Recommend me an app/ finance management system

[glassbrightly]

DH and I suspect we waste a lot of money on stuff ("just popping to the shop"). We want to get on top of this and be really clear in where our money goes ?

How did you do this ? Would you recommend any apps?

You must buy the book Barefoot Investor!! It’s totally changed our spending an we are saving so much more than we ever imagined. It’s also extremely scary how much we were spending. It’s an Australian book so there are references to superannuation but the advice is spot on in regards to life insurance and pensions and getting control of your money. I’ve tried apps in the past and my DH keeps telling me it’s be better as a spreadsheet on the computer but I have a book and a pen and it’s a great monthly habit we’re in.

@EchidnasPhone that sounds fab. Is that what changed your habits ? I am a great lover of a spreadsheet we have everything in there at the moment but it's harder to keep up the discipline of daily spending

I like Emma, it's quite basic and childlike but you do get past that after a while. There's no need to manually update things yourself, it just works once your various accounts are linked. I use the free version so maybe give it a try and see what you think.

I swear by YNAB (You Need a Budget).

It has a subscription fee but it's worth every penny as it's helped me save so much money and really get my finances sorted.

It's a different way of budgeting but there is loads of guidance (videos, articles, etc) to teach the method and it's actually really simple once you get the hang of it. They're always updating it with useful new features too, so it's constantly improving.

You can try it free for a month so I'd definitely give it a go!

The Moneysavingexpert.com one on Martin Lewis money saving site is brilliant, you can input everything you have going in & out & it will also point you in the right direction to save on utilities, insurance & other outgoings.

It was the little trips to the coop that mounted up for us. I got the Barclays pingit app and the free card and also the keyfob. You can set it up to load every week or every month. So I set up an amount for top up groceries.
You can have up to 5 "pots" of money and link a card to it or just move money back and forth from your bank account. So I have a treats one as well.
www.pingit.com/