21 Smartphone Apps to Help Manage Your Money

The idea of dealing with finances can be an intimidating thought for some people. It’s more than just paying your bills at the end of every month — it’s about saving, budgeting, investing, paying off debts and everything else that comes along with money. The way that we spend our money now can impact the rest of our lives, so it’s vitally important that we manage it well. Luckily, there are tons of resources available to help with money management, many of which you can access in the palm of your hand!

The team at Wikibuy put together this guide on 21 different smartphone apps that can help you manage your financial life. They’ve included apps that give you a holistic view of your spending habits that can offer recommendations on how to save money, apps that help you track your personal and professional expenses, and apps that help you share expenses with people like roommates, coworkers or family. Whether you’re looking to regain control on your finances or are simply interested in learning more about investing and spending, there’s an app that’s perfect for your money needs.

Please include attribution to Wikibuy.com with this graphic.

Healthy Snacks For For A Road Trip With Kids

When we're heading off a long trip with our kids, snacks are an essential item! Unfortunately, convenient snacks for kids are

often pretty unhealthy not to mention expensive. Keeping our small kids occupied in the back seat can be challenging at the

best of times, without constant cries of “I’m hungry!” resonating around the car (which can drive anyone crazy!).

We found that they are loads of healthy snack ideas out there, but so many of them have the capacity to create a huge mess

in the back of our car. If you’re looking at ways to save money on snacks, keep the car relatively clean and keep your kids as

healthy as possible, take a look at our yummy ideas.

Dried Fruit

Sometimes, persuading our kids to eat fruit can be difficult and certainly a battle in some cases! Often, it’s the texture of

certain fruits which puts kids off or even the look of it and that it’s obviously fruit.

Dried fruit can be a great healthy snack for kids; it looks different and tastes different to its fresh counterpart. It’s also much

less messy than fresh fruit, as there’s no juice to be squirted over the back seat and no messy hands wiped on clothes.

Banana chips dried apple rings, and dried apricots are some of the favorites. You can grab these in health food shops super

easily and lots of supermarkets do a good range.

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

Many kids grow up eating fried chicken and chicken nuggets, however, they are neither nutritious or healthy for your kids.  

So, change it up by adding flavor and texture in another way. My kids looooove smoked chicken breast, the from one of the best gas smokers! I just cut the chicken into bite size pieces and it ensures that they still get their fix of protein as well as feel like they not missing out!

Popcorn

Popcorn is a great healthy snack and it comes in all sorts of flavors. Buy a big bag and split it up into snack-size portions in

boxes or sandwich bags. We find it can get a little messy, but at least it’s dry and not too difficult to vacuum up!

Credit Photo by Charles Deluvio 🇵🇭🇨🇦 on Unsplash

You can also have a go at making it yourself, which is a great option if you’re on a budget. here are lots of yummy popcorn

recipes for some inspiration – you might even find you want some for yourself!

Cottage Cheese & Blueberry Wraps

This one might sound a bit out there, but all our friends' kids along with our kids loooooove this combo! It's a perfect way to

get the kids to have a balanced meal with carbohydrates & protein. The cottage cheese ensures you don’t have any runaway

blueberries to fish out from under the seat. I recently found out that many of the cottage cheese brands on the market are

packed  full of sugar, so I started making my own!!

Granola Bars

Making your own granola bars is a great option for a no-mess and healthier snack. Shop bought cereal and granola bars are

often packed with sugar, glucose syrup, and additives which aren’t good for anyone!

Making your own can be a fun exercise to do with the kids as well (and maybe tire them out before you get on the road). You

can pack them with your kids’ favorite things and they don’t have to be too difficult either. We have a few favorites are

blueberry vanilla & greek yogurt as well as double chocolate peanut butter. These recipes are healthy not to mention

delicious (we usually save a few for ourselves)

Cereals

Cereals make a great snack for long car journeys. There are lots of healthier options such as wholegrain cereals, cereals with

much less or no added sugar and ones without artificial flavorings.

