New yr cash: 26 instruments and apps that will help you type your funds in 2026

[ad_1] Cash is central to many individuals’s new yr resolutions – whether or not it’s attempting to save lots of extra, organising what you could have already, or enhancing your spending or saving habits.

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If in case you have promised to deal with your funds this yr, there are many instruments and apps that may enable you obtain your purpose. Listed below are 26 that will help you in 2026.

Feeling courageous? This AI-powered software will let you know how outdated you look and the way a lot individuals of the identical age usually have saved of their pension – it may make you very completely happy, or be doubly troubling.

It appears at your face, guesses how outdated you might be and reveals you the common pension financial savings for individuals of that age. When one Guardian Cash author gave it a go, he was happy to have his age estimated at 47 – a decade youthful than his precise years. The app mentioned He was advised that the standard pension financial savings for a 47-year-old had been price £75,500, whereas for a 57-year-old the determine was £124,800. The Scottish Widows app will then allow you to use your individual figures to point out you the way a lot you might be on monitor to retire on and how one can increase that. Rupert Jones

There are just a few weeks till the 31 January deadline to file self-assessment tax returns for the 2024-25 tax yr, however thousands and thousands of Britons nonetheless haven’t completed theirs. It received’t take away the entire ache, however the HM Income and Customs app may enable you get the job completed quicker. You should use it to entry important info, out of your self-assessment tax reference quantity to particulars of your employment earnings. It has numerous different helpful options – for instance, you possibly can set a reminder to make a self-assessment fee. HMRC’s web site has particulars of what you'll need to entry the app. RJ

This “100% impartial” app helps you make more healthy decisions about the place you spend your cash. You scan the barcodes of meals and beauty merchandise and it offers every merchandise a rating primarily based on dietary high quality or ingredient security and, the place attainable, suggests more healthy options. The app is free to obtain however there's a paid-for model with additional options reminiscent of offline scanning and dietary desire alerts. Comparable apps embody Open Meals Information, which supplies detailed vitamin and allergen information utilizing a community-run database. Fooducate focuses extra on vitamin training and weight loss program monitoring. Sarah Marsh

The charity Turn2us presents a free and confidential advantages calculator that helps you discover out in case you are entitled to any monetary assist. It asks questions on your earnings and financial savings, housing prices and family circumstances, then supplies a tailor-made checklist of attainable entitlements, together with hyperlinks to the official websites the place you possibly can start a declare. Turn2us additionally has a “grants search” software the place yow will discover out in case you would possibly be capable of get monetary assist from a charity or organisation. These funds are typically out there to individuals who have labored in sure occupations or have explicit well being circumstances. RJ

On-line instruments might help you are expecting your possibilities of profitable premium bonds. Illustration: Michael Driver/The Guardian This whizzy software on the MoneySavingExpert web site enables you to enter what number of premium bonds you could have and a time-frame, and it'll predict your winnings. Once we tried it, it mentioned that with common luck somebody with £5,000 of premium bonds (roughly the common holding) may anticipate to win roughly £775 over a five-year interval. The percentages within the calculator are primarily based on the prize distribution for the latest draw, which modifications barely every month, so the location says this could solely be seen as “an excellent estimate”. You possibly can examine your predicted returns with the curiosity you'll earn on a financial savings account and with inflation and see in case you are making the most effective of your financial savings – presently it reveals taxpayers could be higher off in a top-paying money Isa. RJ

A complete of £111m in premium bond prizes is sitting unclaimed, which suggests it's greater than 18 months for the reason that numbers got here up and a cheque was despatched out to the winner. The two,677,306 unclaimed prizes embody 11 price £100,000 every. You possibly can verify when you've got an unclaimed win utilizing NS&I’s on-line prize checker or its prize checker app. These will present you any prizes you could have received this month and any older prizes that you simply haven’t claimed. There isn't a time restrict for claiming a premium bond win. To verify on-line you'll need your holder’s quantity (it has both 9 or 10 digits, or eight digits adopted by a letter), whereas when you've got the app, you may also use your NS&I quantity. To ensure you don't miss out on future prizes, go for a direct fee into your checking account or into extra bonds. RJ

