Your iPad is capable of much more than gaming, browsing the web, checking email and staying up to date with everything on the social web. In fact, come to think of it, there’s not much that it can’t do – including helping you to stay on top of your personal finances. Hand picked from the thousands of iPad apps currently available on the app store, we’ve listed seven that will help you to save money and manage your money more efficiently. Here we go!
1. Kayak Flights
The Kayak Flights app for the iPad allows users to explore traveling possibilities with a completely interactive environment. Flights can be located quickly with responsive program interaction and users can explore city features including hotel pricing, location, review, photos and amenities. Users can also enter a specific budget and Kayak Flights will plan a dream vacation with the Explore function of the app. Kayak Flights is a free app, there is no paid version available at this time, and can save users money anytime they are booking a flight or vacation travel.
2. iBooks
The iBooks app for the iPad features the iBooks store, where users can purchase and download any of thousands of electronic books for varying pricing. The application itself is free to download and free to use, with no advertisements included.
Users can also sync their iPad to the iTunes store and download their own books to the app at no charge. Users can browse their library, which is visually displayed on an actual bookshelf, and can also turn pages with a tap or swipe and bookmark specific pages in a selection. As a free app, iBooks is a way for avid readers to download their own selections from their PC for free.
3. E*Trade Mobile Pro
E*Trade Mobile Pro offers iPad users the option of trading stocks, bonds and market shares anywhere and at any time. E*Trade includes streaming real-time quotes at no charge, along with up to the minute market news, access to set watch lists and CNBC support for some customers. The app also includes simple to use market, limit and advanced orders for real-time accurate trading.
Users can log into their E*Trade account in a secure environment and trade with the assurance no one of their personal information is ever permanently stored in their iPad. So even if the device is lost, account information remains safe. E*Trade Mobile Pro is free to download and can be found in the finance category of the App Store on iPad. E*Trade Mobile Pro is a good way for stock traders to stay in touch with both the market and their money, regardless of time or location.
4. Kindle
Amazon is currently providing an optimised Kindle app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Users can download the application for free and purchase any of over 810,000 books, magazines and other reading material from the Kindle Store. Users can save money on their favourite books, including best sellers and new releases, with over 610,000 of the available selections priced at $9.99 or less.
Users can also get free first-chapter samples of any book prior to purchasing, which can save readers from buying books they really end up not wanting. Users can also customise their personal view by selecting fonts, background colours and viewing direction – portrait or landscape. The application is free to download and includes several classic novels for free, with thousands more at low prices.
5. Netflix
Netflix offers an app for the iPad, iPhone and iTouch when users sign up for an account with a free one month trial period. The charge for service is generally $7.99 per month and includes the ability to watch movies and television shows directly on the iPad or other mobile device. Netflix members can watch their selections anytime they want and can even pick up on their mobile device where they left off on their home screen or computer. The application is free to download, only requiring the user to sign up for an account with Netflix which includes a one month trial membership for free.
6. Pocket Money
Pocket Money is a personal finance application designed for the iPad and has been found very helpful in tracking income and expense in a legible, logical manner for users. Users begin their experience by entering all of their income and expenses into the correct category on the app. This includes payroll income, cash expenses, mortgage, rent and utilities payments and credit card debt. Pocket Money can manage and access several years’ worth of transactions with no appreciable performance downtime.
Pocket Money also features and auto-complete function so remembered transactions do not have to be completely manually entered each time. Pocket Money can provide users with a clear picture of their finances and allows them to make intelligent decisions on how and where to spend their money. The application is available from Catamount Software, through the App Store, and costs $4.99 to download.
7. Easy Books
Easy Books is similar to Pocket Money, but is geared for the small business and one-man shops looking to utilise their iPad to track their business income and expenses. The free version of the app includes a demo business and a limited number of transactions. For a one-time up-charge, users can upgrade to unlimited transactions and also purchase additional features from inside the application.
The app is compatible with iPad and provides a host of tracking features including end-of-year profit and loss statements, balance sheets and income summaries. All of the reporting can be exported to a spreadsheet in preparation for tax filing. The app includes the ability to make multiple item lines for a transaction and offers in-app customer invoicing capabilities.
This app can save business money through the easy-to-use entry system and accurate reporting system, regardless of the cash handling preference of the company. Easy Books handles cash accounting, accrual accounting and mixed accounting, depending on the business tax needs.
Guest article written by: Matt works alongside the guys at Money Choices, an Australian website where consumers can save money on a range of refinance home loans and a variety of other financial products. Recently he helped put together a post on making cash for their blog.
Yet again, here is another reason I’ve *really* been considering buying an iPhone! There’s just so much out there for the iOS, it’s insane. Especially iBooks!
Delena
How does the ipad reader compare to the kindle? I am specifically asking about the screen and how the eye strain is. Not sure if I am ready to jump to go fully digital with my books, but wondering if I should by a kindle if I am going to be getting the Ipad.
The Kindle app is interesting, but for reading I prefer the Kindle itself, especially because the screen reflects light like ordinary paper. Thus, it’s more comfortable for the eyes. 🙂