MONEY: Four finance apps to get your dollar ducks in a neat little row.

Words by Hilary Van Leeuwen

Raiz

Raiz, formerly known as Acorns, helps you to save and redirect any loose change into personalised opportunities. This is a great way to begin investing if you don’t know where to start or what on earth you are doing in the investment world. For example, if you buy a coffee for $3.50, Acorns takes the 50 cents change and invests it for you. Upside: It’s not just saving, it’s investing. You get an introduction into the sharemarket and will, more often than not, find yourself making money.

Downside: You don’t really control what stocks you invest in. It’s great for beginners with little to no clue about the stock market but for those who know where they want to invest their money it may not be the right fit.

MoneyBrilliant

BodyMoneyBrilliant has everything you need to get your finances under control and help to save you money. It connects all your bank accounts, anal-yses how/where you spend your money and then look for opportunities for you to spend less. It also finds handy things suited to your financial status, such as cheap gas and electricity deals.Upside: It links all of your accounts includ-ing bank accounts, credit card, superannu-ation, mortgage, etc. and organises every-thing in one place.

Downside: Functionality is slightly limited and many reviews claim that the app itself is a little slow.

You Need A Budget (YNAB)

YNAB helps you to create a realistic budget around your actual income. If you get off-track(and who doesn’t stray occasionally?) It helps you see what you need to do differently to bal-ance your budget. According to reviews, the average YNAB user supposedly pays off $500in debt the first month.Upside: Everything is based on your per-sonal data, not a prototype that may be similar to you.

Downside: It has a pretty steep annualfee of $117.99.

Splitwise

Splitwise is most commonly used in sharehouses to split bills, rent and groceries. It’s a handy tool for keeping track of debt and also those sneaky people who try to get away with not paying youback.Upside: You no longer have to have awkward conversations with your close friends about money.

Downside: The app struggles a bit when it comes to splitting between some mem-bers of your group rather than everyone Involved.