All personal finance experts agree that good money management and all growing wealth strategies begin with a budget. But, creating a budget and maintaining it is not always so easy. So, where to go for help? The same place you do for most things you are looking for these days – in the app store!
Here are five apps that make it easy to manage your finances.
1. Mint
Mint has been the gold standard for budgeting tools for some time, and the app takes the top spot here for a few reasons. It automatically updates and categorizes transactions, creating a picture of spending in real-time. Users can add their own categories, track bills, split transactions, and set budgets that alert them when they’re exceeding their maximum spending threshold. The service also provides free credit scores and credit score monitoring.
2. YNAB
YNAB is short for You Need a Budget. It is a personal finance help app that teaches you the importance of creating a budget and managing your money. The general principle is to give every dollar a job. It strives to eliminate the common trap of living paycheck-to-paycheck.
One of the pros of this software is that it displays the user’s financial reports and syncs transactions. Users can seamlessly categorize their finances at a glance.
3. PocketGuard
PocketGuard boils budgeting down to the only thing many users want to know: how much they have for spending. It crunches the numbers to show how much money is available after accounting for bills, spending, and savings contributions. Those who want to dial down farther can track specific spending categories — like groceries, clothing, or eating out.
4. Expensify
Expensify is a mobile and web-based app developed by the world-leading expense management company of the same name. It is software that allows individuals and businesses to track and file expenses such as fuel, travels, etc., just by snapping pics of receipts. The software uses artificial intelligence to identify the transaction’s details and automatically categorize and save the expense.
5. Clarity Money
Finally, there’s Clarity Money — a comprehensive budgeting and saving app. Users can link financial accounts from thousands of institutions, organize expenses, track spending, and categorize their spending. In addition, there are features like subscription canceling and credit score monitoring, which provide a more inclusive financial picture beyond just transactions.
What do you think of this list of budgeting apps? Have you used any? What feedback can you leave below?