There are over 3 million apps in both Google Play and Apple’s App Store as of July 2015. Whether it’s downloading games to play during your downtime or browsing through online retail stores both on your desktop and mobile, there’s always an app to suit our needs. Your personal finances are no exception.

From budget tracking apps to online investment portfolios, here are online hacks and apps for your personal finances:

Budget Tracking Apps

It’s time to say ‘goodbye’ to your notebook and pen. There’s no need to lodge them in your bag and take them wherever you go. Writing down your commuting costs every time you step off the bus or the train? Just input them in an app.

Here are 4 apps that track your expenses:

• Expense Manager (Free on Android and iOS)
• Mint (Free on Android and iOS)
• Wally (Free on Android and iOS)
• Good Budget (Free on Android and iOS but with cost if you want the expanded version; personal favorite)

Even better, these apps will allow you to categorize your expenses, from your rent to your food spending, and will total everything for you. You can also view your spending patterns by day, week, year and month to check if you’re exceeding your budget. You can also input your income (categorize them even: freelance, commission, salary, etc.) and see how much of your salary you’re spending. You can even take it a step further by linking your savings and credit card accounts with the above-mentioned apps. This way, you won’t leave any stone unturned and know exactly how much money is coming in and out of your accounts.

Debt Management Apps

Debt is a large part of one’s personal finances. With the multiple forms of available credit, it’s hard to meet someone who has zero debt, be it a car or a house loan. As with the quote, “what gets measured gets managed,” tracking your debts allows you to see whether or not you’re making progress. If you track your debt payments, then you’ll know that paying more than the minimum each month will not only allow you to pay your debts faster, but you’ll end up paying less in interest.

Here are 4 apps for debt management:

• Debt Payoff Planner (Free on Android)
• Debt Payoff Assistant (Free on iOS)
• Debt Tracker (Free on Android)
• Debt Manager ($0.99 on iOS)

The great part about these apps is they don’t only track your debts and payments, but they also offer different plans and strategies to pay off your debts. One of the most common debt repayment methods is the debt snowball method which is paying your smallest debt first. This strategy allows you to get used to the discipline and eases you into paying your debts. Once you build the habit of paying your debts and eliminate your smallest debt, you’re more confident to tackle your bigger debts. The apps above not only track your debt payments but offer strategies on how you can eliminate your debt.

Investment Apps

Investing allows you to grow your money at a quicker rate than your deposit accounts. The clincher here is that investments are not guaranteed. That’s something most people fail to remember when they’re presented with an opportunity to get ‘a 100% return in 2 weeks’ and then fall prey to scams. However, if you do your own research, you’re less likely to fall for a scam. There are numerous apps nowadays that are focused on investments.

Here are 2 apps that benefit your investments

·       Online banking accounts

Your online account not only features the amount and transaction history of your deposit and credit card accounts. If you’ve invested in unit investment trust funds (UITFs), you can also see your investment balance with a click of a button. This allows you to easily monitor your investments to avoid a panic or surprise attack during a bear market or a steep decline in the market.

·       PSE Edge (Free on Android and iOS)

The PSE Edge is the official mobile app of the Philippine Stock Exchange. The app allows stock market investors to keep track stock prices in real time. Even better, this app provides individual profiles for all listed companies including quarterly and annual reports, disclosures, and dividends and rights announcements. These will help you in deciding whether or not to invest in a particular company and buy shares.

Financial Comparison Portals

Comparison portals allow you to conduct research in the most efficient way possible by providing everything you need in one page. When there was no Agoda or Skyscanner, booking flights and hotels can be an exciting yet tiresome task. Nowadays, looking for the most affordable booking is now made easier with these comparison portals. Just input your location and desired star-rating and other features on Agoda, and you have an extensive list of hotels to choose from.

When it comes to your finances, comparison portals such as MoneyMax.ph, among others allows you to view and filter financial products in one portal. There’s no need to move from one website to the next to look for the credit card or personal loan with the lowest interest. MoneyMax.ph provides all the information you need in one page, complete with filters (e.g. interest rate, monthly payments, loan amount) that best suit your needs.

Finance Made Easy

The tools above give you the ease and convenience of managing your personal finances. Whether it’s tracking your daily expenses or using the PSE Edge app to decide which stock you’ll invest in next, these apps are sure to benefit your finances, leading you to the path towards financial freedom.

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Everyday Moneyfesto: 365 Days of No Nonsense Financial Advice is a unique book that focuses on financial wisdom. It is a book that will guide you, motivate you and inspire you on a daily basis to help you achieve financial peace.

