Pat PilcherA new free app takes all the thinking out of managing household contract expirations and potentially saves a pile of cash in the process.
Trying to keep your head above water in 2020 isn’t easy, but what if I told you that you’re probably already spending more of your hard-earned cash on household bills than you need to? What if I told you that there is a way of avoiding this? Well, guess what.
There’s an app for that.
Okay, so there are apps for everything. That’s no surprise. I’m talking about wonders such as the Fat Booth app to make you fat, or the Make Me Bald Prank app. There are even apps that’ll make rude noises.
Useful apps, however, are a scarce and precious commodity. One such example is GetReminded, which manages to be simple, clever and ever so useful.
Most of us exist in a financial fug. Very few of us, for instance, know when contracts with electricity, mobile phone or broadband providers expire. If you’re thinking “big fat hairy deal, who cares?”, then consider this. By letting existing services renew, you can end up paying more than you need to.
We’re not talking small amounts of money, either. Using data sourced from the NZ Dept of Statistics, Figure.NZ found that the average NZ household can spend, on average, $32,604 a year on services, many of which are contracted. By knowing when these contracts are due to expire or come up for renewal, and most importantly, by shopping around, families can save a considerable pile of money.
For services such as electricity In 2015 alone, the Electricity Authority estimated that an average of $175 a year was saved when New Zealanders switched power retailers. Similarly, mobile phone users often end up paying for handsets that they’ve already paid for when they renew a mobile plan, which includes a device and network service. By changing plans when they expire, savings can quickly add up.
We lead chaotic lives, so it isn’t a huge surprise that when a notice arrives saying your car insurance is expiring, most of us just let it renew, unaware of the savings possible by shopping around. Those of us who decide to do something, are often time-poor. Because of this, finding new, competitively priced car insurance gets left until the last minute. Lacking the research needed to get a better deal, we often don’t end up saving much. With lots of competitive deals available, not shopping around or being aware of the market can burn a pile of your precious cash.
Enter stage left, the GetReminded app, which aims to remind you when contracts and plans are about to expire, and will also educate you on how to find competitive deals. GetReminded is a free website and app for iOS and Android smartphones. It allows users to set reminders for when it’s time to renew contracts, policies, and documents. Handily, this means you can avoid leaving it to the last minute and then overpaying.
GetReminded works by reminding you when contracts are coming to their expiry date. Better still, it’ll fire relevant offers from providers to help you make an informed decision, saving you hard-earned cash. The clever bit is that GetReminded is free to use. It makes its money by charging the providers for the opportunity to send you offers. Targeted offers also mean you don’t get plastered with annoying and irrelevant advertisements.
The GetReminded app is clean and uncluttered, which makes getting to grips with it straightforward. Using its crisp cyan-on-white user interface, you’re prompted to register your contracts and plans. These can range from mobile plans through to miscellaneous subscriptions. From there, you enter in more details so the app can ping you with a reminder when the plan is due to expire.
Version two of GetReminded is in the works. Its developers say they’re focusing on adding tweaks that’ll make it easier for users to see the value of their contracts/services. The logic is compelling. Users will be able to see how much they’re spending yearly and will have an incentive to save. GetReminded can be found in the Google Play and Apple App Store.
