Budgeting is about more than just saving money. It's about saving for something specific or important.
It's about saving for a rainy day, saving for retirement, and saving for a car or a down payment on a house. Or saving for that vacation to the Bahamas that you’ve been dreaming of!
I know that when you're in debt or struggling to make ends meet, budgeting can feel like a painful process. But it's also one of the most important things you can do to get out of debt and progress toward financial freedom.
Of course, the best way to start budgeting is by tracking your spending — which means there are plenty of apps that can help with that.
There are so many apps out there that promise to help you save money. So many! But it can be hard to know which ones are worth your time and which ones try to get your bank account info. So, we've done the hard work for you and developed a list of 10 clever apps that will help you budget and cut costs without cutting corners.
Here are ten clever apps to help you budget and save money:
1. Mint (Free)
This free app automatically tracks all your financial accounts, from credit cards and bank accounts to investments and loans, so you can see where your money goes every month. It also makes it easy to categorize expenses as "fun" or "need," so you can see which purchases matter to you. This can help you stay within the budget and ensure everything is going according to plan.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android, Web
2. You Need a Budget (YNAB) - $11.99/month, $84/year
YNAB has been around for several years now, but it's still one of the best options for people who want a simple method for tracking their spending habits and creating budgets based on that information. Unlike Mint, YNAB doesn't have bells or whistles; it's just about setting up a budget and sticking with it — which is precisely what many people need when saving money!
Users manually enter all their transactions into their online accounts and then categorize them according to how they want their money spent every month. This helps them stay on track with their goals throughout the year instead of just at tax time when they review their finances with an accountant or financial planner.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android, Web
3. Acorns - $1-$5/month
Acorns track your spending habits, round up purchases to the nearest dollar amount, and invest the spare change into index funds based on your risk tolerance level and investment goals. It's a great way to start investing without putting any money aside upfront. The service is free for college students only if they sign up through their school email address; otherwise, it costs $1 per month after a 30-day free trial period ends.
Save small amounts of money automatically every time you purchase with this convenient app. You can invest the funds in stocks and bonds, which means it'll grow over time!
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android, Web
4. iBank - (Free)
iBank is another excellent personal finance management tool that lets users track their spending habits easily. It has support for multiple currencies, so if you want to keep track of various currencies simultaneously, this would be an ideal choice! The app allows users to categorize their expenses into different categories, thus helping them see exactly where they are going wrong with their finances.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
5. PocketGuard - Free, $4.99/month, $34.99/year
PocketGuard is a free tool that helps you get out of debt by creating a realistic budget based on how much money you want to spend each month on different categories such as food, transportation, and entertainment. As long as you stick to these guidelines each month, the app will let you know how close (or far) away from reaching financial freedom. It helps users manage their finances by connecting directly with their checking accounts.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
6. Digit - $2.99/month
This app automatically saves small amounts of money on behalf of its users based on the data they provide about their spending habits—and it doesn't stop until the user tells it otherwise! It's like having your financial advisor on your phone.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
7. Expense Manager (Free)
Expense Manager is another great app that can help you manage your money effortlessly. You can keep all your expenses in one place and look at how much money is being spent. This will make it easier for you to find out where exactly you are going wrong with your finances and how you can improve them. The app lets you categorize your expenses and even supports multiple currencies, making it easy for international travelers!
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
8. Spendee - (Free, $1.99, or $2.99)
Spendee is a more advanced version of Mint that allows you to create budgets for different areas of your life, such as groceries or entertainment. The app also has a barcode scanner so that you can scan the barcode on store items to add them automatically to your budget categories.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
9. Personal Capital - (Free)
Personal Capital is another excellent option if you want help managing your finances without needing an account at a bank or credit card company. The free app lets users connect all their accounts, whether checking, savings, or investing.
You can see how your money moves through different bank accounts overall rather than having to log into multiple sites to check data on each account individually. Users can also create budgets and goals to know exactly how much they should save.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android, Web
10. Qapital - (Free)
Qapital is a budgeting app that uses a "simple, smart, and automatic" system to help you save money. You can connect the app to your checking account and set up savings goals. When you hit a goal, the app will automatically transfer money into a savings account.
The app also offers rewards for reaching goals, such as cash back on purchases or donations to charity. If you don’t want to use Qapital’s suggested amounts, there are plenty of other options including setting up a custom amount or just paying as usual.
The app also has an automatic savings feature that allows users to set up recurring transfers from their checking accounts into their Qapital savings account.
Where It’s Available: iOS, Android
There are a lot of ways to get your finances in order. If you're new to budgeting, you might want to start with an app like Mint or YNAB or those listed apps above, which have tons of resources and support.
But if you're not really used to using apps, or if you're just looking for something more hands-on, get one of my incredibly budgeting spreadsheets from Weekly Budget, Monthly, to Annually! You can do everything manually but with a wonderful template that makes it easy even for complete beginners to keep track of what's going on with your money.
It's super flexible and customizable—you can even use it if you have multiple accounts! Just click the links attached below to see each product.
Bonus: Save 10% off your purchase with code GETBUDGETING
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