes work-from-home jobs, like writing captions or even serving on an online judging panel.
To download: Stable for iOS | Android (free in-app purchases available)
2. Mint
Mint makes it easy to manage your finances, which can help you get out of a financial hole. Sometimes budgeting can be too stressful and we may miss important payments. With Mint, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.
The Mint app tracks all your finances and calculates your active subscriptions. It also shows you your current net worth based on your assets, so you can see if you’re living beyond your means.
Mint is also packed with other great features, such as credit score tracking and tracking your tax refund. You also get personalized insights into your spending habits to see if you’re overspending in certain categories.
To download: Currency for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
3. Tassels
If you’re struggling to save money for your retirement, consider using acorns. Acorns is an investing service that rounds all your purchases to the nearest dollar. Then that money is deposited into a retirement account.
For example, if you spend $1.55 on a coffee, the Acorns app will round up to $2.00, which will put $0.45 in your retirement account.
While that may not seem like a lot, it adds up over time, giving you a head start when you’re able to save more money for retirement.
If you want to set up simple recurring investments, Acorns lets you do that too.
With Acorns, your money is automatically deposited into expertly selected wallets. You can also choose to have your funds deposited into an IRA.
To download: Acorns for iOS | Android (subscription required)
4. Credit Karma
Sometimes improving your financial situation means improving your credit rating. After all, a better credit rating means you can get cheaper interest rates on new or existing credit cards. It also means more affordable loans and a cheaper mortgage payment.
Credit Karma app provides free tools to check your credit score without putting strict credit check on your account. Some other credit score checkers do this, which makes checking your credit even more damaging to your credit score.
That’s not the case here. Credit Karma also provides financial advice and lets you know if you’ve missed a payment.
For those with large credit card debt, Credit Karma also offers advice on a consolidation loan. This loan is usually low interest and consolidates all your debts into one monthly payment.
To download: Credit Karma for iOS | Android (Free)
5.Truebill
Truebill makes it easy to see which active subscriptions you have and to cancel subscriptions you no longer use. Truebill also checks if there are any subscriptions that you forgot and are still paying for.
Truebill makes it easy to cancel subscriptions or see when a rate increases.
Truebill also offers a bill negotiator, which can help you lower your monthly bills. The great thing about its bill negotiator is that you don’t pay a dime unless the price is successfully reduced. The amount you usually pay is around 40% of the amount saved, which means you get the remaining 60% for yourself.
To download: Truebill for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
6. Nerd Wallet
NerdWallet, another great budgeting app, tracks your spending and gives you insights on how to save money. NerdWallet offers credit checks, financial advice, and financial planning, all for free.
NerdWallet is known for its credit card analytics, and the NerdWallet app will let you know your approval ratings before applying for a new card. After all, you can only make so many inquiries about your credit score in any given period. If you verify and you’re not approved for a card, you’ve wasted your application.
To download: NerdWallet for iOS | Android (Free)
7. Win
Earnin is a salary advance that allows you to access your salary a few days earlier. If you have a bill that needs to be paid now but your payday is in a few days, consider using Earnin.
Unlike traditional payday loans, Earnin does not charge a fee. However, users are encouraged to tip when receiving their payday advance.
Although Earnin asks for tips, you don’t have to give anything. Earnin also generates money through affiliate commissions within the app.
Earnin deposits your money into your checking account and sends you notifications when you need to pay it back. This will usually be on your payday and will be the amount you withdrew plus the optional tip which averages out to around $5.
Be sure to only use Earnin if you have a guaranteed check or direct deposit on the way and only if you’re sure you can pay it all back when you get paid.
To download: Earn for iOS | Android (Free)
Reduce your financial stress and live comfortably
Although finances can be stressful at times, there are some great apps that can make your financial situation easier. The days of balancing checkbooks by hand are long gone and technology has given us many great tools to understand our finances.
Apps make our lives easier, so why wouldn’t we want them to help us manage our finances too? By understanding our budgets, improving our credit score, and saving for the future, we can feel more comfortable in the present.
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