With a whole world of new technology now at our finger tips consumers are increasingly opting to use their range of gadgets to help them complete everyday tasks from the weekly shop to controlling their home appliances.
There are a wide range of apps for smartphones and tablets on offer that help us perform previously time-consuming tasks at lightning speed, so it’s no wonder that consumers are making the shift from doing things offline to online.
This change also extends to the way we manage our finances. Gone are the days when we needed to head into our local bank branch to make payments or check our balance. Now we simply do a quick swipe on our smartphone, find the relevant banking app and get an instant summary of the shape of our finances.
In fact, consumers are so pleased with the way that these apps are performing that a ranking of banking apps saw some of the biggest high street lenders get the thumbs up from consumers.
But it is not just apps that are helping consumers on the path to getting a better handle on their finances, there are a number of other online tools that are designed to help Brits become better money managers. Here are just a few.
Budget planners
With so many expenses to account for, from our rental payments to the cost of children’s school uniforms, it can be difficult to keep track of just what is going in and what is going out. This is where online budget planners come in. These allow you to put both your monthly costs and monthly income in, before giving you a detailed spending breakdown. This will also give you a clear picture of how much you have left over once all your major bills are met. What you do with this sum is completely up to you. You may choose to put it into a cash ISA or put it towards your annual holiday abroad.
Repayment calculators
If you have taken out a loan, whether that’s a personal loan or a mortgage, it will normally come with a rate of interest attached to it. Repayment calculators are designed to outline your monthly repayments with the rate of interest factored in. This will take all the guesswork out of your repayments, and allow you to set a specific amount aside to repay them. If you been refused credit and turned to alternative lending, the same method will apply. As example if you are taking out a logbook loan you can get a better understanding of your repayments using the logbook loan calculator from Loan My Motor.
Predictive money management tools
If you want an insight into both your current and future finances there are a number of online money management tools that can help you do this. As an example services such as the Money Dashboard allow you to view all your accounts in one place as well as examining your spending patterns and forecasting what your future financial goals will be.
Ultimately, online tools can help us better manage our finances at home or on the go, and can form a useful part of our financial planning.