Budgeting is a good way to take control of your finances because it provides a structured way to see where your money is going every month. This also makes it easier to save money for your goals. Budgeting apps are ideal for people who have trouble creating and sticking to a personal budget, but with so many options out there it’s hard to know which one to choose. The apps compiled below are among the top highest rated because of how helpful they are for personal finance tracking.
1. Mint
Mint is advertised as the most downloaded personal finance app, and is a great choice for a budgeting app. The app has many features including personalized budgeting insights, customizable categories, and subscription tracking. Users can use Mint to pay off debt, increase their savings, and track financial goals. The app even allows users to view their credit scores and net worth and provides alerts for bank fees and upcoming bills.
The app also offers a lot of support in their robust FAQ section.
While this application provides a lot in the way of financial management, it isn’t ideal if you prefer a more hands on approach to budgeting.
Cost: Free
2. YNAB
YNAB (You Need a Budget) is an extremely hands on application that focuses on consciously planning for present and future economic situations instead of tracking past transactions. It includes features such as financial goal tracking, reporting on financial habits, and dozens of online workshops.
This application works best for people who want to get hands on help while planning for savings and it requires a lot of dedication and discipline.
Cost: $14.99 per month or $98.99 a year, with a 34-day free trial offered. College students can use YNAB free for one year.
3. Personal Capital
This app is one of the top budgeting apps because of its reporting options, desktop and mobile capabilities, investment management platform, and spending tracking. It allows users to get a comprehensive view of their finances, from day-to-day spending to tracking investment performances. The list of features is plentiful but the app itself is easy to use.
Cost: Free
4. Honeydue
This app is best utilized by couples who have trouble with communicating about finances and budgeting. Both partners can sync bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investments. The app then automatically categorizes expenses, but users can create custom categories. Together, couples can set up monthly limits and notifications on the categories.
Despite its features, this app may not be useful for those who want to plan for future expenses as it focuses heavily on reflecting on past transactions,
Cost: Free
5. Fudget
Fudget is useful for those who would prefer not to sync their financial accounts. It’s streamlined and simple, users can create lists of incoming and outgoing money and can track their balances as well.
The app may be too simple if you’d rather categorize expenses or anything else that isn’t the basics. There is also very little in the way of FAQ’s or user guides.
Cost: Free, but you can update to the Pro account with a $3.99 onetime purchase.
6. PocketGuard
PocketGuard is another app that’s big on simplicity. You can connect your financial accounts, credit cards, loans, etc. The app then shows how much is leftover for spending after setting aside money for bills, goals, and other necessities. The app gives the option of manually tracking your finances if you don’t want to link any accounts. The plus version allows you to create a debt payoff plan.
This app is good for people who don’t want to spend too much time or energy on budgeting because of its hand’s off nature.
Cost: Free, but the plus version is $7.99 a month. Users can also pay $79.99 a year or $99.99 for a one-time purchase.
Establishing a personal budget is an important step to being in control of your finances. It may take a few cycles to get used to the process if you’ve never created a personal budget before, but the right app can help make budgeting more efficient, and help you create better money habits as well.
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