- Home
- Blog
- Personal Finance
- The 6 best US money saving apps for rainy days (and for good times, too!)
The 6 best US money saving apps for rainy days (and for good times, too!)
Keeping extra money for a rainy day can feel like an endless slog (there, there). Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a list of the 6 best money saving apps you’ll need to make saving a lot more fun.
October 16, 2020 — 7 min read
Keeping extra money for a rainy day can feel like an endless slog (there, there). Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a list of the 6 best money saving apps you’ll need to make saving a lot more fun.
Putting aside money isn’t that hard, but it’s not child’s play, either. Let’s take an example here: can you think back to all those visits to the coffee shop and count the exact number of times you’ve been there? Or maybe you’ve got an Apple Music or Patreon plan you’d subscribed to,
and forgotten all about?
Such small expenses can add up to a lot, and before you know it, you won’t even have a single penny left in your savings account.
So, what if you don’t have savings when you need them at once? Sure, you can use your credit card or a personal loan to cover an emergency, but is taking on debt (and the stress that comes with it) really worth your mental wellbeing? We thought not.
The problem is, you may find it challenging to know exactly where you should make changes to start saving up. But with these 6 best apps for saving money, you can stash away your cash for your future goals, either weekly, monthly or whenever you feel the need to.
These top money saving apps do all the hard work involved in managing your personal (and professional) finances, while you just sit back and call the shots. It’s time to keep calm and save on!
1. Digit
Out of all the best savings apps out there, Digit is one of the simplest. All you need to do is set your savings goals (the sky’s the limit), such as budgeting for a vacation, repaying a student loan, down payment for a dream home, or an emergency fund.
After analyzing your current income and spending habits, Digit calculates how much money you can save towards your goals. It then takes that amount from your linked checking account and transfers it into a Digit account insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Every week, Digit usually makes 2 or 3 of these savings transfers, but don’t worry, it’ll help you to put your money away without making you change your lifestyle.
Plus, the app goes through the average daily balance in your Digit account every 3 months. Based on that balance, you’ll earn a 1% annual savings bonus during that same 3-month period.
After the end of your 30-day free trial, a Digit membership is $5 USD per month.
Perfect for: Automatically saving the ideal amount of money without your having to lift a finger.
Availability: USA
2. Qapital
Did you know that an app (of all things) could teach you how to save money for something really special? This app, named “Qapital”, uses automated savings strategies so that you can save smartly and efficiently. Such strategies include letting you create a personalized savings goal (maybe you want to pay off your debts or go somewhere?), along with a goal account insured by FDIC.
Whenever you spend money, Qapital helps you save towards a larger goal by rounding up the total to the nearest US dollar and moving the money into the FDIC-insured goal account. Either that, or you can keep contributing a lump sum to your fund regularly.
Qapital offers you a 30-day free trial, after which, you need to pay $3 USD, $6 USD, or $12 USD every month to become a member. Simply link an outside checking account to the app, and you’re all set to go!
Perfect for: Staying on track with your financial goals effortlessly, using flexible savings rules.
Availability: USA
3. Kidfund
Unlike most of the other apps that save you money, Kidfund is one of the few that focus on saving for your kid’s future. You can open separate savings accounts on Kidfund for each of your children and start gifting money into those accounts at regular intervals.
For example, if you decide to add $7 USD to your kid’s account every week, your Kidfund will have $3,640 USD in 10 years. Your friends and family members can also follow your child’s Kidfund account and chip in on holidays, birthdays, or whenever they want to.
The best part? It’s totally free! There’s a catch, though - this money saver app is available only on iOS devices, so if you’re an Android user, you’ll be missing out on its perks.
Perfect for: Contributing towards making your child’s dreams come true.
Availability: USA
4. Acorns
This automatic savings app not only supercharges your saving capacity, but also provides various investment options.
When you buy something using the debit and credit cards you link to the app, Acorns rounds up your purchases to the nearest US dollar, like Qapital does. After that, it automatically transfers the difference from a linked checking account into your basic Acorns account (that’ll cost you just $1 USD per month).
Depending on your goals and income, the app then invests that money in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). You can invest in aggressive funds (weighted towards stocks) or conservative funds (weighted towards bonds), based on what you’re comfortable with. Either way, you’ll earn a return on your investment.
So long as your Acorns account is under $5,000 USD, you have to pay a monthly fee in the range of $1-$3 USD. Anything above $5,000 USD in your account, and the app will start levying a percentage fee on that amount.
If you’re a college student, though, you can use this money-saving app for free for up to 4 years.
Perfect for: Saving up and investing those savings for your retirement when you’re on a tight budget.
Availability: USA
5. Mint
If you’ve done a lot of online research on the best money saving apps, you must’ve heard of Mint. Mint lets you keep up with your bills so you can save on penalties and late fees. It also helps you set budget amounts for different categories like “bills” and “shopping”.
You can check exactly how much money you’re spending on each of these categories using Mint’s color-coded pie charts and other visuals.
If you shell out more than your budget amount in any category, the app will warn you, so you’ll always be on your guard before doing so again, and save more money in the process. Mint offers the large majority of its features free of charge, and has the premium option for $16.99 USD per month, which gives access to extensive credit reports and scores by Equifax.
Perfect for: Creating budgets easily (and sticking to them) with personalized tips to maximize your savings.
Availability: USA and Canada
6. Trim
You don’t have to look out for your very own financial assistant anymore when you’ve already got Trim. Once you sync all your accounts securely, the app starts monitoring your spending patterns and analyzes every transaction to explore different ways to save money.
Then, it negotiates your phone, cable, medical, internet, and other bills, looking out all the while for more affordable service providers in these areas. You can even cancel your old and unwanted subscriptions.
Trim offers most of its services free of charge, and has premium paid features like Bill Negotiation, Debt Payoff, and Trim Simple Savings. Also, all funds up to $250,000 USD are FDIC-insured, so you can take a deep breath and relax.
Perfect for: Getting the best possible rates on your bills, and automating other small ways to save you money.
Availability: USA
We hope these app recommendations help you to enhance your saving skills and grow your rainy day fund. And speaking of apps, did you know that Xe has one? Available for iOS and Android, you can check the exchange rates, send money, and track your transfers on the move. Download it today!