Money Tools Archives - Hanover Mortgages

Apache is functioning normally

September 8, 2023 by Brett Tams

Looking for an app that does it all – automate savings, track spending, investing, and get a free $250 cash advance?

Welcome to my Albert App Review.

Looking for an all-in-one personal finance app that will help you manage your money, save for your future, or even get a free cash advance when you need it?

In that case, you’ve come to the right spot!

In this Albert App Review, I’ll go over everything you need to know about the popular Albert app, and I will discuss its features, benefits, how the app can help you, and more.

You can sign up for the Albert app here.

The Albert app is becoming more and more popular as a money tool that can simplify your life. Instead of needing a bunch of different financial apps, Albert can help you consolidate your phone and need less. The app is a one-stop shop for your monthly financial needs – it automates savings, helps you manage your budget, and has spending, borrowing, and investing tools. With this easy app and the wide range of tools that you can use, Albert has many benefits.

This app reduces the need for multiple apps since it offers a wide range of tools and features.

If you’re looking for a money saving app, Albert can be a great option to start with. There’s a reason why it’s one of the top money apps in the App Store!

9

Albert is one of the most popular personal finance apps, and it is designed to make it easier to save and invest all in one place. This app has features for saving, investing, and budgeting.

Quick Summary – Albert App Review

Albert app is a financial management tool that helps you to save, spend, and invest right in the app
The Genius feature allows you to ask any money question and get a real response from a real person
Albert app’s cash advance feature can get you up to $250
The app is free, but some features do require a monthly subscription

Albert App Review

What Is The Albert App?

The Albert app is a personal finance app that will help you manage your money better by making it easier to save and invest all in one place. This app has features for saving, investing, budgeting, and more.

It has many different features, such as budgeting tools, real-time alerts, and a helpful service where you can ask an expert money questions and get real answers catered to your situation. The app strives to make financial management easier and more organized for everyone.

Albert makes it easy to manage your finances, eliminating the need for visits to physical bank branches or formal phone calls with a financial expert. With the ease of using an app, you can easily track your financial well-being, helping you stay organized, reach goals, and find smart ways to save, spend, and invest. Albert stands out by simplifying your personal finances, all while keeping things very easy to use.

Albert also has a feature where you can get a small cash advance of up to $250 with no late fees, interest, or credit check. This advance is repaid from your next paycheck, giving you the option to avoid high-interest personal loan lenders for those in need of quick cash.

There are no hidden fees, and it is free to sign up. They do have a paid subscription plan that you can sign up for which will give you access to different features such as financial advice from experts. I talk about the paid part further below.

Does The Albert App Give You Money?

Albert provides instant cash advances to users who need small amounts of money before their payday. They do not charge late fees, interest, or run a credit check for this feature.

This can be a great way to not pay high rates on payday loans for when you just need a little bit of cash.

How it works is that the Albert app will send you up to $250 from your next paycheck straight to your bank account. Then, you simply repay them when you get paid. You can pay a small fee to get your money instantly, or you can wait 2-3 days and get the cash advance for free.

Albert Instant is available to all members of the Albert app who qualify, whether they are a paid subscriber or not. Now, not everyone will qualify. To determine your eligibility for a cash advance, they look at things such as if your income is direct deposited into your connected bank account, if your bank account has been open for at least 2 months and has a balance greater than $0, and if you’ve received consistent income in the past 2 months from the same employer.

Albert App Features

The Albert App has many other features, such as:

Banking with Albert

Albert has a user-friendly banking service through its partnership with FDIC-insured Sutton Bank. This includes features like no minimum balance requirement and access to your paycheck up to two days early.

With an Albert account, you can also earn cash back rewards, such as getting a cash back bonus on gas, groceries, and more when you purchase items with your Albert debit card. You can earn an average of $2.00 per gas tank fill-up. You do need to be a Genius subscriber to take advantage of this benefit.

The app also has fee-free ATMs for their paid subscribers at over 55,000 ATMs (when using the Albert Mastercard debit card).

Albert Savings

Albert Savings is the app’s automatic savings tool that is available to Genius subscribers. It saves money from your linked bank account to your Albert Savings account.

This automated savings tool helps you build up your funds without the stress of manual transfers. It analyzes your income and expenses to calculate the amount you can save comfortably. Or, you can manually set your own savings schedule.

The Albert saving feature can help you to save more money and reach your goals.

The money in your Albert Savings account is yours, and you can withdraw it at any time.

Albert Budgeting

The Albert Budgeting feature is super handy and packed with a bunch of useful tools to help you manage your money with ease.

The Albert app has budgeting tools to help you track your income and expenses, find fees that you shouldn’t be paying, and watch your financial progress. The app will send real-time alerts and notifications to help you stay on track with your budget. But, that’s not all.

Other features of Albert Budgeting include:

The Albert app can negotiate your bills so that you can save money. The app will help you lower your bills such as for cable TV, internet, cell phone, and more.
The Albert app also makes it easy to see all of your budgeting info in one quick place, such as tracking your recent bills, seeing how much you’re spending in different categories, and more.
The app will categorize your spending so that you can see where your money is going (this can help you to realize where you may need to cut back)
Also, the app will help you find hidden charges and subscriptions that you may not be using.

These are all very helpful features that can help you save a lot of money in the long run.

Albert Investing

If you’re new to investing or you’re looking for an easier way to invest, the Albert Investing side of the app can make getting started much, much easier.

With Albert Investing, you can start an investment portfolio that matches the amount of investment risk you want to take on and your financial goals. The app even provides investment guidance and lets you start investing without any minimum investment amount needed.

So, that means that you can start investing with Albert Investing with just $1.

You can get started investing in the app by answering some questions (the app wants to learn more about you so that it can make selections based on your personal situation). The app will then choose individual stocks or funds for you to invest in (or, you can choose these yourself if you know what you want to invest in). You can even ask the app to only invest in themes as well, such as companies that are interested in sustainability and the environment. You can then continue to invest automatically or on a recurring schedule. The auto-investing feature can be a great tool if you are looking to save time and invest regularly without really thinking about it.

Albert Genius

This is one of my favorite parts in the app.

The Albert Genius service gives you financial advice from a team of expert financial advisors (this is a team of real human experts that you are able to talk to – not a robot), available through a paid monthly subscription in the app.