Pop a handful in a sandwich bag or snack box for long journeys to soothe those hunger pangs – if you don’t usually have

cereal as a snack, your kids might even be occupied at the novelty for a while!

Juice Boxes

Where there is hunger, there’s inevitably thirst! Handy drinks for kids can be one of the least healthy additions to their diets,

there can be lots of hidden calories in juices and smoothies and they can contain a huge amount of sugar. Opt for sugar-free

or no added sugar options when it comes to juice boxes, to make for a healthier snack. You can also invest in some reusable

water bottles to take with you in the car and fill these up with squash for the ride (this is healthy on the wallet too!).

It can seem like a daunting task when it comes to staying healthy on the road with small kids, but with these ideas, it should

be a little easier!

10 Ways You Could Be Inviting Unwanted Visitors Into Your Home

All throughout the year, taking preventative measures to ensure you’re not inviting unwanted wildlife and bugs into your home is imperative. Pests can cause a huge ruckus when they find their way inside of your abode; they can eat through your wires, dig deep into your walls, weaken and ruin your furniture, bring disease as they get into your food and water sources, and so much more. However, if you don’t know how you’re letting unwanted visitors into your home, this post will tell you.

Below are 10 things you could be doing that could be telling those creepy crawlies and critters to come on in. Take a look and make sure you don’t keep on making the same mistakes:

1. Leaving Food Out In The Kitchen

Leaving food out in the kitchen is a great way to send a metaphorical Bat signal out to waiting critters (not just bats, FYI). Dried food that hasn’t been cleaned off the sides, and containers that are not sealed properly can do the trick, too. Food that you’ve been meaning to throw away can also be a problem. You should get rid of uneaten pet food asap, too. Don't leave it festering in your pet’s bowl. Keeping your kitchen clean is so important, so make sure you clean and tidy after every meal you make.

2. Leaving Cracks And Crevices for Bugs To Hide

Slugs, cockroaches, and other pests love cracks and crevices to hide in. Then, when the coast is clear, they’ll venture out into your home at night. You can start by blocking up gaps beneath and on top of the sink immediately, as many pests will use them to access a water source. Make sure you deal with cracks and crevices as soon as you find them - don’t wait until it’s too late and you have a big problem.

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3. Failure To Keep A Close Eye On Your Pets

Your pets are another sneaky way pests can get into your home. They can bring bugs in from the garden, and while cat fleas are the most common, dogs can bring home pests too. You should get treatment from a vet ASAP, and be vigilant with keeping your home clean and your pets away from one another if you notice a problem. You don't want the issue to spread to your other pets!

4. Stamping Out Pests

It can be tempting to stamp on a pest once you see one, but if you stamp on a cockroach, you could be spreading their eggs - each one contains 16-30. Either invest in proper home treatment or call in Pest Control experts to get rid of your problem. That’s the only way to avoid the shock of your life as you’re surrounded by baby cockroaches!

5. Not Investing In The Essentials

Bedbugs are a major problem, but for the most part they can be helped with a great vacuum cleaner. Make sure you have a powerful one on hand. This will help to keep your home maintenance easy in general, and also help you to keep pests away. For those who travel, they are especially easy to bring home in your suitcase. Make sure you’re hyper vigilant if you like to go to different places, or you could be bringing them home with you.

6. Not Having Your Windows/Doors Properly Sealed

You’d be surprised at how many unsealed gaps you find when you inspect the entrance to your home. Insects can crawl under your door and through pretty much any gap into your home. Make sure you find the gaps and seal them up to stop them from coming in. You can usually do this yourself as the job isn’t too difficult - check out YouTube videos to help you.

