Budgeting shouldn’t be stressful, especially when there’s plenty of money management apps out there to help you
Top 5 apps for managing your budget. Source: pexels.com
According to a survey conducted by Attest, over 60% of UK citizens under 30 use some form of an app to help them budget. At the same time, only 14% utilise budgeting apps every day. It’s really a pity, since researchers have found that people who use the budgeting function are able to significantly reduce their spending in key areas, save about $16000, or pay off debts in the first year of use.
If you’re reluctant to use a money management app, you probably haven’t found the one that suits your financial goals and needs. Perhaps, our list can help you.
Mint
Mint is a free budgeting tool that has very high user ratings for both Android and iOS versions. Besides all the typical budgeting app features, it offers credit monitoring, customised alerts and educational tools. Therefore, you can not only track your expenses and savings, but also learn how to make better financial decisions. In addition, it will track your regular bills and subscriptions, so that you aren’t late when the payment is due. With exclusive data-driven Mintsights?, you get personalised insights and money-saving offers that will improve over time along with your budgeting habits thanks to machine learning.
The Mint budgeting app features a daily budget planner, which suggests budget goals based on your spending. It automatically updates and categorises your expenses as well. At the same time, there’s a high personalisation level. You can adjust your goals or add new ones, revise and add expense categories as needed. Users also get free access to their credit score and notifications of changes in their TransUnion credit report.
Mint will send you alerts if you’re being charged an ATM fee, going over your planned budget or have a large or suspicious transaction on your account.
The drawback is that Mint gets its revenue from advertising instead of customer fees. For some customers, ads may be quite annoying and spoil their user experience.
YNAB
You Need A Budget has some gamification elements that change the lifestyle of its users forever. The app offers a unique perspective of giving each dollar a job in your budget. It lets you finally become the boss of the money you earn, not a slave for your expenses. The financial goals are flexible and you have to check your progress each day to see which expenses to cut and which to expand. Prioritise and adjust with an easy-to-use interface. The app is not free, but it has a free trial period. It alone can change your habits, since some rigid rules must be accepted as part of an exciting 34-day saving challenge. In addition to traditional goal tracking and expenses records, the app has a lot of educational tools. Support staff conduct free weekly workshops on saving & spending wisely, and even offer some one-on-one personal training sessions.
One of the main YNAB budgeting tricks is taking care of your true major expenses beforehand. Holidays, education expenses, car repairs and insurance, medical examinations, birthday gifts, or interest payments – these all can be saved for with regular instalments without excessive stress. Besides, the app will help you set an emergency fund to back you in unexpected circumstances. YNAB gives you real-time information across multiple devices so that you can easily share your budget with a partner.
EveryDollar
If you’re a fan of Dave Ramsey and his approach to money management, EveryDollar is an intuitive and easy-to-use tool to help you manage your money. The host of the Ramsey Show has shared practical answers for life’s tough money questions for almost twenty years now. Over 20 million people tune in to Ramsey Solutions radio shows, podcasts and videos weekly. Those money management tips got visualised in the EveryDollar app.
The app is very simple, intuitive and applies the basic envelope budgeting principle. There’s a free version that lets you enter your transactions yourself. However, if you want the app’s full functionality and automatic sync features, there’s a price to pay. After you’ve figured how to divide your monthly budget wisely, try to build up your wealth with Baby Steps.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital creates summaries of your spending, net worth, and even your investment portfolio. Besides the cash accounts (both debit and credit), it tracks stock portfolios, bonds, employee equity, retirement accounts, real estate, art, and gold. Therefore, it’s not only a budgeting app but also a great wealth management tool. Since March 2021, the platform offers cryptocurrency tracking as a beta feature.
Healthy budgeting in Personal Capital app follows the 50-30-20 scheme with 50% of your budget devoted to what you need in life, 30% to what you want, and 20% to savings. With the app’s dashboard, you will see all of your accounts in one place. Viewing spending and earnings in a single bar graph facilitates both tracking and goal setting. It also substitutes a fragmented approach people often take to their finances with a deep understanding of one’s individual complete financial picture.
PocketGuard
The app updates and categorises your transactions with the help of pie charts and personal messages. PocketGuard also personalises your spending limits automatically based on monthly income and bills. There’s a free version with basic features and a paid subscription with advanced budgeting options. PocketGuard Plus membership plan allows you to keep track of more than two budgets, set a debt payoff plan, and personalise your spending.
Instead of a monthly envelope plan, the app helps you set daily spending limits. Users receive personalised reports on spending, including both a general overview and transaction-by-transaction data. An automated savings feature lets customers regularly transfer money into a non-interest-bearing account. PocketGuard also helps its users save more money by suggesting cheaper alternative services such as lower fee deals or high-interest savings accounts.
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