You can ask their experts any money question that you have, whether it’s a big or small question, a general question, or something more specific to your personal situation. Your questions can be about anything from credit cards, budgeting, student loans, investing, credit card rewards, life insurance, your personal financial life, and more. These experts will help you answer your questions 7 days a week too. And, there’s no limit to the amount of questions you can ask.

This is a very nice feature to have access to.

Some of the questions you can ask include:

How do I start a budget?
How do I lower my car insurance? Am I paying too much?
How much can I personally afford to spend on a house?
How can I improve my credit score?
How much money should I have in my emergency fund?
Should I use extra cash to pay off debt or invest?
Can you help me to better under travel miles and credit cards?

There are so many different questions that you can ask the team at Albert!

Albert Protect

Albert Protect is a feature for paid subscribers on the app.

The Albert Protect feature monitors your money around the clock. The app will alert you if something suspicious comes up for any of your connected financial accounts or your identity. The app continuously watches for suspicious activity on your credit report, the dark web, data breaches, and unusual charges.

How Does The Albert App Work?

Signing up for Albert is easy!

Simply click here to get started.

Or, you can head to the Google Play or App Store, depending on your device (Android or iOS), and download the app. Once installed, the app will walk you through the setup process. There’s no need to worry about a credit check as Albert doesn’t require one for signing up.

Next, you’ll be asked some questions about yourself such as your name and age. The app is trying to learn more about you. Here’s what Albert says specifically about the questions that they ask: “We do this in order to best serve your needs: a 19-year-old single student has different financial objectives and priorities than a 37-year-old professional with two kids who will be starting college soon.”

Then, you’ll be asked to connect your financial accounts to the app. So, you may connect your bank account that your bills come out of, your credit card accounts, student loans, mortgage, investments accounts, and more. You can connect as many or as little as you want. This information helps the app better serve you so that it can give you recommendations, track your spending, give you alerts, and more.

After you sign up, you’ll have access to the many features mentioned above to help you manage your finances. As you learned above, there are a lot of tools in this app, so I recommend just playing around in the app at first to better familiarize yourself with it and see how it can help you. Maybe sit down for a few minutes at a time until you understand how to use the app in the best way for your financial situation. That’s exactly what I did when I first downloaded the app because it was a little intimidating at first trying to see all of the different things that the app can do. But, it’s so nice that everything can be done right from one app!

To sign up for the app, they do require that you be a U.S. citizen or resident, be at least 18 years old, and have a bank account with a U.S. financial institution. Unfortunately, at this time, the app is not available to those outside the U.S.

How Much Does Albert App Cost?

The Albert app has a lot of different features, so you may be wondering what the cost is or if there are any monthly fees.

The great thing is that many of the tools and features on the Albert app are free.

For example, the Albert App has a fee-free cash advance feature to help you cover unexpected expenses. If you need some extra cash until your next paycheck, you can get up to $250 as a cash advance, with no cost. There are no late fees, overdraft fees, or maintenance fees associated with this service.

You can also start investing with as little as $1 and use the free cash advances feature (as long as you meet eligibility requirements) without the need for a subscription.

Now, the Genius subscription does have a cost.

If you’re looking to unlock all of Albert’s helpful budgeting, saving, and investing tools, you might want to consider their Genius subscription. This subscription starts at just $14.99 per month and gives you access to some helpful benefits like cash bonuses and personalized financial advice. Keep in mind that the true value of the Genius subscription depends on how often you use the app and all its features. So, if you’re a frequent user of the app, it could be a great investment in your financial well-being.

Is Albert App Safe to Use?

Yes, Albert is safe to use.

Let’s start with the basics – the Albert app isn’t a bank, but it teams up with FDIC-insured Sutton Bank to offer you banking services. That means that the money in your Albert Cash account is safe because it’s protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (also known as FDIC). That’s a fancy way of saying your funds are insured for up to $250,000.

Your Albert Savings accounts are held at FDIC-insured banks, including Coastal Community Bank, Axos Bank, and Wells Fargo.

When it comes to data security and privacy, Albert takes that seriously too. The app has security measures to protect your sensitive personal and financial information.

As for customer service, if you ever face any issues with the Albert app, you can easily reach out to their support team for assistance. Many Albert app reviews have mentioned their responsive customer service.

Pros and Cons of Albert

Like with any personal finance app, there are pros and cons. I can’t write an Albert app Review and not talk about the pros and cons, so that you can make the best decision for yourself.

Some of the benefits of using Albert include:

The app aggregates all of your accounts – Albert gives you an overview of your financial life by combining all your accounts in one place.
Savings and investments – The app offers customizable savings goals and can create a custom portfolio for your investment needs. It will also keep track of your transactions and help you identify potential savings opportunities as well as avoid late fees.
The Albert app is safe – Your information is kept safe with the same level of security used by major banks, as well as FDIC insurance.
Albert Genius – This feature provides personalized money advice from financial experts (real people, not a robot!) to help you make smarter financial decisions. You can ask any money question and will get personalized advice.
Free cash advance – Get a cash advance on your next paycheck without any late fees using Albert Instant, or access your paycheck up to two days early with direct deposit.
Free ATM withdrawals – This is a feature paid monthly members get to have.

While Albert has many helpful tools and features, there are some potential downsides to using the app such as:

App-only functionality – All features of Albert are limited to the app, which may be inconvenient for some people who prefer to be on their computer instead of their cell phone.
Fees – While many features in Albert are free to use, some, such as the Albert Genius service, require a subscription fee. The fee is quite affordable for the services you receive, though.
No phone calls – If you need to talk to customer support, there is no phone number to call. Instead, it’s all done through the app, text message, or email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to commonly asked questions about the Albert app.

Is Albert a trustworthy app?

Yes, Albert is a trustworthy app. Your banking money is FDIC-insured, with coverage up to $250,000, and your investments are SIPC-insured. The app has many financial tools and you can even get personalized advice from experts.

How much can you borrow with Albert?

The maximum for a cash advance is $250.

How do you get $250 from Albert app?

Albert offers a cash advance feature called Albert Instant. After you enable this feature and meet the requirements, you can access funds quickly, sometimes up to $250.

