Whatever your 2020 resolutions are, there is an app that can help you. I get many amazing app advertisements on Facebook. Naively, I click on most of them. I then take the time to sign up just to find out that it is not free. Don’t get me wrong, I pay for apps all the time. $5 here, $10 there is fine. I just don’t need another $60/year subscription! That’s why I’d like to share this list of free apps that can help you achieve your goals.
Weight Loss
Learning to love yourself will look better on you than any amount of weight loss. It is my resolution to learn this valuable skill. But at the same time, I also want to lose weight and get in shape. My two trusted apps for this are:
1. My Fitness Pal
My Fitness Pal does offer a premium version and it is absolutely amazing. I actually had it for an entire year and loved the extra information that I got about my nutrition. There are other features that I never ended up using which is why I switched back to the simple free version.
The free version of My Fitness Pal lets you set goals, share them with friends, get tips on nutrition/exercise, learn about recipes, workout routines and more. I mainly use it to track the calories I eat. The best part is, you can scan bar codes on most products to add them instantly.
It also helps you keep track of how much water you are drinking. Finally, it is also compatible with most smart/fitness watches. This means that it can track the exercises that you do, including your number of steps. It then calculates the calories and counts them towards your daily calories. Basically, it tells you that you can eat that cake since you burned 300 extra calories today!
2. Fitbit
I know what you’re thinking. I thought she said free… now she wants me to buy a Fitbit? No, I do not! Although Fitbits are amazing and I love my Fitbit Versa. However, I mainly use my Apple Series watch these days. Luckily for me, the Fitbit App is compatible with various devices including Apple.
The Fitbit app focuses on exercise but it tracks other things. It is compatible with My Fitness Pal so it updates your weight, water intake and calories automatically. It also keeps track of your period cycle, distance that you walked/ran and it is a more accurate tracker of calories burned.
When it’s connected to a compatible watch, it uses your heart rate to calculate your fat burn. This is what makes it more accurate when tracking your exercise and calorie burn. Finally, this app is compatible with the next one on my list.
3. Daily Water Tracker Reminder
Drinking enough water doesn’t just help you lose weight. It helps with overall health, mental function and better circulation just to name a few. I could go on, but the list of benefits literally doesn’t end. The app I use most isn’t actually free – I paid $5 for it because it’s meant for Apple Watches.
However, My Fitness Pal can already be set up to send you reminders on its own. There’s also Daily Water Tracker Reminder. It is free with in-app purchases. I’ve used it before and it was amazing.
The app I use for $4.99 is WaterMinder (not a subscription). I like it because you can customize it. I added my SodaStream bottle to it and any time I tell Siri that “I drank bubbles”, it adds 24.5oz of water to my water intake. This automatically updates on Fitbit and My Fitness Pal as well.
Saving Money
Want to go on a trip but can’t afford it? Or do you need to save up for a new tattoo? Remodel your kitchen? Get a new car? Save for university? Or retirement? We could all use a little extra money in our pocket. Apparently there are apps that actually yell at you and shame you for spending money. But I’m here to tell you about an app that will help you budget.
4. Monefy
This is a great app to keep track of your spending. You can sort it under different categories and see how much you spend on what. Monefy has a premium version that costs money, but the free version is extremely useful on its own.
5. Mint
This does more than just organize your budgeting. Mint allows you to sync your cards, PayPal and bills. It will tell you how much money you have, how much you need to spend on bills and it allows you to keep all your finance info in one place.
Sleep Longer & Better
Getting enough sleep is extremely important for your health. The effects of long term sleep deprivation, meaning getting less than eight hours of sleep a night, are more severe than you think. The trick to waking up more rested, however, isn’t just about sleeping longer. Waking up at the right time in your sleep cycle can help you wake up on the right side of the bed every morning.
6. Sleep Cycle
This app tracks your sleep and helps you wake up at the right time. You can set the time range during which you would like to wake up. The app will then track your sleep and will wake you up when you are at your lightest REM sleep. This helps increase productivity as well as makes you a happier, less cranky person.
7. Sleep Watch – Apple Only
Sleep Watch is only available for Apple, but the standard version is free. Without paying for any extra features, I can track various aspects of my sleep. My favorite thing about this app is that it tracks my heart rate and heart dip.
On days when my hear doesn’t dip as much as it should, it asks me why. In my case, it is usually from drinking close to bed time. I used to think that drinking only affected me the day after. This app taught me just how detrimental to my health those few beers can be! It has helped me make healthier choices.
Breath. Relax. Repeat.
8. Breethe
Breethe is similar to My Fitness Pal because it is great to use as a free app. However, the premium version is way more amazing but also pricey. Supposedly you can get the $399 lifetime fee reduced to $99 here. Or you can just use the free version!
9. Aura
Aura is another expensive app with great free features. It offers many different sessions and customization. There are even stories to listen to while you relax and meditate. One of the biggest complaints is that the free version only offers one free session every two hours. This is not ideal. However, I feel like this app is great for beginners at meditation like me. It is really hard to find 100% free apps for relaxation.
Learn/Practice a Foreign Language
Being multi-lingual can get you far in life. It also has other perks, such as improving your cognitive and neurological systems. While I grew up speaking five languages, I feel like I am losing all but English. I love to use Duolingo to refresh the four languages that I no longer use.
10. Duolingo
Duolingo is an amazing app that makes learning/practicing languages a fun game. It uses humorous stereotypes in each language that give you a feel for the culture as a bonus. If you use this to learn Ukrainian, you will see a lot of phrases referring to honey, hats, cottages and of course, your Aunt Toma (I actually have an aunt called Toma).
Technology gets a bad rap for taking over our lives. Which it is. But some apps can make our lives easier. If you live in Prague, make sure to check this out. If you have any other free apps you would like to recommend to people who are looking to improve themselves, please share them in the comment section below!
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