Saving Apps: Make Money Easier

Having recently moved away from home and out of state in order to attend film school and, fingers crossed, become a working screenwriter, trying to manage finances has been a bit of an uphill battle.

Even with a good chunk in savings upon relocating, “money goes. It just goes places” to quote Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Luckily, there are apps now that can move your money into places you want, or keep it from going anywhere at all.

A friend turned me onto two financial apps known as Mint and Digit. While I was a little leery at first of plugging my account information into said apps—yes, I’m an aging, old soul millennial who still writes out the occasional check—I knew it would be beneficial to have my information at my fingertips, and as a result, keep better tabs on my financial goings on.

Mint is an app that gives you a complete overview of your transactions, credit card and checking accounts, what your cash flow looks like, what bills are due when, and the ability to keep tabs on your credit score: an important number to have when you’re in the process of opening up a new credit card, looking to rent an apartment, or looking to make bigger financial moves, like buying a business or owning a home. It also tells you where your score ranks, helpful knowledge for a naïve-to-all-money-matters person like myself.

This app gives me a snapshot that, I admit, is a little intimidating to look at some months. It’s important though to keep tabs on where your hard earned money is going, especially in an age where data breaches and hackers are capable of doing serious damage to your financial health.

Digit is also a good app for keeping tabs, giving you control over where your money goes. Once set up and linked to your account, it gives you the option to set aside money for a rainy day. Literally!

Having that say over your finances is helpful, especially when you’re a Type A like me. The app withdraws a little cash from your checking in slowly-increasing, placing your money into mini-funds that you can put towards vacations, holiday spending, whatever your little budgeting heart desires. Knowing that I can put the pause on the withdrawals via text when I need to is comforting as well.

Money can be scary, but knowledge is power, and to me, knowing about my finances and knowing I have a say over them helps make me feel a little less scared (at least until tax season anyway).