Does Albert give you money right away?

In some cases, Albert can provide instant cash advances or help you get your paycheck up to two days early via direct deposit, depending on your employer and banking situation.

How long does it take to get money from Albert?

Getting your hands on the cash you need from Albert is all about the service you’re using. If you’re in a hurry, instant cash advances could have those funds in your pocket right away. But for paycheck advances and other features, it might take a couple of days before you see the money.

What are the requirements to get a cash advance on Albert?

Requirements for a cash advance with Albert include a history of consistent income, using the Albert app for a certain period, and having a bank account linked.

Does Albert hurt your credit?

Albert does not directly impact your credit score as it is not a lender. However, using the app’s guidance to improve financial management can help you work towards building or maintaining a higher credit score.

Does Albert need your social security number?

Yes, when signing up for the Albert app, it will ask you for your SSN. This is because it is an investment app and they need to verify that it is actually you signing up.

Is Albert or Chime better?

Albert and Chime are different financial apps with different features. Albert focuses on money management, investing, and advice, while Chime is a mobile banking app offering checking and savings account services. Your choice should depend on your financial goals and preferences.

Why is Albert taking money from my account?

If you’re already an Albert user, this may be a troubleshooting question that you have (and perhaps you searched Google and found this blog post). Albert takes money from your account (such as your bank checking account) to fund the services you’ve opted into, such as investments or automatic savings. You can check the app’s settings or contact Albert to learn more,

Is Albert app affiliated with a specific local bank?

Albert is backed by Sutton Bank.

Is the Albert app reliable and secure for banking?

Yes, Albert is a reliable and secure app for managing your finances. It is FDIC and SIPC-insured and has a variety of financial tools and resources to help you improve your financial situation.

How is Albert app customer service?

I did some research and I found great Albert app reviews on their customer service. The Albert app has customer service options within the app and online. They do not have an option to call their customer service and speak on the phone. But, if you’re like me, you probably prefer to get your questions answered via text message or email anyways.

Is Albert app legit?

Yes, the Albert app is a legitimate personal finance app that can help you manage and improve your finances. Millions of people (last I checked, over 10,000,000 people use this app) use the app’s many helpful tools. The app is available for people on Apple or Android devices and it has great reviews.

Who is Albert app best for? Who should not use it?

The Albert app is a helpful all-around financial app that can help many different people. If you’re looking for an all-in-one app to help you save, spend, borrow, and invest, Albert might be a good fit for you. The app is helpful for people who:

Want fee-free cash advances up to $250 (this is a feature that many people like because they don’t have to sign up for high-interest rate loans when they just need something for a short amount of time)
Need an app that gives you an overview of all your accounts in one place
Are interested in automatic savings and easy investing tools

Albert takes the work out of managing your finances and may be helpful for people who are trying to stay on top of their personal budget without having to juggle multiple apps.

However, Albert may not be the best fit for everyone and not everyone needs to have it. So, if you fall into any of the below, then this may not be the app for you

If you’re an experienced investor looking for more advanced trading tools, then this may not be the best investing app for you (the Albert app is basic in this area because I think it caters more to those who are new investors or are looking for something easier to manage)
If you’re someone who doesn’t feel comfortable linking their bank accounts to a third-party app (you will need to link accounts in order to get full use of the app – I understand that some people may not want to do this)

Albert App Review – Summary

I hope you enjoyed my Albert App Review.

I think this is a very helpful app, and I can see why it’s one of the most popular money apps today.

Albert is an app designed to help manage your saving, budgeting, investing, and more, all in one easy app. The app has all of the different money tools that you would want, plus some extras that you may have not realized you needed yet.

Albert is an app that helps you to manage many different parts of your financial life right from your cell phone (it’s not available on computers).

They even have the Genius feature (one of my favorite parts of the app), which is an in-app chat where you can ask one of their experts anything related to money, from credit cards, buying a car, student loans, and more. This is very helpful if you ever have questions about money.

And, if you need cash now, Albert may be able to give you a small advance of up to $250. There are no late fees, interest, or a credit check. If you want to avoid personal loan lenders who have high-interest rates, and only need a small cash advance, then Albert may be a place to start with. How this works is that they send you $250 from your next paycheck. You simply repay them when you receive your next paycheck.

You should keep in mind that investment options don’t include retirement plans and customer service can only be reached via email and text. Though the app’s budgeting tools are more basic compared to budgeting-focused apps, the Albert app still has many, many benefits to help you manage your finances effectively and it’s all from one easy-to-use app.

You can learn more about Albert here.

What’s your favorite personal finance app? Do you use the Albert app?

Source: makingsenseofcents.com

Apache is functioning normally

June 5, 2023 by Brett Tams

Inside: A biweekly budget is a budget that is broken into two-week periods. Learn how to create biweekly budgets and download your free template.

Many people create budgets, but only a few budget on a biweekly basis.

That is an interesting statistic because 43% of Americans are paid on a biweekly pay period (source).

So, the thought process is more people should be interested in learning knowing how to create a biweekly budget. But, in reality, most people give up on budgeting or move to a budget-by-paycheck method.

Recently, we moved over to a biweekly pay period. And thus, we quickly had to change how we focused on budgeting.

While most financial bloggers and gurus would agree, budgeting with biweekly paychecks makes the whole concept of budgeting hard.

While biweekly budgeting isn’t easy, it can be done!

This post will show you how to create an easy-to-manage and effective biweekly budget so that you can conquer your financial goals in the most efficient way possible!

We will go through the exact steps I use to create a biweekly budget to cover two weeks’ worth of expenses, get one month ahead on your bills, or adjust your planning to cover your monthly expenses.

This is a basic example, and you should use your own personal situation when developing your own budget.

Do you struggle to keep your finances on track? If so, here are some tips for creating a biweekly budget.

What is a biweekly budget?

A biweekly budget is a budget that takes into account a person collecting a paycheck every 14 days. This type of budget is beneficial for those who are paid on a biweekly schedule, as it allows them to plan their spending more effectively.

However, many people find it difficult when bills are due on a monthly basis.

Difference between biweekly and semi-monthly paychecks

When receiving paychecks twice a month happens with two types of pay schedules either biweekly or twice-per-month. The difference between these two schedules is the number of checks per year.

