5 Top Budgeting Apps – Their Drawbacks and Benefits

With today’s ever-advancing technology, tracking your finances has never been easier. No matter what route you’re hoping to take with your fiscal matters, there’s likely a website or app to help you get there. Here are my five top budgeting apps that can and will help you keep tabs on your money. 

1. Mint.com—This app, available for both iPhone and Android, is not only an app but a website as well. It’s a basically a complete snapshot of your financial path. It uses a simple interface that’s easy for anyone to integrate into his or her lifestyle. You can track investments and see just exactly how much your net worth is if you allow it too. It’s extremely popular among Millennials and Gen Yers.

2. Acorns—Although not strictly a budgeting app, Acorns is one of my personal favorites that I have been using for a while now. The concept is simple – when you purchase an item, Acorns rounds the amount up to the nearest dollar and moves that difference into savings. For example, your gas total is $34.50, then your account is “charged” $35.00 and 50¢ is added to savings. A candy bar for $1.99? A penny is moved. If you make many purchases, the change really adds up.

Although the Acorns app does have a monthly fee to do all their fancy calculations, it is a great way to gather your (digital) “loose change”.

3. Wally—For those who travel extensively, especially internationally, this is an excellent tool to add to your financial repertoire. Rated #1 in 22 countries, Wally allows you to keep all your cash, credit, saving, etc. in line. You’ll get a 360° snapshot of finances and be able to easily navigate the app to track expenses by taking photos of receipts and assigning categories to your purchases. While very similar to mint.com, Wally interfaces with other currencies a little better, making a global leader in financial apps. It too is available for both iPhone and Android.

4. Good Budget—Another app that you’ll find on both iPhone and Android, that is a great planning tool. It helps people to stick to a budget. The idea behind it is the envelope system—making it an electronic version of envelopes that can be shared amongst family members, thanks to a cloud syncing method. It’s definitely a powerful budgeting software that will keep you and your family’s spending habits on track.

5. BudgetBakers’ Wallet—Distributed by budgetbakers.com, the Wallet app is considered the most comprehensive income and expense app with cloud synchronization. You can basically access your data at any time, anywhere in the world. It has multiple widgets allowing you the capability to drag and drop and even digital purchasing power through the app. Its platform is designed to work with iPhone, Android, and even the Android watch. Another awesome feature of this app is the ability to export files in PDF format.

The Downside of Financial Apps’:

Each of these apps offers amazing tools to help keep you fiscally responsible. They are all valuable financial apps, giving you slightly different features to meet your needs. However, the biggest drawback to every one of them is—YOU HAVE TO USE THEM! They won’t do you any good if you don’t incorporate them into your everyday life. Just like any plan you make, it won’t work until you begin implementing it. So download at least one today!

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