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7. Not Taking Time For Basic Garden Maintenance

Basic garden maintenance is key if you want to keep your home healthy and free from pests. Eliminating pooled water will get rid of mosquitoes as they need it to breed, so make sure you have regular drainage channels like gutters and drains. You may need to aerate your lawn. Change the water in your birdbaths and fountains at least once a week to stop bugs from breeding, and remove piles of debris asap before pests have a chance to set up camp there. Keeping on top of your garden maintenance will ensure bugs and pests aren't staking out your home.

8. Storing Your Trash Haphazardly

You have to store your trash properly, as cockroaches and other pests find them incredible. You should put old food in a can with a lid, and it should be emptied each night. You shouldn’t have food in wastebaskets around the house. All interior and exterior trash receptacles and recycling bins should be cleaned and sanitized regularly to ensure that nothing is breeding inside of there unbeknownst to you.

9. Not Using Fans in the Heat

Using fans in the heat can give you some respite from the weather, but they serve other purposes, too. This can do more than keep your air conditioning costs down - it can help keep unwelcome critters at bay. Flies tend to love still air! While fans don’t exactly blow them away, they make the air turbulent enough to stop them from sticking around. Don’t be afraid to put those fans on.

10. Not Tending To Your Clutter Fast Enough

If you have a cluttered home or areas where you like to hoard, you’re giving pests and bugs places to hide. When you tend to your clutter, there are fewer places for insects to hide - and you benefit too. Your home becomes more beautiful and easier to clean, and you don’t have to worry about expensive pest control treatments. Make sure you stay on top of your clutter and try to look at things objectively rather than emotionally. Set aside a day to do it if you have to - doing a little bit each day will feel like you’re sorting it out forever!

Cut out Fortnite, tablets, and TV for wholesome active play!

If you have a child I’m sure you have gone through the many struggles of screen time addiction, video games, Fortnite, and simply not moving off the couch all winter break. It can be a stressful situation having the fight and even harder to handle after a long day of work, travel, or even just being a mom. Sometimes it seems so easy to simply give in and let them play the games, watch the shows, or sit on the tablet. 

The sad truth is that laying around on the couch or playing games is not healthy for your kids. They crave physical challenges and their growing bodies need it to stay healthy and happy.  A child’s body needs to be worked out and it is one of the best things you can encourage. Creating a fun play space using an air track small enough to fit into your child’s play room is a great new way to maintain active play.

Changing up the way you get your child to play is a great way to get them more excited to go out and play. Encourage playing outside with new toys, inviting friends over, or letting them build their own play equipment. Having them more involved is a great way to give them an exciting reason to go outside and play.  Taking them to different parks and play dates gives them a change of pace and they love to enjoy different environments. Look at the airtrack home edition price and think about the sanity you will save by creating a fun play room for your little ones. 

Create indoor play that challenges their bodies. Play tunnels, building forts, ball pits, air tumble track for gymnastics, and small slides are a great way to encourage physical play. Having your child off the screens and doing something healthy like rolling around on a gymnastics mats is such a fun and different way to encourage physical fitness.

Having your child moving their bodies makes them feel great and gives you a break later in the day when they have tuckered themselves out. Keep it fresh, new, and fun and your child will be happy to go and play and stay off the Fortnite and tablet screens we loathe. 

Get 500 bonus SB when you sign up for Swagbucks in January

Start the new year off right by earning free gift cards from Swagbucks! All throughout January you can earn large bonuses when sign up as my referral on Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a rewards site where you earn points (called SB) for things you're probably doing online already, like searching the web, watching videos, shopping, discovering deals, and taking surveys. Then you take those points and exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Target, or PayPal cash.  

When you sign up through me this month, you can earn a 500 SB bonus! Here's how:  

1. Sign up using this link 

2. Earn 500 SB total before January 1st, 2018. You'll get a 500 SB bonus for it!  

3. That's it. It's super easy, and Swagbucks is for real. I use it myself, and I've earned hundreds of dollars in gift cards to use for groceries, gifts, and more! 

Aleva Naturals Celebrates 10 Years in Canada!

