The six best money-saving mobile apps

SPENDING money like a rapper with a new record deal or a shopaholic? Sort yourself some financial planning with apps that can help track and cut back your moments of monetary madness.

Call across the world for free.

THE mobile is a jack of many trades and now it can help you master your finances with money saving apps tracking your frivolity, finding you the best deals, and helping you dodge fees and plan your expenses.

If the Federal Budget has had you considering your bank balance or you simply want to plug a leaky wallet, these apps are worth taking note of.

Pocketbook — $free (iOS, Android)

Keep track of your cash.

This app helps you get a grip on your money and shows you where all your hard earned cash goes. It categorises spending into groceries, travel, clothing etc and with it being the only popular personal finance app to sync with Australian banks it’ll automatically update so you don’t have to manually tap in each time you spend. Notifications will also pop-up on screen alerting you to when money has come out of your account, which might help you catch any previously unseen duplicate or erroneous charging.

Goodbudget — $free (iOS, Android)

Be wise. Budget.

Other than tracking what you flutter away, a good way to tighten things fiscally is to budget. Forget scribbling down forgettable plans on Post-it notes or the fridge door, get this locked into your phone and carry it everywhere. This is a personal and household budgeting app based on the envelope budgeting method (where money for the month is allocated into categories and you spend from there) which helps you see how much is left in the kitty for particular expenses. It’s not the fanciest looking app you’ll see but it’s clear and a good use of red and green will immediately let you know if you’ve spent like Elton John this month.

Splitwise — $free (iOS, Android)

Make sure your mates don’t conveniently forget to pay you.

Never get stung by a bill-dodging mate again with this effective way to remember who paid what for dinner or the last rent instalment. It neatly lists what you and other people spent and does the maths for you by working out who owes who what. If you want to test friendships even further you can also send email IOU reminders.

Groupon — $free (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)

Deals on the go.

Treating yourself to a new purchase only to find it’s cheaper online is a common nuisance. Here you are privy to deals galore with everything such as dining, travel and experiences offering significant discounts that you could have otherwise missed out on. This app version of the website is easy-to-use and gives you an instant code to redeem, so no need to be near a printer.

Motormouth — $2.49 (iOS, Android)

Find the cheapest fuel.

We have an unhealthy obsession with keeping an eye on fluctuating fuel prices. Even a servo from one side of a city to the other can vary wildly so don’t waste what petrol you have left cruising around to find the best deal. This lists all up-to-date prices for all fuel types and will put a drop pin on a map so you can drive straight to it. OK, it’s not free but what you could save on filling up at the right (cheapest) time you could pay for it again many times over.

Viber — $free (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Nokia)

Call across the world for free.

Free calls and free texts to friends no matter where they are in the world. What’s the catch? There isn’t one. Just like WhatsApp offers free text messaging by pinging them over a data, rather than cellular, connection so does this only it also lets you call mobiles of other Viber users for free.