Other than my daily advices, the book also shares the financial wisdom from the biggest names like Francis Kong, Bo Sanchez, Marvin Germo, Efren Cruz, Chinkee Tan, Coney Reyes, Miriam Quiambao, Rex Mendoza, Ardy Abello, Edric Mendoza, Salve Duplito, Alvin Ang, Dennis Sy, Jayson Lo and many more!

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To order, follow these easy steps:

1. Deposit payment to BPI 0249-1113-09 under John Randell Tiongson
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Debt is a a big concern for many of us. I have never met anyone who feels happy that he or she carries a lot of debt. If debt can be stressful, imagine the agony of having bad debts? People say that debt can make or break a person. So what if you have bad debts that ruined your credit history? What can you do?

The best solution to a debt problem is to pay those debts and never borrow again — but life is never that easy… I know, right?

Learn from past experiences – if only it were that easy in all situations. Remembering to walk your dog every day, so you can keep your home tidy is one thing; ruining your credit and having difficult applying for a new one is another level. When it comes to finances, be it your monthly income or your loan balance, all these instruments are related and affect one another. You have a high monthly income? Then you can loan a larger amount. You don’t have a credit history? Then you may be given a higher interest rate on a loan?

What about if your ruin your credit? What are the repercussions?

The following are the effects of having bad or ruined credit:

• You can have difficulty applying for multiple lines of credit, be it credit cards, loans, etc. (but it’s not impossible)
• You may have a hard time starting your own business (because banks check your credit history when you apply for a loan).
• You can be charged higher interest rates on these loans.
• You will spend more money through the years because of interest payments.

As mentioned above, the takeaway is to learn from past experiences. Now, that you know the disadvantages of having ruined credit, what can you do to fix that?

Here are 5 ways to repair your ruined credit history:

Build positive credit

You’re balancing credit card debt, a car loan, and a home loan. You may think your situation is hopeless, but think again. There are many others in your situation, but more than that, you can turn your situation around. If you want to improve your ruined credit, then don’t make the same mistake on other forms of credit. Your credit card history tanked because you forgot to make payments the past few months? Then, don’t let the same thing happen to your car and home loans. If you can pay more than the minimum amount on your loans, then do so. As mentioned above, your financial instruments are inter-related. Fix one, and it affects all others. Here are 5 ways to build positive credit:

• Apply for a variety of credit types, be it a home or car loan (provided that you make the regular payments)
• Be a supplementary credit card holder of your parent (but don’t take advantage of them)
• Don’t apply for multiple credits at once (it may show your dependence on credit)
• Pay your bills on time
• Start with a low amount (be it your credit limit or your loan value)

Go secured

Using secured credit cards is the best first step when it comes to credit management. This is because having a secured card requires you to make a deposit which will determine your credit limit. If you deposit Php 15,000, 80% of that, or Php 12,000, will be your credit limit. This gives the bank assurance that if you max out your credit card, you have the money to pay your balance because you made a deposit. The more you utilize your secured credit card, the more you are building your credit history, which helps in repairing your ruined credit.

Negotiate

Paying your credit card balance – it’s easier said than done. This is where the power of negotiation comes in. If you’ve wracked up debt, try to negotiate with your issuer a settlement of the amount you owe. When someone owes you money, you prefer that they pay you back regularly (and sooner than later) instead of waiting while they keep giving empty promises. The same works for financial institutions. If you have a large amount due, try to negotiate the following steps:

• Moving your due date near or on the same day as pay day
• Coming up with a long-term repayment plan both you and the borrower agree on
• Reducing your interest rates if you make a lump sum settlement payment
• Reducing the amount you owe with a lump sum settlement payment

Read and research

It always pays to do your research. Whether it’s choosing which bank to open a savings account or a credit card with. The same works for handling and managing your money, debts included. The internet is flooded with various resources you can use to help you figure out what you can do to repair your ruined credit. Read blogs tackling credit card. I’ve written about how to get out of credit card debt among many other.

Even further, it’s best to do your research even before you apply for any sort of financial instrument. Applying for a credit card? Search for institutions that offer the lowest interest rate, flexible payment plans, and the highest cashbacks among other features. Comparison portals, such as MoneyMax.ph, compile all this information into one platform which you can personalize and filter according to what you’re looking for.

Turn the above into habits

When it comes to your financial well-being, longevity counts. When applying for a credit card or a loan, institutions look at your credit history. The number of years you’ve owned a credit card is a plus point in your application. In the same way, practicing proper credit management will improve your ruined credit. Regularly paying down your loans and utilizing your credit card without going above your limit over a set period of time will improve your credit.

