6 Best Budgeting Apps & Expense Tracking Programs

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budgeting apps

The first step in getting your finances under control is knowing where you money is going!!  If you aren’t tracking expenses in some sort of program or old school piece of paper then you really have no idea of where to start on saving money.

We live in a good age for budget-keeping: there are lots of apps that make it pretty easy to stay on top of. Of course, you can always go the pen and paper route, but if you’re looking for something different (that is generally a time-saver), consider going the tech route.

Here’s a list of my six favorite budgeting apps.  Each of these are great options that will make it easy for you to keep track of your household budget right on your mobile device.

6 Best Budgeting Apps:

1. Mint

The Mint app and desktop site is probably one of the more popular budget apps and it allows you to see all of your money and bills in one spot. It also automatically detects which budget category a spending might fall into, making it super easy to see where your money is going.

  • Mint is free to download and free to use.
  • Connect your bank accounts, loans and credit cards for automatic updates.
  • Get easy reports to see monthly spending by category.

2. You Need a Budget a.k.a. YNAB

YNAB makes it easy for you to create a budget, but they’re also big on debt management. They’ll give you tools to help get you out and also teach you how to stay out of debt. Their goal is to give every dollar a job, making bigger expenses seem less stressful and more manageable.

  • YNAB is free for 34 days and then $11.99 per month or $84.99 a year.
  • Connect your bank accounts and credit cards for automatic updates
  • Gives great reports and helps you see what areas to cut first.

3. PocketGuard

People like PocketGuard because it’s straightforward and easy. It lets you know where your money is going and when you need to slow your spending.   Enter monthly bills and recurring income and the app helps you see how much money you really have.  Do note, however, that this app doesn’t focus on future financial goals.

  • PocketGuard is free to download and is $4.99 monthly ($34.99 annually).

4. Wally

Wally is becoming popular due to its simplicity and the fact that it’s free. Their goal is to take the stress out of personal finances by telling you what goes in, what goes out, what you’ve saved, and how your budget is working. It’s very easy to get started and simple to use.
Wally is free to download and free to use.

5. GoodBudget

Anyone fans of the envelope budget method? This app is a digital version of that system. You can use it across different platforms (computer, mobile, etc.) and with different members of the family, so you and your spouse can really be on the same page with spending.
GoodBudget is free to download and free to use.  They do have an advanced version that is $7 a month or $60 annually.

6. MoneyWiz

This a Mac only program and app that I have personally used for the last year.  You can connect banks, credit cards, loans, and even retirement accounts!  It is great at auto-categorizing your transactions and has more reports than you’ll ever need.  You can also connect other family members (as long as they have an iPhone, iPad or Mac computer).

  • MoneyWiz is $49.99 a year for the premium version with access to every account you have.
  • Track finances along with personal wealth
  • Split purchases across multiple categories

Honorable Mention

Every Dollar

For everyone that follows Dave Ramsey, Every Dollar is his program to help you create a budget.  It has a free version that only functions to let you manually make a budget or manually enter expenses.  Odds are you won’t use that very long and you’ll pay to upgrade to the paid version of the app for $99 a year.  After upgrading you’ll be able to connect banks and credit cards for easy expense tracking.

I’m not including this in the list above because this is twice the cost of many other programs and honestly doesn’t do anything the other (cheaper) programs above do.  Sorry Dave.

Tip: If you are going this route, they have now linked Every Dollar into Ramsey+.  Pay $129 a year and get unlimited access to everything Dave including the paid version of Every Dollar.

 

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