Canadian parents have another reason to celebrate this year. Aleva Naturals, a company focused on creating products that are pure, natural, and vegan is celebrating its 10^th year in the Canadian market.  The company, which has an over 20-year history, was born when a pharmacist’s newborn son developed severe nasal congestion and he used his knowledge of Ayurvedic medicine to create a natural remedy that worked.

Today, Aleva Naturals offers Canadians (and 16 countries around the world) a vast product line full of products for families. From bamboo baby diapers, bamboo baby wipes, and other innovative wipes that help clean toys and pacifiers, gums and more for babies to products to help mom with stretch marks and feminine hygiene, the company is loved by families throughout the country.

The product lineup includes:

• ·       Baby Skincare Essentials (hair and body wash, moisturizers, bubble bath, diaper creams, chest rubs, balms, and bedtime bath care
• ·      Bamboo Baby Diapers and Bamboo Baby Wipes

·      Innovative Bamboo Baby Wipes (pacifier and toy wipes, baby’s gums and teeth wipes, stuffy nose wipes, & hand and face wipes)

·      Baby Safe Household Cleaners (hand wash, laundry soap, stain removal bars, bottle and dish liquid, multi-surface spray)

·      Maternal Care (nursing balm, stretch mark cream, feminine wipes and washes)

·      Travel and Gift Sets

A newborn baby brings great joy and excitement as parents look forward to those precious milestones; from smiles to steps and everything in between. But with this excitement comes the great responsibility of caring for a newborn through these special moments. Aleva products are pure natural and vegan making them the safest choice for your baby.

Easy ways to save money this year.

It is a whole new year and I am sure you're planning on making some changes to your finances to improve your quality of life or save for something important. What can you do to save money on your monthly bills and start saving for the future?

Cut down on how much you eat out every month. Make eating take out and fast food a treat that only happens once in a while. Having your meals cooked and prepared at home can save you tons of cash and be much better for you.  The easiest ways to keep from eating take out is to prepare your meals ahead of time. Meal planning keeps you from getting fast food because you have nothing prepared ahead of time. There are tons of freezer friendly meals that you can prepare in a large cooking session and freeze for when you need them.

Call your utility companies and see what deals they can offer you and reduce your usage where necessary. If you have been with the same utility company for a long period of time they can offer you savings from time to time. Cable companies can give you exclusive deals and savings for a short time to keep you as a customer. You can cut channels out of your packages to reduce your monthly bill and remove unnecessary perks you no longer use or need. Cutting your home phone may be one of your options as well. If you can't seem to get any savings it may be time to think about cutting cable all together as well.

Set a budget for your spending and don't let yourself go over. If you are wanting an item that costs more than what you have in your budget start saving for it each month with the surplus you have remaining. This may be a great way to determine whether or not you actually want the item. Taking the time to think about your purchase and decide whether or not it is something you actually need is a great way to keep yourself from making impulse decisions. If you ever require quick cash to purchase something that can't wait until next payday (prescriptions, food, car payments, etc.) it is a great idea to look into a fast and easy loan from micropaydayloans.com

Try using just cash when shopping. Handing over a piece of plastic that contains all your money is a super easy way to pay because you can't get a visual of how much your spending. Holding ten and twenty dollar bills in your hand when paying makes you see the amount your losing and makes it harder to give it up.

Purchasing reduced and clearance items is an excellent way to cut costs. Supermarkets put all kinds of slightly bruised or not as pretty fruits and vegetables on clearance shelves everyday. Take advantage of this and you can be eating healthier for less. Meat and baked goods get put on the shelves a couple days before expiry or right on their expiry date and it doesn't make them bad it just means they need to go into the freezer right away or be cooked right away. If you find yourself in a pinch and need cash to buy groceries you should look into getting a quick and easy payday loan from paydayme.com.