So how do you make sure that you won’t go back to your old ways? Turn your actions into habits. Whether it’s regularly negotiating the best deal or discount or reading finance-related articles every night before you go to sleep, if you make a habit out of the tips above, you’ll see your credit history improving over the long-term.

More than improving your credit history, practicing the tips above will trickle down to the other aspects of your financial life. You’ll learn how to manage your finances, value money, and be independent of debt among many others. As mentioned above – learn from past experiences – so once you improve your credit, keep it that way.

Remember,  credit is a privilege and not a right — be careful how to use or it will be big burden for you to carry for a long, long time.

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. – Proverbs 22:7, ESV

This is my dilemma: should I be a full-time employee or a full-time entrepreneur? With the demands on my time, health, and overall well-being, I have to choose, sooner than later. Thank you po, sir Randell. —Kris via e-mail

Answer: Hi, Kris! That’s a very good dilemma to have as you’re in a stable place financially. You have the option to choose. While you’re financially stable, I understand where you are coming from. Your passion, maybe, lies in the online business.

But at the same time, you can’t disregard the security and stability full-time employment offers you.

Below is a checklist I made to help you determine whether you should be an employee or an entrepreneur:

Be an employee if:

1. You don’t have a safety net, yet you have multiple responsibilities.

If your emergency fund is insufficient, you are still paying down your debts and loans, and you have a family to care for, then employment would be the better option. Entrepreneurship is very risky at the start and you can’t afford that with the responsibilities on your plate.

2. You prefer working at a set time instead of being on call 24/7.

If you’re the type who stops thinking about work the moment you close your laptop, then the traditional 9-to-5 suits you better. This allows you to focus on your hobbies and passions after working hours.

3. You’re prepared to experience income swings.

If earning six digits one month and then zero the next will give you a heart attack, then employment is the better choice for you. In entrepreneurship, your income will be fluctuating.

4. Your workplace offers flexible working opportunities.

Some companies allow you to work from home and will even pay for the furniture for your home office. If your company is like this, then this kind of employment will give you the environment of self-employment with the stability of a full-time job.

5. The income from your side business doesn’t exceed your salary.

Unless you have a large safety net, never quit your job if your business doesn’t bring in more money than your full-time job. When computing for this, also take into account how much you’ll pay for insurance costs and taxes which your employer does for you in a full-time job.

Be an entrepreneur if:

1. You thrive under pressure.

Unlike a full-time job where you earn according to the number of hours you log in, in a business, you earn according to the amount of work you put in. If you thrive under pressure and are always looking at how you can improve and grow, being an entrepreneur may be your calling.

2. You’re a risk-taker.

From getting potential clients to increasing your revenues, entrepreneurship is a very different environment compared to full-time employment where you do the same work and earn a set income every month. If you live the high-risk, high-reward mantra, then entrepreneurship is for you.

3. You’re a jack of all trades rather than a specialist.

When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re the marketer, the finance and sales person, the HR officer, and the business development expert all rolled into one. If you love continuous learning and self-development, being an entrepreneur is the right fit for you.

4. You can be your own salesperson.

To keep your business alive, this means marketing and selling your business to potential clients. If a room full of strangers excites you, then you have the blood of an entrepreneur who can garner clients and customers with your networking savvy.

5. Your revenue continues to grow and you have a loyal customer and/or client base.

At the end of the day, this is one of the key factors. Before you jump ship and become an entrepreneur, make sure that your business is stable and continues to grow. This is your bread and butter, and you’ll need the business to still be alive decades down the road to meet your needs.

Kris, hope these checklists help. This is no easy decision. Both options (employment and entrepreneurship) have their own pros and cons. It all depends on your present condition (current finances, responsibilities, etc.), your risk tolerance, and what your inner self is telling you. Pray hard about this decision and seeking some counsel from those who have been in this crossroad will do you wonders.

God bless you as you determine your path!

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Get a copy of my latest book! Everyday Moneyfesto: 365 Days of No Nonsense Financial Advise

Here’s how you can order:

1. Deposit P 600.00 + shipping charges (P60.00 for Metro Manila and P100.00 for provincial address) BPI #0249-1113-09
2. Email your deposit slip or transaction advise to michael@randelltiongson.com along with your complete address and contact number. Indicate in the email if you wish your book to be autographed.
3. Expect the book to be delivered to your doorsteps in a few days.