Four Ways Technology Can Help You Manage Your Money
“There’s an app for that.”—It’s a cliche saying, but when it comes to managing your money it happens to be a true one. We’re lucky to live in a time where technology can help you with a whole myriad of financial tasks. If you know what tools to use, you can stay on top of your budget, pay your bills on time, quickly identify and remedy fraud and much more—all from your pocket. Make your life easier (and your wallet happier) by using technology to your advantage. Here are five areas where you can start.
Your credit score
Your credit score is no longer an enigma. Thanks to technology, you can be aware of and monitor changes to your score all the time. There are several services out there to can help you track your score for free with one click of a button. Our top recommendation is Credit Karma. With Credit Karma you can access your credit reports and scores form TransUnion and Equifax. They also provide weekly updates, and alert you to any important changes to your reports. Using this free service can help you be a more informed and empowered credit user, and help you quickly identify and remedy identity theft or fraud.
Your bills
We finally live in a time where forgetting to pay a bill is more difficult than remembering and paying all your bills on time. If you can, make this the year you do your credit a favor and make all your payments on time. Technology makes this easy. Now, you can set any troublesome bill to auto-pay so the payment gets made whether you remember it or not. Or, if you still want to be make your payments manually, you can use technology to remind you. Because your payment history has such a big influence on your credit score, anything you can do to ensure you pay your bills on time will pay off in the long run. If you’re unable to pay your bills, click here. If you can afford your bills, make it easier on yourself by finding an app to do the work for you here.
Your spending habits
Are you surprised each time you look at your bank account? Or, are you constantly trying to figure out where your money went, or why you have less than you thought? If this is the case, you may have a spending problem. Luckily, you don’t have to leave it to chance anymore. There are several apps that can help you build a budget or monitor spending habits. Our go-to money-monitoring tool is Mint.com. With this free app, you can see what you have, what you owe and areas where you can improve. Having Mint keep you accountable can help you save more money and avoid any negative surprises.
Your financial security
Technology has so many upsides, especially when it comes to money management. However, one big downside is your financial security. With so many transactions being made online, it’s easier then for hackers to obtain your personal information. Don’t let that scare you though. This very technology can also help you identify fraud faster and minimize the damage. About 69 million Americans are doing their banking online. This means they see their transactions in real-time. Therefore, any fraudulent charge can be caught much faster. Additionally, the advent of credit monitoring sites like Credit Karma (mentioned above) can quickly identify big changes in your credit score that can indicate something is wrong.
