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Welcome back to the Master A Budget Series! Yesterday, we talked about Emergency Fund and Sinking Funds; today, you will learn the best apps for better budgeting out there.
Let’s dive in.
In the world that we live in nowadays, everything is taken over by technology. And budgeting is not an exception.
As with everything else that has an app, the budgeting world has its own, not one but a bunch of apps.
Don’t get me wrong, budgeting with the cash envelope still exists but today you will learn more about budgeting apps.
These budgeting apps can help you budget and save money. The only problem is which is the best one.
In this post, you will learn some of the best budgeting apps out there that can make budgeting as easy as pie.
Best Apps For Better Budgeting
Each of the apps below has its own pros and cons, choose the one that will best suit you. I would recommend using only one so that you can maintain your focus.
EveryDollar
This app is based on Dave’s Ramsey’s principles of “Baby Steps”. You can set unlimited budgets and track all your spending.
This app follows the zero-based budgeting, meaning every dollar in your income has a job. The app allows you to see it in real-time if all your income is budgeted, if not, you will be able to make adjustments easily.
The best thing about the EveryDollar app is it is accessible on your smartphone, therefore making tracking your expenses manageable.
It is also FREE, although if you want to connect it with your bank accounts, you will need to upgrade to the paid version. I have used the free version and it works really well.
Mint
Mint has been around for a long time and they have made a lot of improvements on it. This app automatically tracks all your transactions and categorizes them when you connect your bank accounts.
Unlike EverDollar, connecting your bank accounts with Mint is FREE.
The best thing about the Mint is it alerts you when you are spending more than your budget amount.
It also gives you free access to your credit score with tips and strategies for improvement.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is more of an investment management service but they also have budgeting features.
It allows you to see all your cash flow, where your money coming from and where are you spending it.
Also, it allows you to set a budget, shows you how much you’ve spent in the last 30 days and compares your spending to the previous month.
Personal Capital does not have the fancy features of a budgeting app but the best thing about it is the retirement planner.
It gives you an idea if you are saving enough for retirement and if not, it gives you tips for improvement.
What I love about this app is the personal net worth feature. You will be able to track your assets and liabilities through this app for FREE.
Honey Money
Honey Money is an app that aims to raise awareness and gain control of your money. This app simply tracks all your income and expenses without unnecessary features.
It is a cash-flow based app so you have a visual on how much you have and how much you need to save. It is best for those who have irregular incomes.
The best thing about Honey Money is the clean and user-friendly interface. It’s actually a fun and interesting app.
The only downside is it is NOT FREE. However, you can try it for FREE for 30 days.
You Need A Budget
You Need A Budget is also a paid app but this app makes the subscription worth it by having a lot of features that make a comprehensive budget. Its envelope-based system puts every dollar to work.
It also uses the approach that makes last month’s income take care of the current month’s expenses, which allows you to get ahead in your budget and not live paycheck to paycheck.
The best thing about YNAB is its debt pay off feature which allows you to focus on paying off your debt and gives you motivation by tracking your progress.
Although it is not free, you can also try them for FREE for 34 days.
You can learn more budgeting tools by checking out The Best Tools You Need For An Organized Budget.
Are Budget Apps Safe?
You might be already wondering if budget apps are safe when I mentioned connecting your bank accounts to the apps.
As with anything in life, nothing is certain and that’s including the cyber world.
Although these apps are made with the safety of customers in mind, things can happen and hackers can have their way in.
These reputable institutions are continuously working on safeguarding their customers.
Moreover, you as a customer can help safeguard your account by using unique passwords and also by changing them periodically.
There you have it!
There is no perfect budgeting app but you can make any app perfect for you if you stick with your budget.
Now that you have learned about the best budgeting apps for better budgeting, next up on the series is you will learn the basics of How To Create A Budget.
If you haven’t yet, download the Master A Budget Workbook to practice what you will learn from this series.
What are the best apps for better budgeting on your list? Let me know in the comments.
Related Budgeting Tools Articles:
- Free Budgeting Tools You Should Check Out
- Signs That You Need A Budget
- Apps You Need To Save On Gas
- Rebate Apps You Need To Save On Groceries
- Percentages And Categories For A Personal Budget
I think Mint would be great for me. I need someone to alert me if I spend too much.
Yes, Mint is a good one, they made a lot of improvement lately and it is still FREE. Thanks for reading. 🙂
Great information. Thank you
Thanks for reading.
I love this post has some useful information that I use for budgeting also. thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for reading 🙂
Hi, very interesting article, question, my husband and I have share one bank account, can we both have a mint account/download the app? I do mostly the supermarkets shopping , but he also does other purchases.
Hello Laura! Yes absolutely. What you can do is just have one Mint account and you guys share the login info. In that way, you can both access the same account. That’s what my husband and I do. I hope that helps.