The best budgeting tools for controlling your spending; free and paid apps and Websites to help you manage your cash flow and save more money.
Now that we all carry a tiny computer in our pockets wherever we go, it's a lot easier to stay up to day (or even up to the minute) on the state of our finances. Want to track your investments and make sure you're properly diversified? There's an app for that. Want to see all of your accounts in one place and be able to set goals and monitor your spending? There's (several) app(s) for that.
There's now an app for just about every aspect of personal finance. Here are a few of the best (and most popular) ones available. None of them are perfect, or perfect for everyone: You'll need to consider your own financial situation and what's most important to you. But the appropriate app can really help you get your money under control.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital can help you put together a long-term investing plan in a way that Mint can't compete with, and that LearnVest requires payment for. You can use the fee anlayzer to seeif you are getting the most efficient use of your money, and you can also get help with asset allocation. The budgeting app is more about planning and the future, and can help you put together an investment plan for retirement that will benefit you for years to come.
Best for: the stock market aficionado, the 401(k) fanatic, or anyone more interested in building wealth than in tracking spending.
Cost: Free, but has premium services available for those who desire more one-on-one advice.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
YNAB isn't so much an app as it is a personal finance religion. The people who love YNAB love it a lot, and speak of it in the same hushed and reverential tones recent coverts use to speak of the Lord. YNAB's principle are grounded in zero-sum budgeting, which, in YNAB's case, means you "give every dollar a job." (That's one of YNAB'S four budgeting rules, or articles of financial faith. The other three are "embrace your true expenses," "roll with the punches," and "age your money.") Signing up for YNAB isn't so much about downloading an app as it is about embracing a lifestyle shift.
YNAB syncs between your desktop and your mobile devices, and allows you to enter transactions in real time. YNAB is much more hands-on than, say Mint, which is more about analyzing and observing your habits rather than actively trying to change them. YNAB wants you to be seriously involved in (and in control of) your financial life.
YNAB has no way to track investments. After all, it's You Need A Budget, not You Need A Retirement Plan.
Best for: People looking for a radical change in their financial mindset.
Cost: $5 a month, or $50 a year.
Mint
Mint is the granddaddy of budgeting and expense tracking apps. Founded in 2006, the immensely popular app was acquired by Intuit in 2009. Mint allows you to track your expenses across all your different credit, checking, savings, and investment accounts. You can even add in assets like cars or houses to get a better sense of your net worth. It allows you to set goals, or sign up for alerts if your spending in a particular category gets out of hand.
Mint gives you a lot of information, but, unlike YNAB, doesn't really tell you what to do with it, or give you as much flexibility. If, say, you have an unexpected auto expense, Mint will probably send you an alert (which is little redundant, since you probably already know you had to replace your transmission), but without suggesting you shift money from another category to cover it.
Mint's a great way to get a quick snapshot of your overall financial health, especially if you're someone who's often checked out when it comes to money. If you're more deliberate with your spending, you may find Mint's alerts and reminders unnecessary.
Best for: Someone who wants an easy way to see what they're spending money on.
Cost: Free, but you'll pay for it in cross-promotions, often for credit cards you already have.
Level
Level isn't as full featured as either Mint or YNAB, but if you're looking for something to track your discretionary spending, this is it -- or at least in theory. Level tracks your "spendable" money, taking your income, subtracting your bills and your savings, and then telling you what's yours to spend as you'd like. It's a great tool if you budget by figuring out your "nut" (your fixed expenses for every month) and then spending the rest on whatever you want. In this way, Level might be a good replacement for that spreadsheet you've got somewhere. (Or that I've got, at least.)
Level won't, however, help you figure out how to pay down debt or track your investments.
Best for: People looking for a simple way to track their discretionary income.
Cost: Free
Prosper Daily
Prosper Daily (formerly BillGuard) sounds like it should be some kind of Christian-themed proverb generator, but it's not. Rather, it's owned by Prosper, the peer-to-peer lender, and its primary purpose is to protect users from fraud. Every time you log into Prosper Daily, it shows you any recent transactions -- and lets you either approve them or flag them as suspicious. (It'll also tell you if other members flagged similar transactions as suspect. Consider it crowd-flagging.) It can also help you track your spending, and its sleek display makes it easy to see the current balances on all your credit cards and in all your bank accounts.
Best for: Someone who wants an extra pair of eyes keeping watch on their credit cards.
Cost: Free
Mvelopes
As you might gather from the name, this app takes the old "envelope" system of budgeting and makes those envelopes digital rather than paper. However, to take full advantage of what Mvelopes has to offer, you'll have to pay. The basic free service only supports four bank accounts and 24 spending envelopes.
With Mvelopes, you can see your past spending with the help of linked accounts, and then assign future money to "mvelopes" that help you stick to a budget. If you use credit cards, Mvelopes make sure you don't run up a balance at the same time you're draining your checking account -- when you charge something to a credit card, Mvelopes moves that amount out of your "spending" envelope and into an envelope set aside to pay your credit card bill.
As with YNAB, you can't track investments.
Best for: Someone who's tired of using cash and real envelopes, and wants to go digital.
Cost: Free for basic services (with a limit of four bank accounts, and 25 spending envelopes), and $95 for premier services (unlimited bank accounts, and unlimited envelopes). Customized plans that include one-on-one coaching are also available.
Money Dance
If you miss The Quicken of Old, Money Dance may be the next best thing. You'll pay for the software, but it has a number of features. The display looks like a ledger, and you can automatically add recurring transactions, create chart and graphs to visually represent your spending, and project your finances into the future. Money Dance has a homepage that quickly summarizes your financial situation, including assets and liabilities, and your net worth.
You can also track your investments, and it allows for multiple currencies. Money Dance can also help reconcile your banks statements. If you wish Quicken 2005 was still a thing, Money Dance is the app for you.
Best for: Those still in the mourning for the demise of Quicken 2005.
Cost: $49.99
Trim
Trim isn't necessarily a budgeting app, but it can help you save on all those subscriptions you don't use that are still charging you money.
Trim uses your credit card and bank transactions to inform you of long-forgotten subscriptions. Similar to Mint or Personal Capital, Trim has you link your bank and credit card info to their service, but only loads the transactions related to subscriptions.
Trim then sends you a text message with all your subscriptions and you can cancel them by replying with "Cancel [insert subscriptions here]."
Trim even provides services such as sending your gym a certified letter telling them you aren't coming. No need to fear those awkward phone calls anymore!
Best for: Someone with a lot of subscriptions or memberships they've been meaning to cancel.
Cost: Free
Remember
Budgeting apps take some of the guesswork (and discipline) out of tracking your expenses and sticking to your budget. It may take a little trial and error (and more than one free trial) to find the best one for you.
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