Those who are paid biweekly receive 26 checks per year, while those who are paid twice-per-month receive 24 checks per year.

Making a budget on a biweekly income can be difficult because the total number of checks received in a year varies depending on the pay schedule you have.

This post may contain affiliate links, which helps us to continue providing relevant content and we receive a small commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the full disclosure here.

Enjoy guilt-free spending and effortless saving with a friendly, flexible method for managing your finances.

Start Your Free Trial.

How does a biweekly budget work?

A biweekly budget divides your budget into two parts, one for each paycheck that is received. This can be helpful for those who want to better track their spending or for those who want to save money.

It can be helpful to think of your biweekly budget as two separate budgets – one for bills and one for everything else.

When you create a biweekly budget, you are essentially creating two budgets over the span of ten months. Then, in the other two months, you will receive three paychecks; thus, need to create three budgets.

Since many monthly expenses remain the same when switching from a month budget to a biweekly budget, knowing which expenses should be increased or decreased beforehand can make the process smoother.

Additionally, it is helpful to know how much money you will need for each check. That way, you won’t have to worry about bouncing checks or accidentally overdrawing your account.

How to create a biweekly budget

Creating a biweekly budget is a great way to start getting your finances in order. You can either create your own template or use one of the many templates that are available online for free.

One popular template is ours!

Money Bliss Biweekly Budget Template (see below to get your copy). This template is available as a free download and can be used in conjunction with our budget binder. The planner allows you to track your income and expenses, as well as financial documents such as bills and bank statements.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when creating a biweekly budget:

Adjust your budget as needed.
Be flexible when adjusting to this 2 week budget style.
Compare your regular expenses to your spending from the past month.

Now, here are the steps to creating a biweekly budget that works.

Step 1: Print out a calendar

You need to print out the dates you get paid from your employer. On the biweekly paycheck, Fridays are usually pay dates; you just need to know which Fridays!

So, print out a blank calendar. Write down when you get paid along with when your bills and expenses are due.

This will help you get an idea of where you are spending your money and where you can cut back.

Many people find it helpful to color code by category and add stickers. This will help you see your budget at a glance.

Step 2: Put in a buffer

This will help ensure that you don’t have to worry about going into debt if something unexpected comes up.

Ideally, you should try to save at least two weeks’ worth of living expenses so that you know you’ll be able to cover your costs even if something goes wrong.

For us, all of our income goes into an “income checking” account. Then, at the beginning of the month, we transfer money into our “bills checking” to cover our expenses for the month.

Then, we always have at least one month of expenses on hand – just in case.

Step 3: Organize expenses

The easiest way to do this is by category. There are a few different ways to categorize your expenses, but the most common are:

Fixed or recurring expenses: These are expenses that happen every month, like rent or utilities
Variable or occasional expenses: These are expenses that happen each month but vary in amount, like groceries or entertainment
Annual or quarterly expenses: These costs are less frequent, but take a good chunk of your budget like an annual insurance payment or kid’s sports fees
One-time only expenses: These are one-time only costs and you don’t anticipate them again.

For most people, the struggle happens when organizing expenses. The expenses you “forgot” about are what blow your budget. Honestly, these are not forgotten expenses – just something you forgot to plan for.

Step 4: Focus on Zero Based Budgeting

Additionally, it’s important to use a zero-based budgeting approach.

With this method, you start by assigning every penny of income a job, whether it be for rent, groceries, or savings. This way, you can make sure that you’re not overspending each month.

A zero-based budget is a type of budget that starts with the assumption that there is nothing in your bank account.

This includes both predictable and unpredictable costs.

In the next steps, you will lay out what paycheck will cover what bills.

For example, some costs, like your rent or mortgage payment, will likely stay the same from one biweekly period to the next. By taking into account both types of expenses, you can get a more accurate picture of how much money you will need each pay period.

Learn more about zero based budgeting.

Step 5: Write your first biweekly budget

Writing a biweekly budget is the first step to creating financial stability. It’s important that you set up a plan for each paycheck to make sure your bills get paid.

When creating your first biweekly zero-based budget, you’ll want to start by paying your immediate obligations. This includes any bills or fixed expenses like rent or car payments that are due during the first pay period. After that, focus on covering your variable expenses such as groceries, gas, or eating out.

To make sure every dollar has a job, you should consider these tips:

If you have any leftover money at the end of the month, send it to your savings or make extra debt payments.
Make sure that each category in your budget has a specific amount assigned to it.
Keep track of your spending so that you can stay on track and adjust as needed.

Paying your most important bills first is a crucial step in making sure that your finances are on track.

Step 6: Write Your second biweekly budget

The second biweekly budget is a budget that’s typically created for the 2nd paycheck of the month. This budget would cover the next two weeks and may need to cover expenses at the beginning of next month before you get paid again.

Just like creating a budget plan for the 1st paycheck, you will do the same again. Prioritize any fixed expenses first, then add in variable expenses or sinking funds to contribute to.

In order to make your budget as accurate as possible, you should account for fluctuations in your expenses. This is where the buffer comes in – you put a certain amount of money aside each month to cover any unexpected costs. Then, you can start planning for them in the upcoming months.

Once again, if you have leftover money after budgeting for the two weeks, you can either send it to your savings account or start paying down your debt. If you choose to save, make sure that the money is in a place where it will earn interest and grow over time. If you choose to pay down debt, make sure that the payments are more than the minimum amount due so that you can see results quickly.

Step 7: Start tracking

Now that you have your biweekly budget template set up, it’s time to start filling in the numbers and track your budget. This part can be a little tricky, but with a little effort, you’ll be able to save money and get ahead on your debt payments.

First, take a look at your income and expenses for the month. How does this compare to what you’ve budgeted? If you’re coming in under budget in some areas, great! You can either use this extra money to bolster your savings or make extra debt payments. However, if you’re over budget in some areas, don’t worry – we’ll work through that below.

Next, take a look at your sinking funds.

These are accounts where you save money each month to cover specific expenses. How much money do you need to save each month in order to cover your bills? If you’re not sure, take a look at your past bills and use that as a guide. Once you know how much money you need to save, divide it by two and put that amount into your biweekly budget.

