The Nuts And Bolts App: Pennies

Pennies is beautifully designed. If you think that’s not important, spend some time trying to navigate a poorly designed app and you’ll realise how crucial a straightforward concept is. This is the nuts and bolts of financial apps, an expense tracker. Enter your monthly budget, and then start adding your expenses. It will save the expenses that occur most frequently, so after a while, the entering process is a breeze. The fuel gauge on the opening page will show you whether you’re doing well or about to run on empty for the month.

The Integrated App: MoneyStrands

MoneyStrands is a well-developed website, that has an equally thorough iPhone app that syndicates with the website. Meaning that you can update your phone if you’re on the road, and balance it all online once you’re home. This app is no holds barred, and it sends you alerts early in the morning should you require them. Useful, but not always the most appealing way to wake up in the morning. With reminders for upcoming bills, spending plans and multiple account information, it’s like a financial app for the anal retentive.

The Hole In One App: Pocket Money

Pocket Money is deceptively simple. Two pages, one for accounts, one for bills. One of the advantages of this app- the app I plan to invest some time in setting up properly- is that it has detailed help instructions that guide you through using it’s features. It’s easy to navigate, incredibly comprehensive and allows you to set up all your repeating transactions and keep track of expenses and additional income sources. In terms of a holistic app, this is the one I’m setting my money on for the time being. It might take a while to enter all the information but, in the end, you want an app that is as thorough as possible to save on time when entering information later.

The Steady Investor App: Bloomberg

I’m no investor, but word on the street is that this app is a winner if investment and portfolios are your thing. It’s the best possible price- free- and has a variety of investment –related tools and portfolio tracking. You can even get audio news on it. If you were vaguely interested before, obsession is potentially your destination now.

The Grand Dame App: Mint

Mint has been kicking around online for a long time now, and their iPhone app shows all the advantages of having been in the game a long time. It does everything that common sense would dictate it should- automatically enters transactions, sends alerts for over budgets and gives you a virtual iPhone kick should you be over-spending. Again, the design is clean and sensible, and it’s fairly easy to navigate. It’s like having a good conscience on your phone. Patiently adding your expenses throughout the month will allow you to control your money, and improve your savings and debt repayment strategies.

Quick note: Are you interested in winning $100 to kick start your Smarty Pig savings account? Well after you finish reading what this account does and how it may help you, please see the competition details at the bottom of this article and get involved! Someone has to win it!

What is Smarty Pig?

In summary, it is an online savings account but with a twist. There will always be something that you need to save for, whether it is the next holiday you want to go on, that flat screen TV you have been eyeing in Harvey Norman or that designer handbag in David Jones. Smarty Pig can help you get there.

In the past people were quick to just put items like this on their credit card, but that will leave you in large amounts of debt and before you know it, you are maxed out and the fun of buying things is gone. If you want to be a big spender, be a big saver also!

Using Smarty Pig is actually very fun. Not only do you get a high interest savings account with a fantastically competitive interest rate, but you also get the key ingredient to saving money – motivation. Before you realise, the thing you are saving for will be yours and you will have earnt it by saving!

How does Smarty Pig work?

Opening an account is simple, rewarding and fun. In a few clicks your account can be setup and running, fast tracking your savings goals and instantly giving you motivation. But how does it work you ask? Well it is simple; here are the steps for you to get going.

1. Create your profile/account

Setting up your Smarty Pig account is very safe, secure and as easy as creating a Facebook account. Once you create your profile, link up your existing bank account with Smarty Pig and begin defining your savings goals. Smarty Pig will automatically suggest a contribution amount that will help you get there.

2. Establish your saving goals and objectives

A holiday? A new kitchen? Christmas presents? Choose your goals you wish to save for. I am personally saving for a holiday to Scotland with my family in the coming year so am very excited to have opened myself a Smarty Pig account.

3. Meeting your goal

Tell Smarty Pig how much you need, when you need it and it will do all the math for you and your saving objectives.

4. Friends and family can help you save money

If you want to, add the SmartyPig widget to your MySpace or Facebook page and invite your family and friends to help out. We call it “giving the gift of savings”. Any time they chip in cash, Smarty Pig will drop you an email. Alternatively, you can keep it all private. Either way, your information will be safe and secure at all times.

5. Let the savings begin!

You’re safely and securely on the road to reaching the goals you sensibly set for yourself. Smarty Pig will also help you along with monthly e-mails (and e-mails when friends and family members chip in) showing you where you stand and encouraging you to keep up the good work.

6. What happens when you reach your goals?

• You now have a choice of receiving your savings + interest + value boost on a gift card from one of the Smarty Pig retailers, or savings + interest back into your bank account.
• You get a huge sense of accomplishment (don’t underestimate this bit, it’s seriously good).
• Yes it’s all guilt-free spending.

***Now for the good part!***

SavingsGuide Exclusive!! Win $100 for your account

That’s right! SavingsGuide.com.au and ANZ’s Smarty Pig have teamed up to offer one of our lucky readers the chance to win a $100 gift card for Smarty Pig – this is as good as cash!

All you need to do is have a Smarty Pig account – it costs you nothing so why not sign up right now?

How to enter:

1. Sign up for your own Smarty Pig account by CLICKING HERE 0r on one of the banners.
2. Leave a comment on this article (below) and tell us what you would do with $100. Don’t forget to leave your email address so that we can contact you.

This exclusive will run for only a few more weeks so hurry up and enter – someone has to win the money and it could easily be you!

It will monitor your money from upto 9000 financial institutions globally, ranging from banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, share trading platforms and more. You do not have to have an account with ANZ, instead it retrieves this data for you and displays it in one secure place.

What does ANZ Money Manager do?

The system allows you to monitor your assets and liabilities easily, examples of which include a single location to view your:

• Superannuation balance
• Credit card balance
• Total savings
• Online Investments
• Loans and Mortgages
• Everyday Banking Accounts
• Rewards/Loyalty Programs (Airlines, Hotel, Car Rental, etc)
• Insurance
• Your home or other investment properties
• Other assets such as Jewellery, Antiques, Art and more.

Budgeting

You also have the ability to monitor purchases on your cards and accounts and itemise the spending into categories to build a history of where your money goes. For example, every time you make a purchase, it is automatically recorded and categorised for you – just like having your own bookkeeper!

Money Alerts

One of the best features of this platform, is that you can see Money Alerts. This means that you can enter dates and times when bills are due, credit cards are due and more. Imagine that, not only is it a personal bookkeeper, it is a personal assistant with managing all aspects of financial time management.

Is Money Manager safe?

The short answer is yes, like most online banking facilities, this platform is protected using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which creates an encrypted connection between your browser and the ANZ Money Manager servers. This information is kept encrypted at all times. Once your username and password for each individual account has been entered, you will not be able to view them again – they will be kept permanently encrypted.

Personal experiences

I am about to sign up for an account, as I often wonder where my money goes and enjoy seeing my finances rounded into a whole figure to understand how I am tracking/budgeting for the long run.

I intend to use the ANZ Money Manager for the following setup;

1. View my debt in total
2. View my savings in total
3. View my superannuation in total
4. Budgeting to understand where I spend money.

Monitoring the above will allow me to understand my money coming in, versus my money going out. The first rule of saving money is to understand this rule and this platform will allow that to happen much easier.

What do you think of ANZ Money Manager?

1. I would like to know what other people think about the platform?
2. How has it helped you save money and monitor your finances?

How to sign up

Head over to ANZMoneyManager.com to view this platform in more detail and easily sign up.