Budgeting is one of the most important aspects of managing your personal finances, yet maintaining a budget can seem overwhelming, especially if you aren’t great with math. Budget apps help bring the complicated world of budgeting into the twenty-first century.
Many financial apps are designed to manage complex financial situations like investment portfolios and complicated taxes. But these also tend to be pricey options. If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck like many Americans, you’ll want a budgeting app that does the simple stuff without breaking the bank.
The most affordable and easy-to-use apps are the ones that keep it simple. All you need is to learn how to create your budget, how to track your spending, and how to track your financial progress.
Honeyfi is a free budgeting app that can be used by both single people and couples. While the app lacks a web-based option, it does sync across multiple accounts. The automation features allow the program to create a budget for you by analyzing your spending in the past.
You have full customization control over your budget, including the ability to create as many categories as desired. Much of the budgeting work is done automatically, but you can also manage it manually. When the app syncs between partners, you can limit visible transactions and communicate about purchases through the app itself.
EveryDollar provides the best user experience for a budgeting app. The manual tracking version is free, but you’ll need to pay an annual price to access the automation features. This app is specifically designed for zero-based budgets, but you can also incorporate other budget styles.
The interface is intuitive, clean, and pleasing to the eye. You also don’t have to wade through a ton of affiliate offers and ads.
Mint by Intuit is a free budgeting app that comes with a variety of extras. Because of the completely free setup, you will have to deal with ads and upsells. However, it is easy to view your transactions, and you can sync unlimited financial accounts.
Unlike many other apps, this option tells you your credit score. It can also use your past bill history to predict your future bills, and it’ll warn you when upcoming bills are close to due.