A profit many eligible retirees miss out on is pension credit score. That is extra cash to assist with residing prices in case you are over state pension age and on a low earnings and tops up your weekly earnings to £227.10 in case you are single, or your joint weekly earnings to £346.60 when you've got a accomplice. You might be entitled to further funds on prime and assist with housing prices. This authorities calculator asks you a collection of questions on your circumstances and funds. It then offers you an estimate of what, if any, pension credit score you would be entitled to. You have to to make a full declare to get the cash. RJ

If you're heading overseas quickly and plan to purchase some vacation spending cash, this on-line software run by MoneySavingExpert.com is an efficient first port of name. It enables you to examine alternate charges and ensure you are getting the most effective deal on a protracted checklist of currencies that can cater for a lot of vacation locations. The charges out there will usually be a lot better than these provided on the excessive avenue or on the airport. Key in only a few particulars together with how a lot you need to spend or purchase, once you want the foreign money and the way you need to obtain it – supply or assortment – and it will provide you with a number of choices. You have to to order on-line to get the offers it lists. RJ

Your credit score rating is a quantity wherever between 0 and 1,250, and your place on this scale is a measure of your creditworthiness. Earlier than you will get into any form of debt, and for different functions too, corporations will verify your rating with any of the three massive credit score reference businesses. These are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. All of them use barely completely different fashions however depend on comparable information, reminiscent of your historical past of paying payments, to calculate your rating. Checking your rating might help you see if there are any issues with the data held on you, or provide you with advance warning of any difficulties you would possibly encounter taking up new borrowing. The non-public finance platform Credit score Karma companions with TransUnion and allows you to verify your rating and report without spending a dime – it runs presents for bank cards and loans and earns a fee in case you take one out. Zoe Wooden

Are Amazon’s costs on Black Friday and different dates actually an excellent deal? Camelcamelcamel will enable you discover out. {Photograph}: Stephen Frost/Alamy In case you obtain its browser extension, the Camelizer, you possibly can see the worth historical past charts if you are nonetheless on Amazon’s web site. Camelcamelcamel generates income by affiliate hyperlinks, so in case you click on on a hyperlink and purchase one thing, it will get a fee. ZW

The cybersecurity firm Pattern Micro has an app designed to detect and stop rip-off calls, texts and web sites. Obtain it in your cellphone and it could actually block unsafe web sites, and it'll let you know if uploaded photographs, texts or hyperlinks look suspicious. ScamCheck claims to be completely different from anti-virus software program because it focuses on fraud somewhat than stopping your cellphone being contaminated with malware. You possibly can trial it without spending a dime for 30 days, and after that it prices £19.99 a yr. Shane Hickey

Tesco’s Clubcard app enables you to entry the decrease costs out there to cardholders. {Photograph}: Reuters/Alamy This app could be very helpful in case you are a daily Tesco shopper (in any other case verify what your go-to grocery store presents as most have comparable). You possibly can carry round your Clubcard nearly, which means you by no means miss out on the decrease costs out there to cardholders, and verify for brand spanking new presents and choose personalised coupons. You may also use it to maintain monitor of your Clubcard vouchers (you earn one level for each £1 spent on buying at Tesco, and it's price 1p when transformed into vouchers), and get QR codes to redeem them in retailer. Vouchers can be spent at Tesco or exchanged for twice their face worth, with greater than 100 “reward” companions. That is lower than previously, however the excellent news for dough ball followers is that vouchers at the moment are price triple at Pizza Categorical – which means £10 of vouchers will get you a £30 reward code for the restaurant. ZW

Ever questioned what the numbers and letters in your tax code imply to your funds? HMRC’s software will let you know precisely how a lot you need to be paying in tax and the way a lot you possibly can earn tax-free primarily based in your code – have a look in your payslip to seek out it. If it’s any completely different from the usual private allowance of £12,570 a yr and also you have no idea why, verify your private tax account on-line, or ask your employer. For workers, it has one other calculator that can estimate how a lot earnings tax and nationwide insurance coverage you must pay for the present tax yr. There’s additionally a calculator to verify if you want to pay the excessive earnings little one profit tax cost. RJ

