2019 is here. Resolutions have been all over our newsfeeds. From fitness, to health, to better habit building, we’re all looking to improve ourselves —by treating ourselves, meal prepping, or practicing self-care. After all, these goals just mean “New Year, new us.”
This year, I set myself a financial goal. Being that I’m a strong believer in self-care, I also have to face the harsh reality tied to my consumerist maxim — I. Need. Money. As much as I respect those of us who impulsively buy things we think we need but actually don’t— a $150 Sherpa jacket from Madewell or used books from Brookline Booksmith because — well, they’re on my reading list and they’re reasonably priced. But who am I kidding? I haven’t even gotten halfway through my reading list. You and I both know this madness needs to stop; we need some control in our lives. Reminding ourselves “money comes and goes” every time we come across a much (not) needed item because it’ll make us happier is unsustainable — environmentally and financially.
Fortunately, some application developers know our faults all too well and have created a neat array of financial apps that should help us to budget, save, and invest. Even if they don’t help us to cut our impulsive spending habits, at least we’ll know why these applications are worthwhile.
Mint – Budget App
We all know that if we want to save money, we have to be realistic with the way we spend our money. Mint helps us figure out what we regularly spend on a monthly basis and shows us pictographs of where we overspend and underspend. The key to this application is to link all of your credit and debit cards to stay on top of spending habits.
It’s good practice to consistently update the app on your phone to make sure purchases are correctly categorized and where they belong. For example, a smoothie from B.Good may not be recognized by Mint as “Food” so it’ll be categorized as “Other”. This can be a nuisance when tracking one’s spending. Believe me: opening Mint to admit to yourself a purchase exceeded “Food” budget limits is cringeworthy and triggers a sense of unease.
That’s not to say Mint isn’t helpful but I would be lying to you if I told you I absolutely loved it and it never made me feel like everything in my life was wrong. It’s like staring at a mirror after a long day of classes: Really? That’s me? Sure, the notifications reminding me I am overspending in a certain category is useful to track my spending, but I would rather not be reminded that I am failing at my New Year’s resolution. We are human! Of course, I am going to spend too much money at Chicken Lou’s during finals.
It goes without saying, if you have thick enough skin and can handle a notification taking a jab at your insecurities — go for it. Your financial resolutions will be met!
Digit
On the topic of saving money, let’s talk about Digit. It’s meant to take money out of your checking account and store the money away in the app. It works similar to the way Venmo does except that it transfers money from your checking account back to the app — think of it as a digital piggy bank. Although this sounds like we’ll meet our financial resolutions in no time it’s a great way to start wondering where the hell our money is going. Picture yourself at Amelia’s, craving a long-awaited carnitas burrito but your card gets declined because of an overdraft of -$10.76. But that’s not possible?? I knew how much money I had in there. Wait… could it be? Right. Digit takes money out of our checking account without asking if we have enough money.
The key to this app is to monitor your checking account constantly and make sure Digit is taking out a reasonable amount. A rule of thumb: be reasonable about your financial goals. And always, always be honest with yourself. But, we both know that we’re not, so do with that what you will.
Credit Karma
Being honest with ourselves is of utmost importance when budgeting and saving — especially when we tend to be overly ambitious with our financial goals. That’s why Credit Karma is a handy tool. It keeps track of credit card debt, TransUnion and Equifax scores, and he who shall not be named (student loans). The beauty of Credit Karma is that it’s constantly measuring our credit health based on our debt accumulated, credit card utilization, payment history, total credit accounts, and age of credit history. These are all good things to keep on one’s radar especially when trying to meet financial goals.
Robinhood
All this talk about saving money and budgeting …. but no mention of making money? Well, assuming some of us are making money on co-op this would be a good time to learn how to invest.
Robinhood is good for people who know nothing about the financial stock market but are willing to put their Investing Training Wheels on. The reason being is that it’s commission free, so there’s no need to pay extra fees for stocks. At first, this sounds appealing but it’s not worthwhile when you have very little knowledge about stock market trends. Using myself as an example, I have absolutely no understanding of financial trends. Three years ago I thought it would be a good idea to invest in what I believed was a promising stock but three years later, I’ve made a profit of only .53 cents.
Maybe if you’re a Finance major you’d be better off and make more money off stocks through Robinhood. But if you’re not… good luck!
In good practice, these financial tools are great to meet our goals. Clearly, I’m an emotional shopping extremist who does not want to be tamed by budgeting and saving. In the long run, a change must be made and if we’re looking to make that change, we should give these tools a try and be honest with ourselves.