BUDGETING APPS THAT WORK FOR EVERYONE
Let’s face it: Nobody likes creating a budget or doing financial planning. That is, except for the 18% of respondents to a 2018 Northwestern Mutual research who said that financial planning makes them feel “excited and inspired” (if anyone knows of any method to encourage those respondents, my budgeting plan could use some boosting). Nonetheless, a significant 40% of respondents had unfavorable sentiments about financial planning, which makes perfect sense. Tracking your spending and managing your money can be a pain. Nobody wants to be reminded of all the times they purchased takeout rather than cooking at home, and for those who are not organized or have a history in finance, it can be a complex process.
Say it with me: “There’s an app for that!” That’s the good news! True enough, there are a ton of apps for that. If you want to get serious about budgeting but don’t know where to begin, budgeting apps are a great resource. There are many possibilities tailored to your preferences, needs, and desired outcomes from the encounter, thanks to the variety of apps that are available. The question isn’t where to look for a budgeting app; rather, it’s which one to use.
In actuality, more people than ever are creating budgets. In a Debt.com survey from 2021, 80% of Americans said they had a budget, a 12% increase from the previous year. With SimpSocial’s list of the top budgeting apps for 2021, there’s never been a better time to get started.
You Need A Budget is a good option for someone who likes being in charge.
You Need A Budget is the ideal budgeting tool for you, type-A control freaks like us (no shame, we were definitely the ones who carried group projects in elementary school). While some budgeting applications claim to let you budget passively and without even noticing it, the main goal of YNAB is to teach you how to manage every dollar while maintaining complete control over your finances. With YNAB, you can simply change your budget over time by practicing forward-thinking instead of merely seeing how much money you spend at the end of each month. It’s crucial to remember that You Need a Budget costs $84 per month after a 34-day free trial.
Try Mint if you don’t have any room in your budget for a budgeting app.
Without a doubt, Mint is the greatest free budgeting program available right now. If you want to start budgeting but are unable to pay a yearly or monthly subscription, Mint can be a fantastic choice for you. Maintaining organization and monitoring your finances is made simple and convenient with Mint, as it consolidates all of your accounts, bills, transactions, and investments into one location. Additionally, there are recommendations for cost-saving measures and notifications within the app about impending expenses that you need to pay. In addition to classifying all of your payments for you, Mint allows you to make as many custom categories as you’d like. All things considered, Mint offers a large range of tools and app capabilities that are excellent for novice budgeters.
Try Zeta or Twine for couples with clear goals.
It’s not always simple for couples to combine their finances, so they need to be very careful about how they create their budget. For this reason, programs like Twine and Zeta are quite beneficial. They let you stay in sync, communicate openly, and keep an eye on your money as a team.
Particularly, Twine caters to goal-oriented couples who are saving money for a wedding, vacation, child’s college tuition, or any other kind of endeavor. These objectives can be divided into “me” and “we” categories, highlighting the equal importance of both shared savings and personal ambitions. Zeta, on the other hand, is geared toward families and couples and provides no-fee joint accounts along with the ability to schedule “Money Dates” to help you and your significant other have regular, stress-free conversations about money.
Try Simplifi by Quicken for the person who has too many subscriptions to count.
Because of its sophisticated tracking features, Simplifi by Quicken is an excellent tool for managing budgets with hidden expenses that could otherwise go unnoticed. I’m all too guilty of leaving free trial subscriptions running in the background and forgetting to cancel them, all without a reliable method to keep track of which websites are deducting money from my account. You may relax knowing that all monthly bills and subscriptions are tracked with an app like Simplifi.
Simplify provides all the standard functions of a budgeting tool, but it also has a feature called Watchlists that lets you pay special attention to any area of your budget that you want to keep an eye on. You may either watch your spending and focus on a specific category or store, or you can configure it to limit the total amount of money you spend on this watchlist. I’ve always been a little afraid to see how much money I spend at Starbucks, but having a watch list would allow me to examine my spending more closely and determine whether my money is being spent more wisely.
Try Trim if you just want to relax and let the app do its job.
It makes sense that some people would rather take a backseat, but there are others who would rather ignore every dollar that comes in and goes out of their budget. Trim is the app to look for; its tagline is “It does the work for you.” Trim examines your phone, cable, and internet bills in the background to discover if there are any cheaper options available for the same services. Trim just cuts off some of the corners, so you can save money without having to cut back on your spending. Although there is no cost to sign up, a premium account that allows for negotiation costs $99 annually.
It’s never too late to start budgeting, regardless of the app you use, your spending habits, or your stage of life. Put an end to the vicious cycle of feeling bad about your purchases and take charge of your money. Allow budgeting to help, not hinder, your success.
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