It can be a real challenge to manage your finances, especially when you have multiple different accounts.
Perhaps you have your own system and use your money wisely. You divide your income into segments to ensure you spend on the right things, pay back the loans, save up and manage all expenses. Or maybe you go where the wind takes you, spend it on impulse and worry about your spending at the end of the month.
Either way, doing all of this manually can get exhausting every month. Technology has made everything easy for us, including budgeting. Plenty of budgeting apps on Android can help you make this task easier.
Let’s look at some of the best budgeting apps that will help with your money management skills:
1. Mint
Mint is a free budgeting app. It is excellent for organizing all your different accounts. You can easily track your spending and make different budgeting categories to divide your spending according to your preferences. There is no limit on the categories, so you can create as many as you like to make things easier. You can sync your accounts, so you don’t need to track them manually.
Moreover, the app lets you put reminders for bill payments, so you make timely payments and avoid late penalties.
It also shows your TransUnion credit score, which is an added benefit. Additionally, you can track your investments, making Mint a great way to manage your finances.
Cons: Mint is definitely one of the best budgeting apps. However, it has in-app advertisements and also sometimes technical errors.
That said, Mint is a safe app that secures your data through multi-factor authentication and Touch ID access. Millions of people use Mint every day, and the app has a high rating on Google Play and Apple Store.
2. YNAB (You Need a Budget)
YNAB is not free but is definitely one of the best budgeting apps. However, if you are looking for something with good features and are willing to pay for them, this budgeting app is just right for you.
The app gives you a chance to plan ahead. It follows the zero-based budgeting method and will ensure you plan to the last dollar.
You may start budgeting when you get paid and categorize all your spending, bill payments, savings, etc.
Starting a budget at the start of every month will encourage you to stay on track and follow your spending limit. YNAB also has educational resources, such as workshops, video tutorials, and guides. So if you are new and scared of spending money on buying a budgeting app, it will help you grow as you progress.
Most apps will track the money you have already spent. On the contrary, YNAB makes you proactive to efficiently manage your finances yourself.
Cons: $98.99/year and $14.99 per month. Additionally, it may take you a little time to learn, and you might have to encounter some sync issues.
YNAB is probably the most expensive budgeting app out there, but its excellent customer services, futuristic approach, and comprehensive budgeting resources make it the best option for virtual budgeting.
3. Personal Capital
Although primarily an investment tracker, Personal Capital also has the option to track your spending. You may also track different accounts, such as savings and credit card accounts, your loans and mortgages, etc. This budgeting app provides you with ways to track your net worth. Furthermore, it provides you with tools to manage and plan your retirement.
That said, if you are a student, you can also plan to save for college through their education planning tool.
Cons: The tool doesn’t have enough budgeting capabilities if you are looking for something simple that helps you make a budget and offers personalization. It is more of a wealth tracker than a way to manage your finances. Moreover, you might get too many sales calls for buying wealth management services after registering.
Even though there are better choices for virtual money management, this free app is a good option for basic expense tracking.
4. Zeta
Zeta is one of the best budgeting apps for couples. It lets you add joint accounts. You might be new parents trying to manage your finances better or recently started living together to get your things in order for easy access and tracking.
The free app has plenty of features to make things easy for couples. You can create categories to track expenses, pay your bills, start a budget, and initiate joint goals.
In addition to this, Zeta has a Joint Card extension that gives you access to a joint account that is FDIC insured through Lending Club. Furthermore, it has no monthly fee or a required minimum deposit, and the annual percentage yield (APY) is 0.10%. You can use this account to pay bills, make contactless payments, and unlimited transfers.
Zeta Money Manager and Joint Card app is a unique budgeting app that can benefit people who are starting out a new life together.
Con: Joint accounts usually have a better APY, but it is not so in this case. However, it has plenty of other benefits that outweigh this slight disadvantage.
The Final Verdict
Tech solutions have made things so easy for us. If you are the kind of person who has trouble managing their money and can never remember where they spent their income, these are the best budgeting apps you will find online to make your life easy.
The mentioned apps are entirely secure, and no one can access your data or your money through these apps.
You can easily find the budgeting app of your choice among these. You must go through the features and cons of each to see if they match your preferences. Everyone has different money goals, and these apps can serve different purposes along with expense tracking.
Budgeting requires consistency, and the apps that sync data, such as Zeta, YNAB, and Mint, can help you track your spending while also allowing you to categorize and personalize your data manually.
