PocketGuard (pocketguard.com) Review: Personal Finance Simplified

PocketGuard is a personal finance tool that helps track your spending, budget for expenses, and designate funds for savings. It’s not going to make you filthy rich, but it will help you have better control of your finances.

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PocketGuard Features

Before you can benefit from all of PocketGuard’s features, you’ll need to first connect your checking, credit and savings accounts. By linking your financial accounts, the app can tell you what you’re spending, where to save and remind you when your bills are due. The more accounts you connect to PocketGuard, the smarter your budgeting will be.

Auto-Categorization

When you link your accounts to the app, PocketGuard automatically syncs and categorizes transactions into “pockets,” depending on merchants. The process is pretty accurate, but you’ll also need to go in and manually check if the transactions have been auto-categorized correctly.

Spending Limits

PocketGuard helps you save by setting spending limits on your “pockets.” If you overspent in a category, you’ll get a notification and the line under the spending limit will turn bright orange. The app will also display the amount you went over.

Savings Goals

This is a special “pocket” where you can plan and save a specific amount each month. The goal will automatically start over every month with the same amount, but you’re welcome to change it at any time.

Spending Pie Chart

This tool is great for a quick analysis of your expenses. It shows all you’ve spent over the current month, divided into categories, so you can easily see where your money is going.

Hashtags

To track specific kinds of expenses or assets, you can add hashtags. For example, you can link together all transactions from a particular trip – transportation, accommodation, restaurants, entertainment and etc. – by adding a hashtag with the name of the destination.

Find Savings

To help you save, PocketGuard has partnered with various financial services that can help lower your bills, pay off your loans, improve your credit score, get shopping rebates and more. You’ll first have to answer a few questions about yourself in the Profile section, then the app will generate offers that are tailored to you.

In My Pocket

This feature shows how much money is left for everyday spending, after accounting for bills and subscriptions. It’s calculated using this formula:

Income – Bills – Savings Goal – Ongoing Spending = In My Pocket

In other words, In My Pocket prioritizes your funds for necessary expenses and savings, then gives you free access to what’s left over.

PocketGuard recommends checking your In My Pocket daily, or at least before you shop. It’ll save you from impulse buys that add up to overspending.

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Pricing

PocketGuard Basic is free to use, but it has limitations. For a full range of services, opt for the PocketGuard Plus with a monthly subscription of $3.99 or an annual subscription of $34.99. With the higher tier plan, you’ll get to:

• Track cash that you spend and receive
• Plan for cash bills
• Know how much cash is in your pocket
• Record ATM withdrawals
• Add custom pockets

Plan	FREE	PLUS
Cost	$0	$3.99/month $34.99/year
Bill payment	X	X
Insights	X	X
#Hashtags notes in transactions	X	X
Add your own categories	–	X
Cash transactions	–	X
Cash bills	–	X

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Referral Program

Want to get PocketGuard Plus for free? When you invite friends to the service, you can earn points when they start to use the app:

• 10 points for each of the first 3 friends you successfully refer
• 5 points each time a friend you referred purchases PocketGuard Plus for the first time

Your friends will also benefit from the referral program. Each will get 10 points just for getting started.

For every 30 points, you’ll get one month of PocketGuard Plus for free. In other words, 30 points has a value of $3.99.

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Bottom Line

PocketGuard analyzes your finances in order to answer the question, “Can I spend this money right now?” It’s a perfect fit if you find yourself short every month, or you can’t seem to save money. For most people the free version will suffice. Plus, it’s a great way to test drive the app before you commit to the paid subscription service.

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