At Caplan Debt Solutions, we offer a variety of services to help you get out of debt trouble and get your financial life back on track, including bankruptcy, consumer proposal, and debt consolidation services. However, we believe that these services should only be exercised as a last resort – they’re intended for clients with serious debt problems and few remaining options.
For clients whose financial problems are less severe, we provide credit counselling. Often, simple changes to your saving and spending habits can make a big difference to your financial health. During our credit counselling sessions, we can discuss and recommend a variety of budgeting and saving solutions, including financial and budgeting apps.
Budgeting apps have grown in popularity over the past several years as younger Canadians have gotten serious about personal finance. Today, there are numerous options available, each with its own positives and negatives. Last month, in an article for The Canadian Press, Leah Golob spoke with three financially savvy millennials who relied on budgeting apps to reduce spending and stay on track with their savings goals.
Jordann Brown, 31, of Halifax, uses the free app Mint: “Mint helped me build a cushion in my cash savings to ride out those financial ups and downs,” she told Golob. “[The app] has definitely helped me stay on track with my monthly budget, which in turn has helped me meet my major financial goals, like becoming debt-free and saving an emergency fund.”
Aashit Vijah, 29, of Toronto, chose the pro version of Dollarbird, for which she pays about $40 per year.
“I realized I didn’t know where my money was going every month,” she said. “I knew I was generally within a budget, but I didn’t know specifically, for instance, how much money I was spending on buying lunches at work or what percentage of my income was going towards rent.”
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is the app that Alexandra Bosanac, 34, of Toronto has been using since 2017.
“I wanted to feel greater control over my finances,” she said. “I was afraid to spend money and I felt like this is just not a sustainable way to live.”
Other budgeting apps include:
- PocketSmith, available for free or by subscription, which is known for its financial forecasting capabilities
- KOHO, another free app, which combines budgeting, saving, and rewards into a single platform
- Wallet, which is great for the goal-oriented saver
- PocketGuard: a simple, straightforward app that links to your bank and credit accounts and lets you know how much you can spend without exceeding your budget
Please note: We are simply listing some available apps here. We have not tested these apps, nor are we endorsing any particular app. We are simply providing debtors with some options for consideration.
While some of our clients need to file for bankruptcy or develop consumer proposals to resolve their debt troubles, others can find relief by making simple changes to their spending habits. We can discuss these changes – and the tools to make them happen, including budgeting apps – at your first credit counselling session. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
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