How to Use Technology to Own Your Finances

As a busy person with a career, a side hustle or two, perhaps a family to take care of, and an endlessly engaged social life, it can be easy to consider your finances only as an afterthought. However, doing so can mean that you end up working from pay check to pay check every month, only just ensuring that you’re able to pay your bills and rent and have the money available for dinners out and hobbies. Having some savings available to put towards a large purchase, or to help you out when disaster strikes, is essential. In this article, we’ll look at four ways to use technology to own your finances in 2020 and beyond.

1. Track Your Income and Expenses

Nobody wants to carry a pen and paper around with them so that they can track every expense they make. It’s not practical and will quickly become a chore. Instead, consider using an app that does the task for you. There are a variety of apps to choose from, but one of our favourites is Personal Capital.  This app can be connected to your bank accounts, your mortgage, any investments you have, your credit cards and more. Having all of your accounts in one place makes it easy to track your income and expenditure, giving you a better overall picture of your financial health.

2. Create a Budget

Just like there are plenty of apps for tracking income and expenditures, there are also lots of apps that will help you create a budget. The best ones break down your spending into different categories.  When you set up a budget, you can prioritise certain categories, such as insurance, rent and bills; these are the essentials that you have to pay for each month. You can then allocate money to the non-essential categories like eating out. With a budget in place, you will more accurately be able to see where you are overspending, and how much you could save if you decide to cut back.

3. Don’t Be Afraid of Credit

Many people who are trying to improve their finances are afraid of things like credit cards, Payday Loans direct lender transfers, and overdrafts. However, these things can actually benefit you so long as you know you can repay them. For starters, borrowing money and paying it back can help to increase your credit score, which can help you access better lines of credit in the future. Credit cards, too, can provide extra perks like air miles and reward points. Again, having an app to keep track of all of these is a good idea.

4. Look at Investments

Investments can be daunting; after all, who wants to wrap their head around stocks and the forex market? Well, you may be pleased to know that technology has also made investing easier. Again, there are apps that can help you to invest your money, and more that can help guide you in your investment decisions. Betterment and Wealthfront are two great robo-investors, and they’re relatively hands off, making them ideal for those new to the industry.

Technology makes it easier than ever to manage your money. If you’ve never been financially responsible, there’s no better time than the present to make a change.