This will help ensure that you always have the money you need saved when the bill comes due.

If you have any leftover money after filling in your budget, send it to savings or make extra debt payments.

You can also use this extra money to invest in yourself (by taking classes, for example), but be careful not to overspend!

Creating and sticking to a biweekly budget is a great way to start saving money and getting your finances under control.

Biweekly budgeting tips

When it comes to budgeting, biweekly budgets can be a helpful way to streamline the process. By taking an hour or so at the beginning of each month to set up your budget, you can avoid potential headaches down the road.

It’s also important to remember to write everything down! This includes both fixed and variable expenses.

Tip #1 – Change Due Dates of Bills

If you’re having trouble with your bills, don’t hesitate to call companies and ask them to change the due dates.

This is something I do whenever I open a new credit card. I want the credit card date to close at the end of the month.

Tip #2 – Age Your Money

You may also want to save up for one month’s worth of expenses so that you always have a cushion in case something unexpected comes up.

This is also the first step to stop living paycheck to paycheck.

When you have a cushion of savings, you’re less likely to fall into debt if something unexpected happens.

Tip #3 – Track Your 2 Week Budget

There are plenty of tools for budgeting out there. In fact, here are the best budgeting apps available.

It offers a variety of helpful tips for getting started, as well as ways to automate time-consuming tasks. With this tool, you’ll be able to improve your budgeting and financial insights in no time!

Many popular options include a budgeting app, Excel, or Google Sheets. Pick what works best for you

Tip #4 – Focus on Your Goals & Finances

In order to be successful, you’ll need to set financial goals for yourself and make plans to achieve them.

As with any other goal, it’s easier said than done! It can take a lot of time, work, and effort to reach your goal.

If you’re not sure where to begin or what goals are right for you, here are some examples:

This is just a sample of the types of goals you can set. If you’re not sure where to start, just think about what’s important to you and your family.

What are some financial goals that you have? Write down your goals and make a plan to achieve them.

What to avoid when you’re paid biweekly

When you’re paid biweekly, there are a few things you should avoid in order to make the most of your money.

You need to learn which payment type is best if you are trying to stick to a budget.

Since biweekly budgeting can be more difficult, you need to know the pitfalls to avoid.

Pitfall #1 – Spending All your Money Too Quick

First, don’t spend your money as soon as you get it. This will leave you with nothing left for the following two weeks.

When having to use one paycheck to cover most of your big expenses like mortgage/rent or insurance, that leaves very little money for groceries or gas

Try to have a savings goal and save for that.

For example, don’t wait until the end of the month to spend all your money. This can help you save more money and have something left over at the end of the month.

Pitfall #2 – Forgetting Bills

Second, don’t forget to budget for bills and other expenses. Make sure you have enough money to cover your costs, especially those non-frequent bills like car registration.

By doing this, you’ll be able to ensure that you have enough money each week to cover what you need.

Pitful # 3 – Quit Bi-Weekly Budget Completely

Yep, I get it budgeting your paycheck over a 2-week budget is difficult. It may feel like pushing a square through a circle. It takes a different mindset and a little more planning to make it happen.

If anything, try to avoid impulse buys. Wait until the next paycheck and see if you still want the purchase. That will help you not to overspend on unnecessary items.

What to do when you have a third paycheck?

This is the BEST benefit of a biweekly paycheck. Twice a year, you will receive 3 paychecks in a month instead of just two.

Looking forward to having a third paycheck, you can either save it or spend it.

If you save it, you can use it as a down payment on a house or invest it in a retirement fund. If you spend it, you can use it to pay down debt, remodel a house, buy a new-to-you car, or go on a vacation.

There are a few things you can do when you have an extra paycheck:

Use it to pay down debt: If you have high-interest debts, using your third paycheck to pay them off can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Invest it: If you’re comfortable with taking on some risk, investing your extra paycheck could lead to bigger returns down the road.
Sinking Funds: Those yearly expenses can weigh heavily on your budget. So, set extra money aside for those payments.
Put the money towards your goals: Whatever your ambition is, here is money to help you get there faster.
Spend it on something fun: Obviously, this isn’t the smartest option, but if you’ve been working hard and deserve a little treat, go for it!

Just make sure that you’re not spending more than you can afford.

Free Printable Bi weekly Budget Templates

There are a number of different printable 2 week budget templates that can help you get your finances in order. Most of them are simple and easy-to-use, and they’re not scary to look at. In addition, many of them have templates that you can download and/or punch holes into so that you can use them as binders or notebooks.

One great option is the budget tracking worksheet. This cute template is simple yet effective, and it will help you track your spending each month.

How do you make a monthly budget with biweekly pay?

There are a couple of ways to make a monthly budget if you receive biweekly paychecks. You can either budget by paycheck, divide out your expenses between biweekly paychecks, or focus on a monthly budget.

If you choose to budget by paycheck, you’ll create a new budget for each pay period and then stick to it. This method gives you a better understanding of the flow of money in your bank account and will help you keep track of your bills more carefully.

The other option is to budget monthly, which is for people who live paycheck to paycheck. In this case, you would budget off 24 paychecks and make plans for your two budget paychecks. Then, two of your paychecks would be budgeted for the monthly budget.

However, many people argue the Budget-By-Paycheck method can help reduce stress since it allows for more flexibility.

In either case, it’s important that you track your spending throughout the month so that you can make adjustments as needed.

Time to Create Your Bi weekly Budget Calendar

This budget will be a little more complicated than your monthly budget because your paychecks are not always going to be paid on the same day of the month. However, most of your bills are usually fixed and don’t change from month to month.

So, you need to plot out which bills you will pay with each paycheck ahead of time in order to make sure you have enough money to pay them all and keep them organized.

It is important to remember that when creating your budget, you need to give yourself some grace to make sure it works for you while you work on perfecting your budgeting style.

For us, having a buffer of money in our “income checking” account takes away the stress of bills and anxiety that we will run out of money. We understand that we need to use sinking funds for those variable expenses.

However, it is important to note that a biweekly budget tends to forget events such as birthdays or vacations from being considered in spending plans. So, make sure to include them.

Now that you have a good idea of how much money you make and how much money you need to live comfortably, it’s time to start creating your biweekly budget.

