If you’re ready to jumpstart your savings and financial goals for 2018, here are a few great ways to help you get started. Included are the best budgeting apps to track your spending and bills, as well as ways to save for retirement, keep more money and spend less. We’ve also included discount club tips that offer a lot of added savings.
So let’s get started…
Budgeting in Mobile Age
Whether you’ve set up a budget before or this is your first time, you’ll find that the fastest way to organize your bills is to reduce excess spending. While you could just try to cut back on spending, new budgeting apps take out all the guesswork and help you find more money.
Best Budget Apps 2018
You Need a Budget, Mint and Budget Boss
These apps are all available for Android and Apple devices. Download them to your smartphone or tablet. Most offer free trials and can help you manage your monthly bills.
The convenient dashboards let you track your spending and see where your money is going. They each include tips you will find helpful, especially if you’ve never before started a budget.
Tip: Pay off credit cards with the smallest balances first or the credit cards with the highest interest rates.
Dental and Vision Coverage 2018
Dental Plan Discounts
If you’ve ever debated over dental plans versus insurance because you needed to find a dentist, then discount dental plans might be right for you. Maybe your employer hasn’t offered dental insurance because you work part-time. Or, you might be self-employed and just want to find a cheap dentist so you can pay cash. But that can quickly become expensive, especially if you have a family.
Consider a cost-saving dental plan like Dental Save. Similar to a wholesale price club, it lets you find local dentists and save anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. The added advantages are that there’s no paperwork or claims and you can get coverage right away. Plans start as low as $9.99 per month.
Vision Plan Discounts
Dental Save also offers vision discounts up to 40 percent off at over 65,000 eye care providers, and discounts on eyeglasses, contact lenses and eye exams. Plans start at $9.99 a month.
Discount Clubs
For discount memberships that can give you savings on everything from office and business supplies to groceries, jewelry, clothing, furniture and electronics, check out Sam’s Club or Costco. Members find the discounts also include pharmacies, deliveries, photos, travel and more.
Tip: An added incentive is that if you have a credit card for the discount warehouses, it can give you added savings. Costco Visa Cards give 2 percent off store purchases. Sam’s Club MasterCard offers 5 percent cash back on gas, 3 percent on travel and dining, and 1 percent on other purchases.
Financial Planning
If you have a mortgage, credit cards, student loans or other financial obligations, financial planning can help streamline your spending so you’re thinking more about long-term retirement goals and less about paycheck-to-paycheck living.
Best Financial Planning Apps 2018
Level Money, Stash Invest and LearnVest
Level Money can help you with monitoring your spending and allocating money into savings and retirement accounts. LearnVest allows you to focus on emergency savings, credit cards, real estate and retirement.
Stash Invest lets you invest with as little as $5 to start. You can find investment and retirement tips on traditional or Roth IRAs, and other retirement accounts.
All the apps are available in the iTunes Store and the Google Play Store.
Tip: Use helpful online bank calculators for retirement savings goals.
Hopefully these tips increase your savings so you can reach your retirement goals faster!
