We’ve all been there. Afraid to check the bank balance in fear of facing the low or negative balance and wondering how you are going to make it to your next payday while trying to come up with excuses as to why you can’t join the girls out for lunch.

You can’t figure out how you overspent last week. It’s like payday came and you went crazy. Now you can barely buy a tank of gas. You cringe at the thought of asking your mom to bail you out and you can’t ask your friends because that would mean spilling the beans on the truth that you are trying to escape from…

You are financially illiterate.

Don’t worry I am (was ) too. We can blame our parents for not teaching us the basics, we can blame low paying jobs or social expectations, we can blame Jesus himself but no pointing of the finger can replace taking steps to gain the knowledge and skills needed to reverse the illiteracy.

Of course we would all like to make more money so  we can have access to all the things that we want without hesitation.  Most of us aren’t there yet. If you are like me you are working to earn a living but you aren’t quite to the place were you can ignore your bank balance and swipe that check card with no limits.

We are in that #grayspace between being blessed that we have income and praying for more. This space is no excuse to being financially irresponsible. No matter how much money you are bringing in, you have to learn to save a percentage of it.

This is especially true if you have dependents. The worst thing is in the world is not being able to afford emergency care for a child that needs a visit to the doctor. Even if you don’t have any dependents, a growing savings fund is vital to your own unexpected life happenings. What will you do when that tire blows out or when you need to pay a copay for a doctor’s visit.

A big part of “Adulting” means be responsible enough to prepare for rainy days.

It took me having a child at age 30 for me to finally desire to take control of my finances. Luckily, today’s technology can help those who, like me, want to have better control over their money but aren’t quite there yet.

Below are 3 Apps that will help you save money at any financial level and even get you through the days when money is just not right.

1.  Active Hours – “You Worked Today Get Paid Today” – This apps tracks your work or salaried hours and will pay you at the end of the day. This is great for those days before pay day when you are low but you need cash to avoid overdraft fees. The app only requires you to tip what you think is fair and on your pay day they will take their money back plus the tip you designated.
2.  Digit –  “Save Money Without Thinking About It”  – This one is my favorite. It helps you save money when saving is not a strong habit of yours. It analyzes your bank account and takes small amounts into there FDIC cloud savings account. I like it because you command the app with simple text messages.  You can text “Pause” when you want them to stop saving for you a few days and you can make specific savings goals. When I signed up  the app saved me $100 within a month and I didn’t even realized it. It was $5 here and there. You can transfer the money back to your bank with just a text but I’ve learned that when the money isn’t accessible you rarely really need it.  So I haven’t touched my digit savings
3.  Qapital – “Save for the things you want” – I haven’t tried this one yet but I’ve heard great things. My favorite feature is the fact that you can set up rules like ’round up each purchase to the nearest dollar” and that savings is kept away for your goal.  It’s like putting your change to good use.

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