Also, taking time to understand your personal financial statement is important.

From all of the free and paid budgeting apps, here are our top budgeting apps to check out!

This section may contain affiliate links, which helps us to continue providing relevant content and we receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please read the full disclosure below.

Personal Capital Advisors Corporation (“PCAC”) compensates Money Bliss (“Company”) for new leads. (“Company”) is not an investment client of PCAC.

Personal finance and money management software allows you to manage spending, create monthly budgets, track investments, retirement and more.

Save 40% off on new memberships.

Enjoy guilt-free spending and effortless saving with a friendly, flexible method for managing your finances.

Change your relationship with money!

Photo Credit:
www.personalcapital.com

Personal Capital is wealth management for the Internet Age. The online platform combines digital technology with highly personalized service to provide a holistic view of a unique financial picture (AKA your net worth).

Make sure to connect all of your accounts within 7 days to set up your Personal Financial dashboard.

Tiller is the only tool that automatically updates Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel with your spending, transactions, and balances each day.

Start your free trial.

Automate your financial plan with set-and-forget money tools that fit right into your daily life.

That’s why Qapital puts your goals front and center, then helps you plan your spending, saving, and investing around them.

Manage your money less in 5 minutes each week. Reach your money goals with confidence! The personal finance app gives you something to look forward to.

“The easiest, most comprehensive way to both see where your money is going and plan for future expenses.”

Your automated financial assistant and budget tracker are designed to put you back in control of your money.

Stay on top of your spending, easily track bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and find ways to improve!

Photo Credit:
moneybliss.org

HoneyMoney increases your awareness about your money habits. Being fully aware of your money naturally changes how you spend it.

Great way to use cash flow budgeting. Plus uses “envelopes” to budget.

Start your free trial.

Moneyspire is user-friendly personal finance and small business accounting software that brings your entire finances together in one place.

Have total control over your financial life in one click.

Source: moneybliss.org

Apache is functioning normally

May 24, 2023 by Brett Tams

This post may contain affiliate links, which helps us to continue providing relevant content and we receive a small commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the full disclosure here.

Empower Personal Wealth, LLC (“EPW”) compensates Money Bliss for new leads. Money Bliss is not an investment client of Personal Capital Advisors Corporation or Empower Advisory Group, LLC.

You are looking for the best investment app to help you save money, but all of them seem too complicated. You want something that is simple, easy to use, helpful, and even better if the app is free.

Empower is an online service for tracking your finances. Before a merger, the company began in 2009, and to this day it has been growing exponentially with a user base of over two million people.

Personal Capital is now Empower.

The app works on desktop as well as mobile devices, giving users the ability to track their spending easily wherever they go.

Empower also offers a suite of tools that help you get out more information about how you are using your money so that you can make better financial decisions.

On this Empower review, we will focus on what they do well, how it works for those who use it, and where Empower could improve.

Don’t forget… here is a list of all of the budgeting apps on the market.

If you are looking for an easier way to monitor your financials and see how healthy your finances really are, then you may want to check out what Empower has to offer.

What is Empower?

Empower is an online tool for tracking your finances.

It has been called the best financial app out there, and I agree with that statement. But, I personally use it as one of the money management tools to help guide our financial decisions.

I have used Empower to track my investments for over six years now, which probably makes me a bit of an expert on this topic because I use it on a regular basis.

Overall, Empower is a financial planning and wealth management tool that users can use to manage their net worth. The product offers tools for managing investments, retirement, debt payoff, and other personal finance goals.

How does it work?

First of all, Empower is a FREE app that helps you keep track of all your accounts. It can help you to invest better and did we mention… it is free to use!

To get the most out of this app, you’ll have to link each of your financial accounts one by one so that Empower can learn how you spend money.

It takes a couple of minutes to create an account and verify your identity.

The longest step is linking accounts to the Empower app. Just make sure you do this step within 7 days to get the most out of the app.

Features of Empower

The features of Empower include the ability to visualize your overall financial picture, keep track of your investments in a dashboard, and see which companies you are invested in.

Most people associate Empower as one of the best tools to help with investing, like a stock screener and an investment calculator.

But, there are many great features available for free including:

Net Worth Planner
Retirement Planner
Fee Analyzer
Cash Flow Management
Savings Planner
Budgeting
College Savings Planner
Investment Checkup

Pros and Cons of Empower

First of all, Empower is free to use. So, you might as well test drive the system and check out if the Empower app fits what you are looking for.

Just like any of the Empower reviews will tell you, there are positives and negatives with every type of money management app available.

You just have to decide the most important features for you. As well as what you are willing to pay.

Pros of Empower:

Free portfolio management tool.
Good for new investors who want a free-to-use tool with minimal features.
Easy to use and can be accessed on multiple platforms.
Can track investments across multiple accounts.
Tracks over 23,000 securities and over 1,000 mutual funds. – check
Offers a free app for on-the-go access.
Offers in-depth analysis and investment research on stocks, bonds, and ETFs.
Cloud-based platform
Free to use!

Cons of Empower:

Sales call from staff
Wealth management service is more expensive than a traditional advisor or simply investing in index funds.
High wealth management fee
Unable to reconcile your bank statements with Empower, but since they are coming from your bank directly, they should already be in sync.
No credit health information
Budgeting Tool needs improvement
Limited transaction management and budgeting
No import option for transactions from any platform including YNAB, Quicken or Mint
Cloud-based platform

Many people report that the Empower app requires $100,000 in investment assets to be eligible. That is untrue. In fact, it works best for those who have at least $100k in some form of investments – 401k, IRA, brokerage accounts, or even cash!

Empower is incredibly easy to use and has helpful financial planning tools.

Overall, it is one of the many great tools to help further push you to financial freedom.

Empower Pricing

While Empower is free to access personal finance tools, it does come at a small price of annoyance.

Empower is free

Empower is a free online portfolio platform that helps people save and invest their money. It offers tools to track net worth, create investment plans, compare retirement accounts, view savings goals and cash flow, and more.

This is the great part of using this app!

The downside is to make these dashboards free is they are trying to entice you to move to their wealth management services.

You do not need to invest your money with Empower to use this platform.

It is best to keep everything invested where it currently is and use their free tools to analyze and make the necessary changes.

