Use These 5 Apps To Get Out of Debt
Many households are struggling with debt. As of the end of 2019, American consumers owed $14.15 trillion to creditors of all kinds, including credit card companies, mortgage lenders, and more. Many people want to conquer their debt but figuring out how isn’t always easy. Luckily, there are apps that can help. Here’s a look at five apps that can help people get out of debt.
1. Mint
If you want to get out of debt, but don’t even have a budget in place, Mint is the way to get started. It’s easy to use and great for personal finance beginners, letting you get a real picture of your situation and providing guidance on how to improve.
While Mint is technically a budgeting tool, that doesn’t mean it can’t help you get out of debt. By understanding where your money is going and taking control of your finances, you can find opportunities to reduce your costs. Then, you can redirect that “found” money to debt repayment, allowing you to become debt-free faster.
Plus, Mint has a “Goals” feature. You can select options like “Pay off credit card debt” and associate specific accounts with that objective. The app can then tell you how much you have to save to make that goal a reality, and it will track your progress towards it, too.
2. ChangEd
If you’re battling with student loan debt, ChangEd could help you pay down your loans faster. The premise is similar to the Acorns app. After syncing your bank account, the ChangEd app reviews your purchases, rounding up the totals to the next dollar.
Then, it deposits that “change” into an account (one that is FDIC-insured). When the balance of that account hits $100, that money is sent as a payment toward your student loan debt.
In many cases, ChangEd can help a person chip away at their student loans without them feeling any pinch. The roundup method means the monthly deposits will be small, and most people can work them into their budget.
Plus, the process is relatively automatic. As a result, you won’t have to worry about taking any actions to keep you moving toward your payoff goals.
However, if you’re concerned about having enough cash to cover the roundups, you’re in luck. ChangEd offers several savings speeds, including a Budget option, so you can always slow things down if you’d like.
It’s important to note that ChangEd does charge $1 per month for the service. However, many find the cost worth it.
3. Credit Card Payoff
On average, indebted American households – those who do not pay off their credit card debts in full every month – owe $9,333 in credit card debt alone. That’s a pretty intimidating number for most people, particularly if they are trying to figure out how to get out of debt.
Luckily, with the Credit Card Payoff app, it becomes easier to visualize. The tool shows how making various changes (such as increasing the payment) can shorten the repayment time. Additionally, it can calculate how much you would need to send to the lender each month to pay off the debt in a specific amount of time. You’ll also be able to review how much you’ll save in interest by working quickly to pay down the card.
All of the information is very easy to understand thanks to the charts. Plus, you can compare a variety of approaches, allowing you to choose the plan that works best for you and gives you the desired results.
4. Debt Payoff Assistant
If you want to try the snowball method for repaying your debt, Debt Payoff Assistant can help you stay organized. You just enter in the details about any credit card or loan you want to include in the plan to get started. Then, the app will help track your progress.
You can track as many debts as you’d like. Additionally, you can design several plans and compare them while also making use of the included calculators and amortization tables.
5. Qoins
Another app that uses an Acorn-like approach, Qoins rounds up your transactions to the nearest dollar. At the end of the month, Qoins sends the stashed cash to a creditor. Essentially, it automates extra payments toward your debt, all while using an approach that’s so painless, most people won’t even notice the impact on their budget.
Additionally, users have the ability to pause the roundups at any time. If they are worried that their bank account balance is too low, the pause will make sure that Qoins doesn’t withdraw any cash.
Like ChangEd and many roundup-style apps, Qoins does charge a monthly service fee. However, users consider the $1.99 cost worthwhile in most cases.
Have you tried any of the apps above? Do you know of any more apps that can help people get out of debt? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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