Learning how to properly budget and reel in spending habits can be a struggle for anyone. In fact, the people that have the most trouble with budgeting are the ones who have never had to do it before. Take a newly graduated college student as an example.
A college graduate who was forced to work his or her way through college will have a much easier time budgeting for the real world as soon as graduation hits. A college grad who was handed everything by his or her parents, on the other hand, is much more likely to struggle when it comes to budgeting an income.
Budgeting might even come as a cruel shock to some individuals. Failing to monitor personal spending can even lead to a lifetime of debt. Luckily, budgeting doesn’t need to be difficult. In today’s day and age, there are so many tools and resources to help with the task of budgeting.
Here are just a few of the most popular mobile apps for keeping track of personal finances.
Best App for Managing Personal Finances: Minted
There’s no doubt about the fact that Minted is the best personal finance app out there. Minted was created by the Intuit company, so you know it has to be good. Intuit also created TurboTax and QuickBooks, so the company knows everything there is to know about finances.
The main perk of using Minted for all of your budgeting needs is that it is an all-in-one resource. You won’t need any additional resources for tracking spending and sticking to a budget as soon as you download the Minted app. This app allows you to do it all if you’re hoping to get smart about your money.
One of the coolest features of Minted is the fact that a user can connect all financial accounts to the app. Credit cards, debit cards, checking accounts… it can all be synced with Minted, and the same goes for your monthly bills. Minted will send you notifications about when your bills are due and update you on what you can afford based on your current financial habits.
Best App for Getting Out of Debt: You Need a Budget
Even if you’ve scored big at an online casino using a Bonus Finder site or you’re sitting pretty on a million-dollar inheritance, keeping track of personal spending is a must. Keeping track of spending is even more important when you don’t have a lot to your name, which is where YNAB comes into play.
“You Need a Budget” is actually the name of the app, and the name is more than fitting. YNAB is unlike any other budgeting app in the sense that it’s built around the concept that every dollar in your bank account serves a purpose. The specific purposes vary, like whether a dollar is meant for investing, for entertainment, or for your living expenses.
Keeping this mindset teaches YNAB users that every dollar has a meaning and it can serve you in one way or another. The beauty of this app is that you can only create a budget based on the money that you actually have. Not around the money that you are expecting to earn. The only downside of this app is that there is a monthly fee for members, but it is entirely worth it.
Best App for Saving Money: Acorns
For many individuals, the main challenge relating to personal finances is saving money. Some people are just inherently spenders by nature. As soon as they get a paycheck, they spend it. Whether the spending is on necessary living expenses or frivolous luxury items, this behavior needs to stop. The only way to build up your personal finances is to start saving.
You might have heard this age-old saying before: “You should be saving half of each paycheck.” Maybe you’ve heard it time and time again from your parents or you stumbled across a financial article on budgeting. Although there is some truth to this statement, there is no need to save half of every paycheck. The main thing to remember is that saving a set amount of money each month is indeed important, but it doesn’t need to be 50%.
Whether you decide to set aside 10% or 90% of each paycheck into your savings account, the Acorns app can help. Acorns works by tracking your spending, and it is synced with your credit and debit cards. Every time you make a purchase with a synced card, Acorns will round up to the nearest dollar amount, and place that extra loose change into your savings account.
Best App for Investing Money: Robinhood
As mentioned before, every dollar within your bank account serves a purpose. If you have an influx of dollars, it’s important to give those dollars a purpose. Investing is a great way to do this. Unfortunately, knowing how to invest money is not always easy. The Robinhood app can help.
The coolest feature of Robinhood is that the app makes it possible to perform free transactions for stock exchanges. This is also an amazing resource for Bitcoin traders since it now offers cryptocurrency trading capabilities. On top of that, there are no commissions and no trading fees associated with your investments.
Best App for Splitting Funds: Venmo
We all have one of those friends whose favorite saying is, “I’ll pay you back later.” And many of these friends don’t actually end up paying the money back. This is often merely because the owed money is forgotten, rather than deliberately failing to pay the money back. No matter the situation, it’s always awkward to confront someone about money that is owed to you.
Luckily, the Venmo app makes this situation entirely avoidable. Instead of saying, “I’ll pay you back later,” Venmo makes it possible to say, “I’ll send you funds right now.” A major part of managing personal finances is paying back a friend or being paid that money that is owed to you. Venmo can help.