My comparison of banking apps (Monzo, Starling, Lloyds, Natwest and others)

enthusiasticsaver

SouthLondonUser said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

I love Starling. It does everything I want it to and more. I don’t have an issue with it not having a credit card. I can recategorise if needed, move money into savings spaces and see instantly any spends. No need to have separate money software to check on spending patterns. 

I like Starling, too. A separate budgeting software like MoneyDashboard or MoneyHub comes in handy if you spend from your Sterling account + with a credit card; using a credit card doesn't necessarily mean being a debt addict, you could make use of cashback or other offers and pay the full balance every month, without being charged interest.

Basically in these cases if you have spent £50 at Tesco from your Starling debit card and £40 at Sainsbury from a credit card, the budgeting app will show both and will show you "groceries: £90"

Presumably then Money Dashboard or Money Hub is separate software you connect up to your separate banking/credit card providers? 

I certainly don't think using credit makes anyone a debt addict.  I have used it a lot in the past but just prefer things to be simpler now I am retired.  I still have one but like the simplicity of knowing that what shows in my starling account is what is available to be spent whereas using a credit card means a bill the following month so just pushing the cost of anything forward.  That messes up my budgeting so I prefer not to go down that way and am willing to forsake the small cashback/offers I would get for ease. 

enthusiasticsaver

Zaul22 said:

The one slightly annoying thing about Starling after a few months using it, the money 'spent' this month display shows absolutely all money going out of the account, not just money actually spent. It needs a way to exclude money transferred to a savings account, which is literally the exact opposite of spending. 

You can recategorise payments to savings so in the future savings shows separately on the spending reports rather than spending. 

phillw

enthusiasticsaver said:
I still have one but like the simplicity of knowing that what shows in my starling account is what is available to be spent whereas using a credit card means a bill the following month so just pushing the cost of anything forward. 

"available to spend" sounds like you vary your spending based on how much "is available". But I don't know how much is available as I've not died yet.

0% credit cards are better for me because you start seeing a huge debt build up & it makes me think that I ought to tighten my belt (even though I have enough money in a savings account to cover the debt).