If you find yourself in a pinch and can't seem to make your bill payments for the month you should consider getting some sort of payday loans.  A payday loan can be a great way to stay on track and pay your bills on time, the last thing you want to do is hurt your credit score from falling behind a little bit. As long as you pay your loan back on time a payday loan can be a great way to catch up on life's little emergencies.

Saving money this year can come easy if you follow these simple steps and commit to the saving process.

Swag IQ Referral Promotion

Have you played SwagIQ? It’s a live trivia game show where you test your knowledge to win cash prizes. It’s free to play, just download the app to get started. To earn money, you must be a member of SwagBucks. It’s also free to sign up, and there are plenty of ways to get free gifts cards by using the site! Just click on my referral link to get started!

Here’s a little more about Swag IQ:

Monday through Thursday they broadcast a live game. Simply tune-in at the appointed time by launching the SwagIQ app and log-in with your Swagbucks account credentials. The game show host will ask a series of multiple-choice trivia questions. You’ll have 10 seconds to answer each one.

Get it right; you get SB (points you can use to get gift cards) and move on. Answer them all correctly and you can win a grand prize! If more than one player wins, the winners split the grand prize.

Get it wrong; still play along. Some questions have an SB award attached to them. If you answer those questions correctly, you get SB, even if you’re out of the running for the big money. And, if you’re in a groove but miss a question, you’ll have the option to rejoin a game by redeeming a few SB.

Have fun!

The top 3 things you can buy on iHerb Singapore Deals

iHerb deals with natural health products. If you want to attain optimal health, you should consider using natural health supplements. With an iHerb SG promo code, you will get the products at a cheaper price. Knowing the various natural products available and their benefits can help you choose the best products that promote good health. You may buy sports items, skin care products, and organic food supplements from iHerb. The online shopping option ensures that customers have a good shopping experience. There are discounts offered from time to time to both new and loyal customers. This way, they entice you to take good care of your health through the use of natural products.

Here are the top 3 things you can buy on iHerb Singapore Deals:

1.    Food supplements

You should eat a well-balanced diet for good health. But it is not possible to get all the essential vitamins and minerals in their right quantities on a daily basis. That is why you should take supplements. This will ensure that your body gets all the essentials for better health. You will find high quality and natural supplements for kids too. Vitamin c complex, Children DHA supplements, and Gummy bears are some of the popular supplements you will find at iHerb. Organic tea and snacks are also available here. For sports and health and fitness gurus, they will get supplements that enhance their performance here. These are natural products with no side effects.

2.    Household cleaners

You will get the best brand house cleaning products at iHerb at affordable prices. Method house cleaning products are available in bulk. You may buy such products in bulk to save some money. For dishwashing liquid, surface cleaner and hand wash, you should get natural products made with natural ingredients. They do not cause skin irritation and they have a good smell. You may choose from various natural products companies' that sell their products through iHerb.

3.    Pet supplies

You should also take care of your pets. This ensures that they remain healthy without having to constantly visit the veterinary doctor. Their nutrition is very important and therefore, getting organic food for your pets should be a priority. You will get high-quality shampoo for your dog at a fair price. The shampoo is made of natural ingredients hence there is no irritation that may make your pet uncomfortable after use. It also smells very nice. That is why most loyal customers get their dog shampoo from iHerb. There are a variety of vitamins and pet food available here too. By reading the labels, you will identify the best food for your pet. Reviews show that natural food supplements and vitamins do not cause stomach upsets since they are easily digested and absorbed in the body.

A variety of natural products are available online at iHerb. If you are considering buying any natural product online ensure that you check the ratings first. You should also check the prices and take advantage of any discounts offered to save some money.

