Smart Saving for Young Adults: Tips and Apps to Improve Your Financial Literacy

Learn how to save more money in your youth with these practical tips and apps that can help you achieve financial literacy and security.
Smart Saving for Young Adults: Tips and Apps to Improve Your Financial Literacy

The Importance of Financial Literacy for Young Adults

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently reported that nearly one in five students lack financial literacy. This is a concerning statistic, as financial literacy is crucial for young adults to plan and prepare for their future. Euro News highlights that socio-economic factors play a significant role in the financial literacy of students, with advantaged students performing better than disadvantaged students.

Tips for Saving More Money in Your Youth

Saving money may seem like a straightforward task, but failing to implement and stick to money-saving habits can lead to not saving any money at all. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to save extra cash, and it comes down to knowing what to save on and what to splurge on.

Choose a Low-Cost Bank

One of the best ways to save money is to ensure your financial institution isn’t taking more advantage of your earnings than you are. Most people fail to realise just how much banking fees can add up. Research different banks and financial institutions to find one that offers no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, free ATMs, and online access.

Avoid unnecessary bank fees

Set Goals and Create a Realistic Budget

Having goals in place can help motivate you to stick with certain decisions and act in a certain way. Think about your dreams and how much money you need to make them a reality. Then, take a look at your spending habits and write it down – every expense. Create a budget that works for you, not against you, and remember to reward yourself for your progress.

Create a budget that works for you

Choose Products That Help You Save

Think about the value an item has to offer before taking out the cash for it. Consider opting for secondhand goods or lesser-known labels that can help you save loads of money without compromising on quality. Don’t forget to ask your employer about any benefits that can help you reduce costs for higher education and save money for retirement.

Make a Point of Paying Yourself First

Remember that managing your expenses should help you towards living the quality life you want. Be intentional about how much and how often you are saving, and remind yourself that saving money always is in your best interest, even if it means adjusting your lifestyle to match a lower budget.

Prioritise saving

Apps Helping Young Adults Save Money

Revolut

Revolut’s mission is to help its users reach their financial goals with ease, whether it’s balancing a budget or scaling a business. With banking services such as GBP and EUR bank accounts, debit cards, credit cards, currency exchange, stock trading, cryptocurrency exchange, and peer-to-peer payments, Revolut helps users navigate complicated financial challenges.

Revolut - financial management made easy

Plum

Plum helps its users save money by calculating how much spare cash they can afford, then saving and investing portions of that amount. Plum also helps users build their investment portfolios from stocks to funds and SIPPs.

Plum - smart saving

TopCashback

TopCashback is a website that allows users to earn cashback earnings from over 6,000 retailers in the UK. It also allows users to compare broadband deals and insurance policies so they can find the best offers.

TopCashback - earn rewards

Monzo

Monzo is a mobile banking app that offers intuitive spending and saving accounts with no overdraft fees, allowing users to maximise their budgets, manage payments and subscriptions, and save more money.

Monzo - mobile banking

Snoop

Snoop is a money-saving app that analyses how users spend their money and suggests smart ways they can save more.

Snoop - money-saving tips

Vouchercloud

Vouchercloud helps users find exclusive offers at thousands of places across the UK.

Vouchercloud - savings made easy

By following these tips and using these apps, young adults can improve their financial literacy and start building a secure financial future.