Make your student budget work for you with these apps!
Apps to help you with your student budget
Managing a student budget can be tricky, but there are a myriad of different apps to make budgeting and everyday savings a bit easier for students. We've gathered here a few good apps for you to check out, if you're looking to keep tabs on your spending, hunting after offers or planning a trip on student budget. Check them out and download your new favourites!
Managing your budget
With Spiir, you get a quick visual of your spending. You can link your bank account to Spiir, and Spiir will give you a ton of insights on your spending habits. If you're looking to save, with Spiir will not only show you your top spending categories, but also create fun challenges for you to help you start saving and change your consumer habits. Spiir users also enjoy exclusive offers on a number of service unavailable on other platforms; one more way to stretch your student budget a bit further!
YNAB will get you on track with everything to do with your money. The system is based on 4 rules, and the central idea is to think what do you need your money to do for you, before you get paid again. With YNAB, you quite concretely assign a job to every krone, euro or dollar you earn. The point is to mark down everything you have and create flexibility between different spending categories within your budget and avoid a situation where you have too much month left at the end of your money. YNAB offers a 34 days free trial, and they also have a 1-year free student plan.
DailyCost gives you a really quick, visual view of your spending. It also allows CSV file exports and cloud storage for your spending data. The handy thing about DailyCost is that it automatically converts your spendings in multiple currencies, so if you're travelling, you'll quickly see just how much you've been spending in your own currency without having to calculate yourself or use another app for that.
Food
If you're looking for a meal and are not looking forward to cooking one yourself, try an app to find restaurant food at a discounted rate. With Too good to go and ResQ for example you can scout great finds at local nearby restaurants and stores for food that's about to become food waste, but is still perfectly edible and tasty. The price for food via these apps is really low, which makes it an affordable option for a student for food shopping. Use the map feature to find your local providers and help reduce food waste while you save money. Win-win! For now, Too good to go is available in Germany, France, UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway and Austria. ResQ operates currently in Finland, Sweden and Germany (Berlin only).
Supermarket chains' apps
These may not guarantee an instant discount on your purchase, but supermarket chain apps are a good way to keep up with special offers at your local grocery stores. If you have a membership/loyalty card, there are often some extra discounts or offers available. Some supermarkets also offer a cashback for members and affordable debit/credit card plans in addition to your loyalty card.
Travel
HotelTonight is handy, when you need to book a hotel for tonight or the next - or want to save on hotel rates. Oftentimes, last minute accommodation bookings are a lot cheaper than booking in advance, as hotels want to make sure to have as many rooms booked as possible. If you don't mind the stress of not having your accommodation book in advance, HotelTonight could help you save a lot of money on accommodation. However, do remember that finding an accommodation at the last minute can be tricky, especially at the peak of the tourist season or if there's a major event in town.
Hopper allows you to see well in advance the most affordable dates for flying, and will send you notifications, when there's a good price available for a route you've been tracking. Clear and easy to use, Hopper makes airfare monitoring a breeze, and can also save you a pretty penny especially if you have flexibility in your travelling dates.
Travelling with friends or family members? Make sure your travelling companions don't break your travelling budget and you're not breaking theirs. Put your spending in Splitwise and see instantly who owns whom - no arguing about travelling expenses!
Looking for more travel related apps? Check out our Best travel apps for students post here!
Last but certainly not least - download ISIC app and make sure you see all those great student discounts close to you and around the world! Activate your digital ISIC card in the app and carry your digital student ID with you wherever you go. The ISIC card is the only student ID accepted by a number of airlines for their student flight tickets, and will help you save on bus, train and public transportation fares in many countries.
Sources:
The 7 Best Budget Apps for 2021 - NerdWallet
Meet Spiir. Your money's best friend. - Spiir
Top 5 budjettisovellukset – Onnistu säästämisessä - Raha.fi
Parhaat mobiiliapplikaatiot budjetin tekoon | Kulutusluottovertailu
Budget Travel | 6 Essential Apps for Budget Travelers
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