After an unexpected emergency in May, my finances are a mess, and although couponing is helping the burden at the grocery and drug stores, I’ve been watching the App store for aid in tracking my expenses. Saver — control your expenses for iPhone and iPod Touch — intrigued me with its screenshots, so I opted for a closer look.
I’m happy to report that my initial $2.99 investment in Saver will be worthwhile — this app provides all of the functionality I was looking for, plus a few nice surprises. When viewing your balance sheet, you can tap the monthly budget bar to enter your allotment for spending (and you can opt to have this renew automatically each month). As you make entries, the app will automatically deduct the amount from your budget, keeping a running total of what you’ve spent and how much you have left. On this screen, you’ll also see your daily balance sheet, and you can use the arrows or calendar icon to select a different day to view.
Adding expenses is done through the plus sign. Saver provides 15 categories — including food, utilities, payments and groceries. You can’t reorder these buttons, rename or delete, but if you double tap you’ll see options under each for six specific categories. Utilities offers mobile, Internet, phone, TV, water and electricity, for example. If that still doesn’t fit your needs, you can swipe left to add up to six of your own tags in each category (hold the icon to name). The app also lets you add notes and even photos to your entry. Through this option panel, you can change the date of your entry, so if you’re feeling motivated, you could enter your rent for the rest of the year. After you’ve saved your entry, it’ll appear on the balance sheet. Make a mistake? Swipe to delete.
Saver also tracks long-term spending patterns. Tap the circle icon in the toolbar to see a pie graph of your spending breakdown. You can view this on a weekly, monthly or yearly level. This loads graphically, which provides visual interest I haven’t found in other finance apps, and as you use the app you’ll be able to swipe through your history to compare your spending visually. Tapping a section of the graph will pull up a sortable list of expense you’ve made in that category. If you create an account with Saver, the app also offers automatic backup so you won’t lose your expense history.
I did experience the occasional crash when using Saver, usually when trying to edit an existing entry. Despite this, Saver’s design and overall functionality still rank superior for my money.
Download the free Appolicious iPhone app
