Monthly Archives: March 2019

Best Budgeting Apps of 2019

Being busy doesn’t mean you have to abandon your budget. Thanks to technology, there are endless ways to enhance your savings techniques. Heartland Bank compiled a list of the latest and greatest budgeting apps of 2019!

Mint

Mint is a well-known app, and it’s free! The app automatically updates and categorizes transactions, creating a picture of spending in real time. This budget tracker is personalized for you, as you can create budgets, see bills, receive alerts and get your free credit score. By inputting your bills, you’ll be alerted when it’s time to pay so you never miss a due date again. See what you have and what you owe. Understand where your money goes and where you can cut back. Create budgets, track investments and discover new ways to save.

Acorns

This app is free for students, or less than a few dollars per month for others. Acorns automatically rounds up your purchases and invests the change. Acorns says, “Sit back and let your money grow over time in diversified portfolios constructed by experts.” They believe anyone can grow wealth. Set aside your spare change and watch it grow!

Pocket Guard

This free app gives users a snapshot of how much they can spend at any given moment. Lower your bills, track spending and make a budget all on this app. Link your bank accounts, loans and credit cards to have everything in one place. Your transactions are then categorized to help you understand where your money goes.

Albert

Albert is a free app that helps you spend less. Albert analyzes all of your financial accounts and builds a unique plan based on your income, spending habits and goals. Albert tells you when you’re overpaying and sets aside small amounts of money to help you save automatically. You can also text Albert Genius anytime! Albert states, “Albert Genius is the first financial service of its kind—a team of human financial experts at your fingertips.”

Wally

Take control of your money with Wally. This free app helps you compare your income to your expenses, understand where your money goes and set and achieve goals. Wally lets you keep track of the details as you spend money: where, when, what, why & how much.

Choose one of these budgeting apps to help break things down or start investing! By keeping track of your finances, you’ll be able to save more than ever before. Store your savings in an account with us. We’re happy to keep your funds safe!

4 Steps to Buying a Home That Won’t Bust Your Budget

It’s that time of year when you’re likely to see ‘for sale’ signs on every block. Maybe you already have your eye on one and go out of your way to drive past it on your way home from work. Before you leap into purchasing a home, be sure to take these four steps before signing the bottom line.

Understand Your Monthly Expenses

Alarmingly, many Americans don’t have a true understanding about what money they have coming out each month. This can be a dangerous territory to get into, as it’s likely that there are a significant portion of the expenses that may be unnecessary. Take the time to have an understanding of what each of your monthly expenses are and if any can be cut or lessened. Maybe there’s a subscription you’ve forgotten about or haven’t realized how much money you are putting towards name-brand groceries each month.

Know What You Can Afford

Once you have your expenses broken down, you will have more of an idea of what you have coming out. Next, you should understand what you have coming in. Account for each person’s income contribution for the home. Subtract your monthly expenses from the after-tax amount and you will have an idea of what you can afford. You may want to consider meeting with a mortgage specialist to have a robust account of what homes could be in your price range.

Understand Home Buying Expenses

Being a homeowner comes with many responsibilities that sometimes can’t be accounted for. From broken pipes or a leak to a busted HVAC, the costs can be overwhelming at a moment’s notice. It’s important to understand the expenses that may come out of home ownership. Even if there isn’t something breaking, you have the responsibility of additional upkeep.

Set a Goal

Once you have a complete understanding of where you are and where you might be, you can set a goal. If the house you want is out of your price range, make it a goal to be able to afford a home like this. Take a look at what expenses can be cut in addition to how you can make additional income to get you to your goal within a reasonable time frame.

Don’t strap yourself into a payment that won’t fit your lifestyle. Allow us to help you purchase your dream home with a mortgage from Heartland Bank!

Spring Into Cash With These Top Savings Tips

The grass is always greener on the other side of winter, but is your bank account? Make the most out of your spring by boosting your savings. All it takes is an idea and some creativity to make some green this spring!

Skip the Gym

Of course your health should take top priority in all seasons. However, it’s great to switch up your routine, not only for your health but potentially for your wallet! Now that the weather is warming up, you can look for some alternatives for working out. A gym membership has its perks, but you can find activities outside to get your heart rate up and keep your body strong – for free! These could be running outside, biking, hiking or even outdoor yoga!

Switch to Generic

More often than not, the generic version of most products are indistinguishable from the brand name. This goes for food, hygiene products and even medicine. You can cut your expenses by ⅓ by switching to generic everything when you have the choice!

Buy Used

Spring is typically the season when you see many garage or yard sales. People are anxious to clean out their homes for the spring while making a little extra cash! This is definitely something you can jump on board with, but if you don’t have the time, consider doing a little secondhand shopping for items you already need. It won’t save you any money to go secondhand shopping to only end up with many items you don’t truly need. However, if you are in the market for something like new clothing, shop around in your neighborhood before heading to the mall.

Make Savings Automatic

When we take the decision out of whether we will save and make it an automatic, I will save, it’s more likely to come to fruition. Set up an automatic savings account so that a percentage of each deposit will automatically go into your savings account. This is a great way you can see your savings grow and grow this spring!

Keep your cash safe by opening a savings account with us after utilizing these top savings tips!