As such, once you sign up, you will receive calls on a reoccurring basis offering you a free analysis. There is no pressure to do this. Once you have said no enough times, they will stop calling you.

Wealth management services come with fees

Empower offers fee-only financial advisory services.

For those under $1 million in investable assets, their fee is 0.89%.

As you can read in this book, there are many ways to invest yourself without paying that fee.

In fact, this is my favorite book explaining how much harder and longer you have to work by paying someone a 1% wealth management fee.

However, for a small percentage of people, this may be a more cost-effective way of receiving professional advice, as it eliminates hidden costs from this type of service.

Empower Tools

Empower is a financial management platform that provides tools to help individuals manage their personal finances. The platform offers tools for portfolio tracking, performance analysis, and retirement planning. The company also provides its users with educational resources on financial topics.

Under their free dashboard, these are the tools you can use for free.

Net Worth Calculator

This simple tool will keep track of your net worth. Very simple and always available.

Know where you stand, by downloading the free app to see your true net worth in real-time.

Understanding your personal financial statement is important.

Savings Planner

One of the most asked questions is how much I need to save for:

Retirement
Emergency Fund
To Pay Down Debt

Calculate how much to save each year with a 70% chance of reaching your retirement goals. Learn how much you are currently savings and how much you need to start saving.

Cash Flow

Cash flow is the amount of cash available for expenses at a certain time. This term used in personal finance describes the rate at which one’s income and expenses change over time.

The Cash Flow tool is easy to use because Empower automatically tracks deposits and spending. The time saver feature allows users to see their cash flow, balance sheet, net worth, asset allocation over a period of time.

Cash flow is a budgeting tool that offers limited information on spending. It provides a second check when using another program that gives you more details like Quicken or Simplfi.

Retirement Planner

This is the #1 reason I recommend Empower especially if you are looking to stay away from a financial planner.

Trying to figure out how much you need for retirement by yourself seems like picking a random number from the sky.

The retirement planner is used by millions of people to figure out how on track they are for retirement. Plus get tips on what they can do to improve their chances of success.

Budgeting

Budgeting is a method of allocating financial resources by identifying and evaluating needs, prioritizing them in order to meet goals, and monitoring the achievement of those goals.

Empower includes a budgeting section to help you set monthly spending targets and track your spending. They automatically import the information from linked accounts such as checking, savings, and credit card statements.

Using their free online financial dashboard, allows you to track your spending and investments. There are interactive charts, graphs, pie-charts, and even widgets. All to make sure your budgeting is on track.

Investment Checkup

This portfolio analysis is the process of measuring performance and risk in order to develop a strategy for capital allocation. The goal of portfolio analysis is to improve return on investment, which can be achieved by increasing return on assets, decreasing the risk of losses, or reducing the variance.

The Empower app lets you explore your entire portfolio visually. It also provides asset allocation tools and tax optimization tools to help manage a person’s financial life.

Fee Analyzer

A fee analyzer helps people to determine the annual fees they are paying in their retirement plan.

401K Analyzer also calculates how much your retirement is costing you and provides a breakdown of any hidden fees that may be present within mutual funds with which it has been linked. This Retirement Planner tool uses assumptions about account holdings and investment behavior for calculating expenses against an estimated portfolio value.

Consequently, these fees add up over time and will drastically put a drag on your portfolio and reduce your retirement savings.

Empower Dashboard is Free

Just remember, you do not need to hire an advisor to use the platform.

Empower is a free tool for individual investors.

Empower provides users with access to all of the above-mentioned advanced tools for free. In addition, they offer free financial advice through their blog and social media pages.

It allows users to track their investments and get a personalized financial plan. The service also offers apps for iOS and Android devices, which makes it easy to manage finances on the go.

Empower Wealth Management Review of Services

In addition to offering free financial tools, Empower provides wealth management services.

You get to work one-on-one with an advisor who will give you personalized advice based on your situation.

They help you to invest, save money and track your financial goals.

Their advisors start by determining your risk tolerance and goals in order to construct the best personal financial plan for you.

If you are interested in getting a better understanding of your financial situation, Empower is an excellent option. It gives users the tools to understand their investments, budgets, and cash flow all with one app.

All it requires is that you sign up for free without any obligations or commitments from them whatsoever. You do not have to agree to use their wealth management program.

Personally, I cannot comment on an Empower advisor review as I have not used this service personally.

Empower Investment Strategy

The Empower investment strategy is a simple way to invest your money for the long-term.

This means that you will be able to retire and live a comfortable life without any concern about how you will be able to live.

They employ the tactic called Smart Weighting because they invest equally across all sectors and industries, which can provide diverse returns with minimal risk. The best part of this strategy is it’s easy to use as Empower has created an interface that makes portfolio management simple for users on any device or platform.

Empower’s software is able to identify tax-loss harvesting opportunities (opportunities where the investor sells an investment after it has fallen in value and pays fewer taxes than if the sale had occurred earlier) than investing on their own.

In addition, Empower invests passively for cost efficiency which means that they don’t take any active management into account.

The best part about Empower and one of the key areas I prefer, is they include socially responsible investments as well as an investment strategy to fit any budget.

They identify which companies are doing good work for society and invest in them accordingly. This feature makes personal finance much more interesting and easier than ever before!

Wealth Management Tiers

Many people invest in various financial services and products, such as mutual funds or stocks. They are promised that these investments will generate a good return, but they do not always make the best choice. Wealth management services are a way to help people manage their personal investments. They may charge fees for their service, but that is not always the case.

Depending on your level of assets, will determine the amount of services you will receive.

Investment Services:

This is the most basic level to receive financial and retirement planning guidance from their team of experts.

$100K in investment assets
Unlimited advice from any of the available financial advisors
Managed ETF portfolio

Wealth Management:

This is where you can receive more personalized services and dedicated support to manage your money as you move through new financial challenges.

$200K minimum in investment assets
Two dedicated financial advisors
Access to specialists in real estate, stock options, and more
Regular reviews on your customized portfolio
Tax optimization

Private Client :

This is the most exclusive level at Empower to help you receive comprehensive financial planning. They will help build a customized investment plan to reach your lifestyle goals.

over $1 million in investment assets
Two dedicated financial advisors
Priority access to specialists
In-depth retirement and wealth planning

Wealth Management Fee Structure

Empower charges only an all-inclusive annual management fee at a fraction of the cost of traditional financial institutions. In addition, they do not charge hidden fees, trailing fees, or trade commissions.

