In today's economy, it is more important than ever to save money. Whether you want to build up your savings or pay off debt, a little assistance can go a long way in achieving these goals. You might know how much money you want to save, but starting a savings habit can be tricky.
That's where these money savings apps come in handy, helping you save money without even thinking about it!
Here is an overview of the best money saving apps for 2022 in the UK that will help you save money. So what are you waiting for, let's get start saving!
How do Money Saving Apps Work?
Depending on the type of app you use, they can help you do various things, including saving spare change, investing money, or straight up helping you save money on purchases. Here are the types of money savings apps featured in this article:
Automatic Savings Apps
An automatic savings app helps you save the spare change. They do this by either putting money to one side each time you spend into a virtual savings pot or automatically saving money every so often by looking at your total spending habits.
Best savings apps include Starling Bank, Chip, Monzo & Monese.
Related Article: Apps that round up spare change.
Budgeting app
Example of budgeting app from Starling Banking app
A budgeting app does what it says on the tin. It helps you identify what you are spending your money on to make better decisions. It allows you to see what you are spending money on per category like utility bills, eating out etc.
If you are interested in a budgeting app, check out Starling Bank, Chip, Monzo, Monese, and Plum.
Related Article: Best Budgeting Apps
Cashback & Deals App
These apps make it easier for you to shop around to find the best deals, either helping you get cashback on your existing purchases or making it easy to shop around.
Check out Swagbucks, Groupon, and the Petrol Prices app.
Our Top Moving Saving Apps 2022
Chip - Automatic Savings App
Chip uses ai technology to track spending habits and knows how much you could afford to put aside.
Automatically the money is transferred with the notion you won't notice—ideal for people like myself who put up the cash each week. When we tried this app out we found it incredibly easy to use and unless you want to use the app for investing its completely free to use.
I thought I was already good at saving money but Chip actually notified me I could save more and sure enough automatically saved some money that I didn't miss.
Check out the 60 second video below to see how it works:
Overview of Chip
Read more: Chip App Review
Starling Bank: A Free Bank Account That Helps you Save & Budget
It's no surprise Starling Bank has been featured as one of the best apps. This is more than just a current account. You may not want to set up a new bank account but it's worth considering when you see everything Starling has to offer.
Video below explains how Starling Spending insights work.
Why it's one of the best money-saving apps:
Read more: Starling Bank Review
Money Saving Tip: Combine Starling with Chip to not only super charge your savings, Starling will round up your spare change and let Chip work out how much more you can afford to save!
How Does Starling Bank compare? Check out Starling Vs Revolut.
Swagbucks: Earn Giftcards to Save Money
Swagbucks is an app that helps you make money and save it. You earn Swagbucks points and can convert them into gift cards.
You can cash out your points on the Swagbucks website for things like gift cards, magazines, phone credit coupons, or cash equivalents. You earn points by filling in surveys or watching videos it is really easy to do.
Why all the apps on this list are mainly about saving? Swagbucks is all about putting cashback in your pocket.
How Can Swagbucks Help You?
Monese
Monese is a mobile money account that allows you to save money in two forms - savings pots and international spending.
Opening an account is easy all you need are your ID and selfie photo, and no credit check is required. It works like a current account in that you can set up payments etc, but it should be noted that although Monese is regulated by the FCA, they do not have a UK banking licence, and your money is protected in a different way.
How can Monese help you?
Plum - Round-up, Autosave & Invest
Plum is like savings accounts but with a twist. It links to your bank and calculates the amount one can afford, and saves it for you automatically.
The App provides information about our finances and analyses the amount we spend in our budget to help us access the money we spent it on.
How Could Plum Help You?
For more information See: Plum App Review
Money Box: Round up Purchases, Auto-save and Invest
Moneybox is a free app that offers savings and investment account options. Moneybox uses the Round-Up feature that saves money when rounding up card transactions to the nearest pounds. Moneybox also automatically invests and is offered in 45- and 93-day accounts.
If you're tired of saving or feel the App wasting too much, there are always ways of excluding rounds for that reason.
Good to know:
Check out Moneybox Review
Emma
Emma is a financial budget app. It tries to help you manage your spending. It tracks its data and shows it the places where you spend the most. Depending on your budget, this App automatically warns you when you'll be on an excessive overdraft.
Key Features:
Related article: Best Budgeting Apps
Monzo
Monzo is a digital Bank offering current accounts that help you save money. Although they offer free and premium accounts, all of them can help you save money.
