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The to-do list for anyone who doesn’t know how to budget.

GROW Super
Thanks to our brand partner, GROW Super

I love saving. More specifically, I love saving for things that I can see in my immediate future: a new handbag, an amazing overseas trip. Maybe even a new car.

But when it comes to saving for things that are in my, well, not-so-immediate future, I’m…not that great.

Prepping my super balance for the day I (finally) retire used to rank pretty low on the list of money skills I’ve managed to master.

Maybe it’s because the need for super always seemed so far away. A problem that “future me” could worry about.

Plus, it always seemed like someone else had all the control when it came to how much went into my super fund, where that money was invested and how I could even track the balance.

When someone tries to talk to you about super...

Well, my friends, it turns out there is an app for all of that.

Just like there's an app to track your period, or an app to help you find a date (no judgement), there's an app to help you track your future salary.

And, dare I say it, it's actually kind of fun. Think Candy Crush without that pesky side effect of losing all of your Facebook friends because you keep sending them weird notifications three times a day.

The GROW Super app brings super out of the past, and into your pocket, putting the power to build your super back in your hands.

And, I don't mean to brag, but now I'm a total super master. Just saying.

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One of the most confusing parts of super for me was understanding how I could contribute to my balance without sacrificing approximately 2347 per cent of my pay packet.

Enter: the ability to save without even trying.

With the Super Spare Change tool on the app, you can connect your bank accounts and choose to round everyday purchases to the nearest $1 or $5.

So, when you need that third (or, let's face it, fourth) coffee on a Monday, you can totally justify it by saying, "I'm saving for my future!"

confused
"Let's meet for coffee so we can catch up and also so I can save for my future retirement". Image via iStock)
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It's a win for you now (because, coffee) and a win for future you.

If, like me, you've had a few jobs before you found "the one" and therefore have a few different super accounts, the GROW Super app also makes it easy to consolidate them all in the one place.

Considering Aussies have $11.6 billion in lost super, with the average lost balance around $20,000, it's pretty great knowing that with the touch of one button, I can track all of my super accounts down faster than I can click "add to cart" during an online shopping spree.

woman with binoculars searching looking
Finding your lost super just got about a zillion times easier. Image via iStock.
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Armed with just my tax file number, the app was able to hunt down my lost super fortunes. And I didn't need to answer a security question about Great Grandma Betty's first pet's name (that I never remembered setting) to find it.

The GROW Super app was also able to solve my biggest super gripe: the fact that the money I need for my retirement was being invested in things that a) I know nothing about and, more importantly, b) I don't believe in.

I wouldn't let someone else tell me where I could buy my clothes, what car I should drive or where I should take my next holiday. So why was I letting someone else determine what my future salary was being invested in?

The GROW Super app lets users invest up to 15 percent of your super balance into things you actually care about. Like startups, clean energy, sustainability, technology or property.

woman with piggy bank saving money
Hey there, future, you're looking pretty good right now. Image via iStock.
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And because super investment is still way beyond my level of expertise, the other 85 percent is left to professionals, so I know it's in safe hands.

The app also has a pretty nifty graph (because, pretty pictures make everything easier to understand) that gives a quick snapshot of your balance, and how much further you have to go before you can put your feet up, sip a pina colada and enjoy a blissful retirement.

Armed with this app, I can rest easy knowing that future me will one day be able to do this:

Image: Giphy.

How do you keep track of your finances?

This content was created with thanks to our brand partner GROW Super