Mobile Apps to Help Track Your Job Search Expenses

Looking for work is sometimes a lengthy and expensive process. Job search expenses mount up quickly, such as paying employment agencies, hiring a professional resume writer, and traveling fees. In order to recoup as much of this lost money as possible when tax time rolls around, you need to keep good records. What better way to track these expenses than with a mobile app?

A mobile app is an easy and effective method for tracking expenses. Some of your job search expenses are tax-deductible. For example, if you're looking for a job within the same profession as your last job, then you are allowed to write off the expenses you incur, even for the jobs you don't get. The IRS has outlined the parameters for job search expenses that lower your taxes. New graduates looking for first-time jobs, for example, are not eligible for tax write-offs from job search expenses. Knowing whether you’re eligible for tax deductions and which expenses are permitted allows you to track your expenses and tax write-offs properly.

Expense Manager for Android is a free expense-tracking mobile app with a paid pro version. The paid version is ad-free but otherwise functions the same as the free version. Expense Manager allows you to itemize your expenses easily with pre-filled and custom categories. This app also has a lot of other hidden features, such as the ability to export files to other programs or to create an activity report. The downfall is that some of these features are difficult to find.

Cashbook Expense Tracker, also for Android, does not have a free version. This app is good for job-seekers who drive often. It uses GPS to track the time and distance traveled, which makes it quite useful for tracking gas mileage. Cashbook automatically updates the dates and times of your expenses as you categorize them, either with pre-filled or custom categories. The app also has an export feature, which allows you to export your data in several formats.

For iPhone users, Next is a great option. Next only tracks expenses and allows you to customize the app specifically for tracking job search expenses. Next gives you standard icons, which you tap on and label individually. Manually enter the date and time for each entry. Categories with expenses appear in blue: the darker the shade of blue, the more the expenses that have accumulated within that category.

Whether you’re tracking your job search expenses to monitor the cost of your search, to track your job search tax deductions, or both, using a mobile app makes the process painless and efficient. Receipts and notes fade over time. Don’t wait until tax time to tally expenses when your receipts and memos have gone missing. Use an app instead.

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