Related articles: Monzo Vs Starling & Monzo vs Revolut
Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard gives you the option in a dashboard to view how much you have spent. It is a great budgeting app that allows you to keep an eye on your money habits with its purpose to help you make better financial decisions.
Key Features:
Groupon
A discount savings tool when you're looking for days or gifts for people to enjoy. These are good savings on a ticket and beauty day out.
Although you should be careful with this app that you don't get caught in impulse spending, it's important to use it when you need to save money, not as an additional expense because some things are cheaper.
Key Features:
Money Super Market App
Money Super Market App is a great all-around comparison app for home insurance to utility and travel. It's the leading online shopping site that provides an instant comparison of card rates and account details.
Key features:
Petrol Prices App
The petrol prices' App gives you the option to check before you fill up the tank. It may not be well worth driving long distances to find the cheapest car, but if you live in a town with several choices, it is well worth a look and could save significant amounts in the long. Petrol costs vary at various retailers, and it's worth a check before you intend to fill that tank, incredibly if you are filling it.
Good to Know about Money Saving Apps
It's important to check the terms of your money protection when using money-saving apps.
As stated in this article some apps use open banking, which is a regulated platform for apps to be able to access data from your bank. Your Bank must share your data with authorised third parties that you've given permission by 'authorised'.
With Money Savings apps, your money is not always protected in the same way as a traditional bank
It's important to know the difference between an FSCS license and an electronic money license. An auto-saving app may have one, but some other types don't carry them at all, so you'll want to keep your cash safe if anything goes wrong with these apps!
With an electronic money licence, the apps do keep your money safe but it's not the same process to claim as FCSC protection, your money instead is ring fenced in a seperate account.
Best Money Saving Apps Bottom Line
There are many money-saving apps to help anyone save money, be sure to check how you are protected and pick an app that suits your goals.
A few of our favourites are Starling bank, a highly rated bank with great budgeting features and an advanced spare change round-up as standards. It is free and easy to set up, and they won't charge you fees abroad.
Cleo is also great if you dont want to switch your existing bank as it can connect and give you quirky and helpful advice.
Which App did you like? Let me know in the comments below.
Money-Saving Apps FAQs
What is the Best App for Saving Money?
This is subjective to your goals and needs. Highly rated apps to investigate include Starling Bank, Cleo, Monese & Moneybox.
Is there an app to Save Money?
Yes, tons! Check out the full list at the start of the article.
Is Plum any good?
The Plum account is good. Plenty of people love it! 77% of customers who reviewed Plum on Trustpilot gave it an excellent rating claiming they find it easy to save and don't miss the money it saves on their behalf.
Are Money-Saving apps safe?
You should always practice good online safety when using any app, even if it has FCSC protection. Meaning doesn't use easy-to-guess passwords. All apps featured in this article have FCA (financial conduct authority) regulations. Still, it's important to read full terms to understand how your money is protected.
The Banks featured like Starling have full FCSC protection, meaning you are covered up to £85,000.
Some apps, although are regulated it has different terms attached, so good to read their conditions.
For instance, some only protect the money you keep in a standard savings account with them. This doesn't mean that your e-wallet or electronic money is unprotected, though! Instead of using FSCS protection which would be held by another bank's operating cash - usually at Barclays or HSBC, for example--your funds are instead ringfenced and protected within a known risk category through banks like AB brown current accounts.
Should the money-saving App go bust, your money will be protected since it's held separately from the firm's own money.
How can I Save Money in 2022?
The best way to save money is to buy only what you need and shop around for the best deals. One way to make sure you are buying only what you need is by saving some money each time until it adds up, so put a little away each week, month or year.
A great way to save more money right now is to decide where to shop. Make use of sale ads in newspapers, flyers, internet sites, or coupons whenever possible. When grocery shopping at a store with many competitors, go through different stores on your list first before anything else. It's not always the least expensive option that has the best deals - it may just have better sales on specific items more often than other places do!
What App Rounds up Your Money?
Here are some of the best apps that round up your money:
Starling Bank - A great way to keep track and save for future goals.
Chip, auto-save, and invest; Set savings goals or earn more interest on existing balances through automatic utility switching with Monese's Plum Moneybox app!
This website is for information purposes only and does not provide financial advice. If you need a financial adviser, try www.unbiased.co.uk
I was always really cautious about using money-saving apps. But a few of my friends have been using the PLUM app. One saved £900 in 12 months using the round-up challenge which they used towards a holiday. Some great apps here – thanks for sharing xxx
Thanks for reading! Glad you liked the post. It’s true the money-saving challenges can be so motivating, saving small but often really does add up over a 12 month period!