Requirements for Making Your Dream House

Whether you have been saving up for decades or you have worked hard for a number of years, it all pays off once you have enough money to build your dream house. People dream about the homes that they would turn into little family sanctuaries where they will spend many memorable hours and where their children will grow up. Needless to say, to turn such a dream into reality is no easy task, especially if we take the financial factor into consideration. Now, not every dream house has to be luxurious, but it should have all the features you have longed for. This might be something as simple as your own bookcase or a wardrobe for shoes. Once you have the funds ready, it is time to create a plan that would make all your fantasies come true. This is where you have to have in mind different aspects of building a house, as there are numerous requirements that you have to meet.

Start fresh or renovate?

First things first, you need to decide whether you are going to turn your old abode into a dream house or are you going to purchase a new property. This decision should be made based on the current state of our home. The cheaper option is to keep your current home, move into a hotel while it is being renovated and finally move into a spruced up house. However, if this makeover involves extensive construction work, like adding a whole floor or tearing down too many walls, then this option becomes too expensive to execute. If your vision is completely different from what you have right now, then it might be better to simply purchase a new property that already looks the way you imagined.

Finding the right contractor

No matter how handy you are and how much experience you have in the construction industry, don’t try to build the house on your own. The task beforehand is simply too extensive for one person, or even a team of laymen. That is why hiring contractors is the best way to go. This seems easy, just google them or to pick up a phonebook, but in reality, good and responsible contractors are hard to come by. Since you are not going to roll up your sleeves to work, make sure you search far and wide for a good contractor. Ask your friends and family if they can recommend someone, look into the contractor’s portfolio, and even search the comments section on their Facebook page. We cannot stress enough the importance of hiring a reliable contractor. Once you find your man, be sure to set everything you agree on paper.

Getting a home improvement loan

Like we stated numerous times before, building your dream house is going to need a huge budget. From the very start the contractor is going to ask for a down payment as high as 10% of the projected overall cost, so be ready to let go of thousands of dollars from day one. If you don’t want to borrow money from friends, complete the budget with a loan. You don’t have to go to a bank, as many enterprises offer home improvement loans at affordable interest rates. When it comes to the issue of money, its amount is not as important as securing that you won’t get ripped or that you will have insufficient funds for emergency costs that regularly pop up.

Communication

Once the building commences, you have to stay up to date with what is going on. Get to know the builder and exchange contacts so you can stay in touch. During the construction you have to communicate constantly with the people building your house. On one side, how will they know what you want if you don’t tell me? On the other side, they are experts so they can advise you on what is possible and what is simply impossible to execute. By conferring with them, you ensure that the finished house will be both safe and that it will match all your preferences.

Buy furniture online to save money

Your new house is going to need new furniture inside because a new house means a fresh start in life. Shopping at local stores might be the first thing that comes to your mind, but the online market offers better prices. There are sales online all the time, so you can save up to 50% if you order. To top it all, many of shopping platforms offer free shipping if you buy items over a certain amount. Since you are cashing out thousands of dollars, this applies to your case. Online wholesalers are better that retail, so make use of this factor. On the plus side, you can choose from more color patterns and models online as many pieces of furniture are actually custom-tailored to meet the needs of shoppers.

Furnish the house to your needs

A dream house is a new start in life, so make it count when it comes to furnishing it. Don’t be a creature of habit and instead make a list of the things you want to see installed inside. Hate doing the dishes? Buy the first dishwasher in our life. Don’t like curtains? Ditch them altogether and install shades in the color to your liking. These things might seem trivial, but the devil is in the detail. Small thing like these are what constitute a home.

Get hold of enough boxes

With all the money problems and organizational issues, many people forget that for a successful move they are going to need boxes, and a lot of them. Go to your local grocery store and ask for the shipping boxes they receive every day. They will be more than willing to let go of them. If this is still not enough, address the bigger supermarkets as they have tons of cardboard in their back parking lot. On average, any move will require at least 50 boxes of various sizes.

If you deserved to build your dream house, then don’t let such trivialities as dodgy contractors of ill-planned funds set you back. Meet all the requirements listed here, stick to the plan and in no time you will be able to relax in the comfort of your new fairy-tale home.