There are thousands and thousands of financial institution and constructing society accounts within the UK, and inevitably, some find yourself getting misplaced. That is outlined as the place an account has been inactive for a very long time – usually 15 years – and the financial institution, constructing society or NS&I has written to the client however heard nothing again. My Misplaced Account might help you discover lacking funds even in case you have no idea the place an account is held now. It's worthwhile to fill in any particulars you could have, together with the names of any suppliers with which you imagine you saved cash – these could be manufacturers that don't exist any extra. The software generates a search request which it sends to every of these organisations. Inside 12 weeks you must hear if any accounts have been discovered. You possibly can then get on with reclaiming your money. RJ

Apps might help buyers examine the costs of grocery and different objects. Illustration: Michael Driver/The Guardian Youngster belief funds (CTFs) had been enormous: greater than 6.3m had been opened between their launch in 2005 and 2011 after they had been scrapped, and there may be nonetheless £7.5bn locked up in them. However numerous these accounts have been forgotten about. The Share Basis, a charity, runs a free-to-use search service for over-16s who could not know there may be cash with their identify on it.

The web software asks for the holder’s identify, date of start and previous and current addresses. The charity makes use of this info to trace down the account and the account holder ought to get an e mail from both the supplier or HMRC telling them the place it's. RJ

The federal government has been rolling out funded childcare in England, and now numerous working households with youngsters underneath the age of 5 are entitled to 30 hours free every week. This helpful calculator enables you to verify your entitlement, wherever you reside within the UK. It's worthwhile to know your family’s working hours and earnings, and also will be requested to your little one’s date of start and your possible weekly or month-to-month childcare prices. RJ

Get a heads up on the most recent gross sales with this app (or use the web site at hotukdeals.com). A group of discount hunters posts offers day by day after which the group votes on whether or not they're scorching or not. Those with essentially the most votes go to the highest of the feed. It might be a cut-price TV subscription, a selected grocery store promoting closely discounted sweets or low cost Lego. You may also seek for presents on explicit manufacturers or objects. It's free and registered customers get tailor-made alerts to issues they might be all for. SH

You possibly can handle children’ cash with the HyperJar app. This free cash administration app – which comes with a bodily or digital pay as you go debit card – might help you with budgeting and managing spending. Customers can load cash from their financial institution into their HyperJar account after which divide it into completely different digital “jars” relying on how they spend. You possibly can add fee controls in case you are frightened you might be tempted to purchase issues you don't actually need, and the app additionally presents pay as you go playing cards for youngsters. Cash held with HyperJar isn't lined by the Monetary Providers Compensation Scheme (FSCS), however it's held in a safeguarded account underneath Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA) guidelines. Different fashionable apps of this sort embody Emma and Plum. They're each free for the essential model, with extra options out there in case you stump up a month-to-month payment. SH

Shopping for insurance coverage on Evaluate the Market offers you entry to rewards, a few of which you'll be able to solely reap the benefits of by way of this app. There are financial savings on takeaway pizzas and restaurant payments and financial savings at Caffè Nero which you'll be able to solely get this manner, in addition to two-for-one cinema tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which you don't want the app for. For purchasers of O2, the cellphone supplier’s Precedence app has low cost Vue cinema tickets, cash off journal subscriptions and low cost drinks from Greggs, amongst different presents. SH

Everyone knows how laborious it's to get by to corporations, and checking out your funds may imply spending numerous the time ready to your calls to be answered. Some now supply a callback service so that you don’t have to remain on maintain for ages, but when they don’t, this iPhone function would possibly assist. So long as your cellphone is an iPhone 12 or later mannequin, when you find yourself positioned on maintain you possibly can select to get a notification when a reside agent is accessible. You don’t have to remain on the road and might get on with what you might be doing, secure within the data that you simply received’t miss your flip within the queue. ZW

