Apps to Help You Create a Budget and Determine if You Need Help with Your Credit

With so much going on in people’s daily lives, it can be extremely difficult for them to find the time to properly manage their finances and ensure that they can maintain good credit scores. As such, it might be wise for those who don’t want to seek credit repair to start looking into and using the various financial control apps and websites that now exist.

In the last several years, a large variety of programs and websites designed specifically to help consumers get a better handle on their finances and see how much they spend on everything in their lives have become extremely popular and widespread. Borrowers who use them may be able to find ways to streamline their monthly budgets so that they can contribute more to their outstanding debt which in turn can have the effect of significantly improving their credit scores.

Seeking out the best options

Of course, when it comes to something as important as a borrower’s finances, it’s extremely vital that any decisions being made are the absolute best ones for them not only in the short term, but into the distant future as well. For this reason, it’s important to properly research the various smartphone apps and websites that are available to help consumers keep a closer tab on their financial lives.

For instance, some of these services allow borrowers only to look at a small number of their accounts. These include mobile banking options and other such services that are provided by financial institutions and the like, and give consumers significant control over those accounts, including the ability to track individual transactions and move money around. However, they likely will not create a complete view because if, for example, they relate only to bank accounts held at one financial institution, they will not necessarily include credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and so forth, unless those accounts are also made through the bank.

Meanwhile, there are also apps that are put out by independent companies which can help to give a broader overview of all accounts in one’s name, as long as the borrower has the information available to them. Using the apps they can input their checking and savings account numbers, credit card information, loans, investment vehicles, and more, which gives them as complete a picture possible of all aspects of their financial lives as possible. Using such a tool, borrowers can see where every cent they earn goes each month, often with spending categorized by type, so that it’s easy to identify frivolities on which money is being spent unnecessarily. Of course, when dealing with such services, there are a number of options, so it is important to weigh the pros and cons each will potentially provide given a borrower’s unique needs.

How this can help rebuild credit

When borrowers use apps or sites that specifically show them a larger number of accounts, rather than just one or a few, they will have the most complete picture possible of their financial situations and therefore be in a better position to address the problems they may be having. For example, they might spend more than they should on dining out every month, but these programs can typically not only spot trends like this, but also advise users of them. That, in turn, could prompt changes to spending habits which can free up significant amounts of money over the course of a month or year.

That saved money could then be used to reduce debts and get missed payments back on track, so that consumers’ credit standings improve dramatically in the course of several months or more. Slashing outstanding balances and getting all payments sent to lenders on time and in full is vital to ensuring ongoing credit health. Combined, these two factors alone make up some 65 percent of borrowers’ credit scores.

Further, once borrowers start chipping away at large debt totals and have ensured they’re not missing any payment deadlines, these apps or sites can often provide them with a little encouragement because they show the status of various accounts in real time. This might show consumers how much work they’ve done since they started undertaking this new initiative, as well as how much ground they still have to cover to reach their goals of improving credit to the point where they once again have a healthy credit score.

Of course, borrowers should also take the time to order copies of their credit reports regularly to make sure that there are no unfair markings which may be marring their standings. If any of these entries are discovered upon receiving such documents and checking them over, it might be wise to work with a credit repair company. These firms may be able to help correct the issue more quickly.