Sticking to a budget is quite hard. Agreed, but actually sticking to your budget will help you in saving good money. Although many people are already aware of the importance of the budget, they still choose to ignore it as they apparently don’t want to be restricted. You don’t have to deprive yourself of all the stuff you like in the name of budgeting. Yup, you can still buy all the stuff you want but just plan and manage your finances wisely. But, possibly you can’t just spend all month and at the end of the month, you cannot just sit and deal with all the receipts.
However, if you plan ahead of time then you can possibly save your money. Wondering how? Budgeting apps. Yup, you heard it right, you can simply use the budgeting apps available to track your finances and start saving. And you will gradually see the improvement you always crave for in your finances. But the key to this process is finding the right tool. Although there are many budgeting tools available, all of them are not as effective as you see. So stick till the end to find the best budgeting tools that will fit the needs of every time a budgeter.
What are you waiting for?
Let’s start.
Empower
There is no arguing that the Empower app is one of the best budgeting apps ever. It offers many interesting features to its users and helps them in saving money. You can even customize the spending categories, set limits (Spending) in each of the categories. Not only that you can even set alerts to stop you from spending more than your budget. In case you’re new to budgeting and not sure how to start, you can choose default categories and it will set spending limits to you based on your salary/income. At the end of the month, it will provide you with a breakdown of expenses, and with it, you can understand and reform your spending patterns.
Mint
With Mint, you can automatically track your spendings. This app is an all-inclusive budget management tool. It allows you to set the targets for spending in each category for your budget and categorize the transactions in real-time. The users can easily view their entire finances at a point. They can even link their financial accounts such as credit cards, bank accounts, investments, and loans to Mint. You can be assured as this app is the first choice for around 20 million people across the globe.
YNAB
The full form of YNAB is You need a budget. This is one of the well-known budgeting apps as it works on the motto that every dollar has its purpose. You can easily use this app and it is great for budgeters who are beginners and for those who are working for financial goals. As you will be annually entering all the details of the transactions you will be more aware of your spending habits.
HoneyDue
This app is specially designed with couples in mind. With this app you and your partner can stay up to date regarding bill due dates, account balances, you can even split bills within the app. The best feature of this app is it supports messaging. In case you don’t know about a particular transaction in the app you can easily message your partner within the app. It also provides you with privacy settings restricting your partner from seeing certain information relating to your account.
Personal Capital
The reason behind the success of this budgeting app is its investment software. But it also has power budgeting tools that will help you. You can connect all your financial accounts such as savings, credit cards, checkings, loans, mortgages, etc. Apart from tracking your spending personal capital also provides you with a network tracking feature that will show your net worth trends.
Goodbudget
Although this is not a free app. It has its own benefits. GoodBudget provides users with digital envelopes to save their money. You no longer have to save your money in physical envelopes. The best part is you can create these envelopes within the app. You can choose different categories, limits, etc. It also provides you with an option to share your spending and saving details with other family members. The basic plan is free. However for Goodbudget plus you must pay $7/month.
Wally
With wally, you can set financial goals, track your spending, and also provide insights and updates on your spending. You can even scan your important receipts and documents directly into the app. Once you scan the receipts the app will automatically track the expenses. You can save time as you don’t have to manually enter the details of your purchase. With the wally paid version you can even track and monitor foreign currency, digital wallets, and your bank accounts. The basic app is free. However, you must pay $19.99 for the lifetime membership (paid version).
Mvelopes
Here is another budgeting tool for people who prefer the zero budgeting systems or envelope budgeting. With this app, you can save for the future, while avoiding debt. Simply put, you can simplify your finances and use every penny effectively. Track your spending and stay up to date about your spending habits. Also, the features of this plan change based on the plan you have chosen. The basic plan is $6/month, the premier is $9.95/month, plus is for $19. And if you’re interested before taking up a plan you can choose a 60-day free trial.
Clarity Money
Clarity Money helps you in finding the unwanted subscriptions that you can avoid. Apart from offering you a savings account, it also allows you to track your purchases, categorizing the expenses, and most importantly gaining insights on your monthly spendings. If you’re looking for an app that will help you in learning about budgeting, manage your overall spending, and find all your financial information in one place then clarity money is perfect for you. And the best part is you could do all this for free.
Every dollar
This is undoubtedly one of the most popular apps in the personal finance industry. Although it is a bit costly compared to its peers. It comes with access to the Financial Peace University. Every dollar comes with important features such as tracking your progress, spending insights, etc. This app also works on the basis of envelope budgeting systems. It comes with advanced features such as Debt Snowball. The basic version is free, Ramsey plus is for $129.99/yr. They are even offering a 15- day free trial.
Wrapping up
Saving is as important as earning money. Most people put emphasis and go to a great extent to earn money. Some even take up side hustles to earn quick bucks. But what is the point of hard work if you’re not saving them effectively. With these budgeting tools, start budgeting today and make a difference for your future. Are you interested in making some quick cash to save? Then check out make money articles.