First $1 million = .89%
First $3 million = .79%
Next $2 million = .69%
Next $5 million = .59%
Over $10 million = .49%

Overall, if you want a financial advisor or a second opinion, using Empower wealth management services may be for you.

Even if you don’t join, you can still use the tools for free, no questions asked.

My Empower Review from Experience

I have had a lot of experience using Empower in the past. They provide snapshot financial pictures of your personal situation that are very informative.

Plus it is a free tool to use, which is always a bonus.

Empower is one of my favorite online tools to see all your finances in one place.

It is eye-opening to see the overall picture. Also, tracking investments across multiple accounts can be overwhelming, but they make the process seamless and help you stay on top of things.

Personally, my favorite tools are the net worth, fee analyzer, and retirement planner.

I use Empower in conjunction with Quicken. Read my Quicken review.

My Empower dashboard is my overall financial picture whereas Quicken tracks all of my day-to-day spending and helps me remember when we purchased something for a return.

The app has a convenient interface that makes managing your personal financial situation easy, even if you’re not familiar with finance jargon or investing terminology. With this tool at hand, keeping track of where everything stands financially becomes easier than ever before!

Just to note… to get the best financial picture, you must include all of your accounts. The more time you spend in the Empower dashboard, the more helpful analysis you will get from the tool.

Empower Alternatives

In addition to Empower, there are other financial apps that can help you allocate your portfolio.

These include Betterment with Wealthfront also being a viable option for those who want the best of both worlds by tracking their investments in stocks and bonds. However, these alternatives have much higher fees than what is charged by Empower which makes it an appealing alternative if the fee does not bother you.

Also, if you are looking for budgeting capabilities you may want to look at Quicken, Mint, YNAB, or Simplifi.

At the end of the day, you have to decide what your goals are and what you are looking for.

From all of the free and paid budgeting apps, here are our top budgeting apps to check out!

This section may contain affiliate links, which helps us to continue providing relevant content and we receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please read the full disclosure below.

Personal Capital Advisors Corporation (“PCAC”) compensates Money Bliss (“Company”) for new leads. (“Company”) is not an investment client of PCAC.

Personal finance and money management software allows you to manage spending, create monthly budgets, track investments, retirement and more.

Save 40% off on new memberships.

Enjoy guilt-free spending and effortless saving with a friendly, flexible method for managing your finances.

Change your relationship with money!

Photo Credit:
www.personalcapital.com

Personal Capital is wealth management for the Internet Age. The online platform combines digital technology with highly personalized service to provide a holistic view of a unique financial picture (AKA your net worth).

Make sure to connect all of your accounts within 7 days to set up your Personal Financial dashboard.

Tiller is the only tool that automatically updates Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel with your spending, transactions, and balances each day.

Start your free trial.

Automate your financial plan with set-and-forget money tools that fit right into your daily life.

That’s why Qapital puts your goals front and center, then helps you plan your spending, saving, and investing around them.

Manage your money less in 5 minutes each week. Reach your money goals with confidence! The personal finance app gives you something to look forward to.

“The easiest, most comprehensive way to both see where your money is going and plan for future expenses.”

Your automated financial assistant and budget tracker are designed to put you back in control of your money.

Stay on top of your spending, easily track bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and find ways to improve!

Photo Credit:
moneybliss.org

HoneyMoney increases your awareness about your money habits. Being fully aware of your money naturally changes how you spend it.

Great way to use cash flow budgeting. Plus uses “envelopes” to budget.

Start your free trial.

Moneyspire is user-friendly personal finance and small business accounting software that brings your entire finances together in one place.

Have total control over your financial life in one click.

Is Empower right for you?

Empower is a company that offers tools for personal finance management. This app has more than one hundred different tools to help you with your finances, including monthly budgeting and investing tracking.

Empower also helps people manage their credit card debt, establish emergency funds, track retirement savings progressions, calculate their net worth, and much more!

The smartphone app integrates locations, bank accounts, and credit scores which allows users to access current information on their financial situation.

The online portal allows for comparing available investment options.

This tool allows people to plan out the future of their money as well as provides them with valuable financial information in an easy-to-read format so they can make informed decisions.

As stated before, Empower is a financial app that can help you manage your investment assets. It has many features and it’s not perfect, but it’s the best out there in terms of value for money.

You can always test drive it and see what you learn about your personal finance situation.

Now you can try it free (no credit card required!)

Source: moneybliss.org

Credello Review – Take Control Of Your Financial Situation

February 8, 2023 by Brett Tams

This Credello review is in partnership with Credello. Are you looking to finally take control of your finances? With the Credello money tool, you can get personal guidance that will help you to make better money decisions all from your phone. Credello is a tool that helps you to make easy financial decisions so that […]

The post Credello Review – Take Control Of Your Financial Situation appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.

A useful new tool to help you pick a place to live

January 8, 2023 by Brett Tams

Every now and then, The New York Times gives us an awesome new personal-finance tool. Back in 2007, they created an amazing rent vs. buy calculator, which they’ve diligently updated and maintained over the past fifteen years. A couple of weeks ago, they unveiled their where should you live? tool. [Warning: possible paywall, which is unfortunate.]

Here’s how it works:

We created a quiz using data for almost 17,000 places across more than 30 metrics. Realtor.com shared housing prices with us; Yelp contributed tallies of restaurants, music venues and gay bars; and AccuWeather helped us collect statistics on temperature, sunshine and snowfall, to name just a few of our sources.

We want the quiz to be useful to anyone whoâs thinking about moving â not just affluent, highly educated people who are working remotely because of the Covid pandemic. Weâve included data on affordability, jobs and abortion rights, which could be relevant to young people deciding where to start their careers. And weâve quantified health care quality, snowfall and crime rates â criteria that might be top of mind for retirees.

To use the tool, you select from 35 different factors that matter to most people, factors ranging from population density to climate to racial diversity to political affiliation. You can even emphasize the qualities that matter most to you. The tool tells you which American cities best match your preferences.