Best budgeting apps to easily save and monitor your money in no order.
There are many budgeting apps used to manage general personal finance, but they offer different features. You get to decide which app best suits your needs.
As of 01/01/24: Mint is shutting down! I now use Monarch and Empower (formerly Personal Capital) and they’re both great!
1. Mint – best overall budgeting app
Update – As of 01/01/24: Mint is shutting down!
Mint is the best known and most popular budgeting app. It tracks your spending, categorizes every transaction, sets a budget, and much more. It alerts you when you exceed your maximum spending budget.
BONUS: it offers free credit score and credit score monitoring.
2. Pocket Guard – best for lowering bills
This app keeps you from overspending. It only shows you how much money is available to spend after excluding bills, savings, etc.
BONUS: it tracks and lowers your bills. For example, it looks at your recurring bills such as phone, internet, and negotiates better rates. Isn’t that awesome? I’m definitely going to try it.
3. Clarity Money – best for comprehensive budgeting
Clarity Money is best used for comprehensive budget planning and growing your savings.
BONUS: it identifies and cancels unwanted subscriptions. Also, it offers credit score monitoring.
>>Have you seen the post on money-saving tricks for college students?
4. Simple – best for ‘one-stop’ bank account and budget
Simple is more than a budgeting app. It is an online bank, just like a regular checking account in addition to budgeting features. This makes it super easy to manage finances with everything in one place.
BONUS: it tells you if you’re on your budgeting track and how much of your total balance is available to spend.
5. Empower (formerly Personal Capital )- best for tracking wealth and investment
Since I started investing, I have been using this app to track my net worth and investment portfolio. It is an investment management service with both Robo-advisors and human advisors. Though it is an investment app, you can still budget and track your spending.
BONUS: it offers a free analysis of your investment details and even points out hidden fees. Also, you can track your net worth, retirement goals, and access their blog.
Which budgeting app do you use? Share in the comment section below.
>>Related: Check the recommendations page
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This piece is very informative. Many of us struggle with accounting for how much we want to spend vs how much we actually spend. I am a fan of spreadsheet for budgeting, I think these apps may actually make budgeting life easier, will try them out.
Thanks Ore.
Hi Lola! Thank you for your feedback 🙂 I am also a fan of using a spreadsheet for budgeting, but the apps make it so much easier to use. They also show you insights and can provide recommendations on how to improve.