Take care of the pennies and…well, you know the rest. That is very much the premise of this budgeting app, aptly called Pennies.
It’s very simple: set up your budgets. You can have one, for all your spending; or several, if you’d like to separate out your financial commitments (bills, holidays etc.). Allocate a set amount of cash to each of your budgets per month (or per week, or linked to your payday, if you prefer) and then, every time you spend, just enter the amount into the appropriate budget to keep track of how much you’re spending.
There’s even an Apple Watch app to make it super-easy when you’re on the go, to enter in every little bit of cash you spend.
Be honest, you’ve used every excuse in the book for not saving. You don’t even buy it anything. You never eat out, but still at the end of the month you’re in the red. Now, you won’t be able to kid yourself, because the Spending History will tell you exactly where your money went. If you never eat out then how come £172 this month has gone on…err…“Eating Out”?
Pennies will divide up the amounts you’ve allocated to each budget, telling you how much you’re allowed to spend each day and each month – as well as how many days you have left to eke out the dosh. If you go into the red, the screen, helpfully, turns red.
What we really love is the fantastic sound effects (the Old Skool Console setting is the best). Every time you spend, you’ll get satisfying bleeps, dings and trills. Mind you, we don’t advise spending all your cash just so that you can hear the noises. The aim here is to save, remember.