Let’s see, we’re nearly five months into this year. How are you doing with your resolutions? Particularly the one you made to start saving money. Have you been managing your finances more efficiently? Or have you been spending so much money that your debit or credit card is starting to melt? We all know it’s always best to make a budget, but it may be difficult to adhere to it. Your grocery budget may dwindle more quickly, as you find yourself dining out or hitting the drive thru more frequently. When a new BlackBerry comes out, will you have money set aside for it, or will you dip into your hydro bill budget? Well, at least you can use a flashlight app on your new BlackBerry to illuminate your place after your electricity gets cut off…until your battery runs out.
Do yourself a favour: put the hammer down and step away from your child’s piggy bank. I’m pretty sure that you would rather try and find alterative means to fix your financial follies, than to explain to your son or daughter why you’re taking their birthday money. Why not check out these applications plucked from a slew of money applications available for your BlackBerry.
There were so many applications to go through, so I tried to cover the basics that you should look out for. It takes money to make money, or in this case – save money as well. Keep this in mind when having a look at these applications - they may not be what you are looking for, or they may be the perfect fit. If you use anything that is not listed here, let everyone know and leave a comment.
Mobile Money Mover
Your money is easily carried and easily spent, but not necessarily easily made. Though not the greatest tool for a shopaholic to have, it would be convenient if you could manage your cash flow on your BlackBerry – regardless if it happens to be flowing in or out.
Two great options are the PayPal and Zoompass applications. Both of these applications allow you to send or receive money while on the go; you can even use Zoompass to request money (Mom? I need some gas money...). You can quickly and easily see your transactions, balance and more. You are also able to make payments to people already in your BlackBerry Address book. Both PayPal and Zoompass are free (Zoompass is only available in Canada).
The ATM Adventure
I don’t know how often this happens in this day of age, but I’m sure some people still have difficulty finding an ATM once in a while. You may find yourself in a strange place, where banks aren’t as abundant and stores do not have their own little ATM. Hey it could happen…
Enter the ATM Hunter. This application helps you locate the nearest ATMs to you. You can either make use of your GPS location, or enter in an address. You can then see ATMs and learn of where they are located, whether it is in a store, gas station or in a bank. Additionally, ATMs can be filtered out based on specifics, including; drive-thru locations and deposit capabilities. ATM Hunter is free.
Stock Talk
From the experienced to the down right clueless, everyone agrees that you need to keep on top of the stock market and other investing opportunities if you truly want to profit. Now I’m not talking about jumping down to the trading floor to slug it out, but rather bring pertinent information to you when you need it.
iStockManager is a fantastic trading application, regardless if you have a TD Ameritrade account or not. Equity trading, balances, positions, market data and more will be presented to you quite clearly. Your orders can be made right from the application as well. iStockManager is free.
Another option is the Stock Icons application, which provides stock information similar to the native stock app along with some other great tools. Imagine being alerted if a particular stock reaches your ideal price, or having a watch list updated for you or even colour coding to separate multiple stocks. Stock Icons costs $2.99.
Mortgage Madness
Just when you think you’ve finally purchased a house and have escaped paying rent ever again, the dreaded mortgage looms overhead. Ah well, at least one day you’ll finish paying it off and enjoy your home stress free, until you get moved into an old age home.
You can easily figure out your mortgage payments with Look Great – Mortgage Payment Calculator. It’s a quick way to work out payments, based on factors that include; interest rate, insurance, taxes and duration. Now you can see if you can afford your dream home AND the white picket fence to go around it. Looks Great – Mortgage Payment Calculator is available for $2.99.
Watching the Cash Flow
When the pay check arrives, doesn’t it seem as though it disappears just as quickly? Wouldn’t it be nice to see where it is actually going? It may be difficult to come up with some sort of budget, without having a look at the big picture. Of course you can check out your bank account online, but where’s the fun in that?
Mobile Checkbook is one of my favourites. With the ability to record and reconcile transactions when you want to, you’ll find yourself in control of your money. You can track what is being withdrawn, what’s being deposited and what’s being transferred, without breaking a sweat. The application also includes support for recurring transactions. You can also export your transaction lists for multiple accounts in an email as a QIF or XLS attachment. Mobile Checkbook is available for $7.99 until April 30th.
A heavy hitter, like Ascendo Money, is a robust way to gain full financial fortitude. At your fingertips you have access to various graphs, future account balance forecasts, budgets vs. actual balance views and account/statement reconciliation. For more features, there is an option to sync this mobile application with a desktop version. The Ascendo Money mobile and desktop bundle is available for $29.95.
I could go on and on (and on and on) blasting out financial applications, but I thought that these would be a great starting point. Are you using another cash controlling application? Put your money where your mouth is and let us know what you’re using and how it works for you.