This free app has been round for a couple of years now, and claims to be “the world’s largest market for surplus meals”. It allows eating places, cafes and retailers to promote meals they could in any other case should throw away, whereas providing you the prospect to seize one thing low cost to eat – usually at half the traditional value or much less – and assist the setting by lowering meals waste. To seek out offers close to the place you reside you possibly can browse a map of your native space, set filters primarily based in your particular person preferences and think about personalised suggestions. A operating complete on the app reveals you the way a lot cash you could have saved and your optimistic impression on the setting. RJ

The Olio cell app was initially designed for individuals to present away surplus meals, however now presents giveaways from massive retailers. {Photograph}: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Photographs One other free app designed to scale back waste – each meals and in any other case. Initially utilized by people to present away meals after they had purchased or made an excessive amount of, it now has giveaways from massive retailers, lowered meals from the frozen meals retailer Iceland, and a piece for freely giving or promoting different items. Meals Waste Heroes acquire objects from supermarkets and redistribute them by way of the app – it's all inside its use-by date, and will have come from the clearance part. Different individuals will typically clarify why they're giving meals away within the itemizing. To get the most effective out of it you want to reside someplace pretty densely populated – or have neighbours who over-buy. HO

This free app lets individuals examine the costs of grocery and different objects throughout supermarkets and different retailers together with Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Ocado and Amazon. It claims customers can save as much as 30% on groceries by ensuring they're getting the most effective deal. Handily, it consists of reductions for loyalty playing cards reminiscent of Tesco Clubcard and the Sainsbury’s Nectar scheme though these are listed beneath the headline costs. You possibly can create buying lists, and it'll let you know the costs throughout completely different retailers, you possibly can monitor an merchandise’s value historical past and you may verify costs whereas within the grocery store aisle utilizing the app’s barcode scanner. At a time when grocery buying is expensive, it's a great tool for chopping these payments. RJ

Everyone knows we must always have some cash put aside for a wet day, however how a lot must you be aiming for, and when are you able to cease saving for that and begin working in the direction of a distinct purpose? The Put up Workplace’s calculator will provide you with an thought. Put in a determine to your non-negotiable bills every month – your housing prices, meals and vitality payments, and many others – and one other for a way a lot you could have already saved and it will provide you with a goal determine. It can additionally present you the way far alongside the best way you might be, which might make it really feel rather less insurmountable. HO

by way of Halifax, Nationwide and different banks’ and constructing societies’ web sites

Run by the Power Saving Belief – an organisation that helps companies and householders cut back their vitality use – this software will provide you with a tailor-made motion plan to enhance your property. It begins with questions on the place you reside, together with the kind of property and its age, and goes on to ask about your present payments. The model on Halifax’s web site additionally asks you about your heating, bathe and so forth, earlier than the preliminary calculations. The software then tells you the way a lot you would want to spend to scale back your vitality use and descriptions a spread of measures, how a lot they'll price and what the potential annual saving in your payments shall be. You possibly can select a most finances for it to bear in mind, and likewise whether or not to prioritise decrease payments, a greater ranking in your property’s EPC (the vitality efficiency certificates landlords and sellers want to offer) or lowering your environmental impression. You possibly can take away any measures from the checklist and, as soon as completed, obtain an motion plan. It is not going to bear in mind the entire small belongings you is perhaps doing to maintain your payments down, but it surely will provide you with an thought of the work you would take into account and the way a lot it can price. HO

Aimed toward these aged between 45 and 65, this software from the government-backed MoneyHelper web site is a superb place to take inventory of your funds. There are questions on all the main issues you want to take into consideration as you hurtle into center age – from ensuring your pension supplier is aware of who to pay out once you die, to the place you'll reside in retirement. You do not want numbers or account particulars to make use of it, simply to have a broad thought of what's occurring together with your cash. For instance, are you maintaining with debt repayments? And do you pay often right into a pension? Upon getting answered the questions you get a personalised downloadable report making recommendations in regards to the areas of your funds that you must concentrate on. Below sections on budgeting, property planning and so forth you'll get a listing of subsequent steps, and hyperlinks to helpful articles and calculators. HO