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Finance and budgeting apps for your peace of mind.
We hear a lot about mindfulness, wellness, mental health, and work-life balance/integration all around us these days. Money is a big part of that conversation, on the personal and professional front. Financial concerns and budgeting worries, income, and expenses, are all part of that larger wheel of overall health and wellness. And while everyone cannot afford a financial advisor or wealth management expert, there are some companies trying to bring better financial health to the consumer by creating apps to assist with budgeting, investing, growing wealth, saving for a rainy day or any other goals you set for yourself.
Here are a few that have been finding a favorable following for ease of use and resourcefulness. Maybe there is one here that can help with your personal savings goals, budgeting for your family or even teaching your teen or young adult a thing or two about money that will help them in the future.
For an annual fee and a monthlong trial period, YNAB offers a complete budget makeover, strong customer support and detailed education for app users. It also offers a sync service with your bank accounts, but this app does require some time and effort invested on your part starting out to get the best of it. Where many other apps focus on tracking spend, the budgeting philosophy here is more proactive in nature. Users are said to have saved a few hundred dollars within the first few months and count thousands in savings annually. There is a monthly payment option if the upfront annual fee is an issue, but users find the priority on data privacy and security offered by the app is worth the monies spent. YNAB is especially known for helping users address debt and build accountability to refrain from falling back into debt.
A free app for tracking payments, investments, budgeting and more, Mint is considered a one-stop shop for managing your credit score and works well for all levels of financial literacy. Some of its well-known features are payment reminders to avoid late fees, reviewing investments and portfolio fees, and loan repayment calculators. You can create budgets for different categories based on a suggested spending limit calculated from your past financial history and the app will always provide an overall view of your financial health. You will need to sync all your bank accounts, credit cards, loans and such to avail the best use of the app but rest assured sufficient safety and security measures are incorporated to ensure your information stays within the app and within your control.
A useful app for budgeting, reviewing your financial health at your fingertips and tracking your net worth as often as you like, Personal Capital is considered one of the best free services available for building wealth. Use the retirement planner for future financial savings and investments, save for college by using the education planner tool, or the fee analyzer to keep track of all your portfolio fees. The blog offers resources for users of any caliber and if you’d like to take your wealth-building up a notch then there is also a paid investment management service to achieve your goals. A comprehensive option for those that want easy financial management with the option for detailed analysis to chart a personal plan.
This is the app you need if overspending has always been an issue. With daily spending limits suggested based on past financial history, this is an easy way to take control of your financial health with some simple steps. The basic budgeting app is free, easy to use and useful in providing a quick look at your money but there are also paid premium versions with additional features such as detailed reports and customized recommendations, available for a monthly or annual fee. Interesting features include an automated savings option to set a goal and start putting money aside on it and alerts when it detects opportunities for you to negotiate better rates.
A stress-free way to start growing your wealth and learning more about financial wellness, Acorns provides a savings approach to growing your money. Finding favor among the younger generation just familiarizing themselves with handling finances, it’s somewhat slanted toward the college-going crowd and millennials that are planning for temporary gigs, managing debt, student loans and other related starter goals. This app doesn’t require much in terms of effort as it automatically does the saving from your transactions and gives you the additional option of manually transferring a minimum weekly or monthly amount should you wish to grow your savings faster.
An app just for couples to address financial health? As they say, there’s an app for that. Honeydue targets the couples and partners clientele, making addressing money topics easier and more fun with a simple and savvy offering. For any duo that finds financial topics stressful, the app makes it a tad bit easier to track spending, check balances, categorize expenses, pay bills punctually and it’s all free. The chat feature within the app allows for quick communication if an upcoming payment needs to be shared or a certain expense looks like it should be a business cost rather than personal spend. Honeydue also offers its own joint banking account if you’d like to take the next step with your savings.
Taking your finances international? This app is known to work best when considering international money management. Free for the standard versions and paid for the premium option, it allows for easy transfer of money worldwide without any hidden charges, in addition to helping with budgeting. As a banking app, it helps manage spending and saving in several currencies, proposing a comprehensive solution for both personal and business accounts. And as a wealth management app, it allows working with stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, vaults and more.
To achieve quick savings goals, Digit is the app to install. Free for 30 days and then a minimal monthly fee is all it takes to start planning for your next big purchase or vacation away. A microsavings app, it helps those who do not have a money-saving habit to get better at it by choosing a small nonessential amount from your checking account to move to your savings account. An overdraft prevention feature ensures you do not end up paying a fee for too much moved to savings and if your minimum balance falls short then Digit will reallocate funds from your savings account.
For shared budgeting, Goodbudget offers what many consider an envelope-based system, assigning parts of your monthly income to different categories so you know exactly how much is spent on necessities and where spending could be curbed. Multiple users can access the account which allows for more of a team approach to saving but unlike many apps, this app does not allow syncing with your bank accounts and credit/debit cards so the manual effort required might pose an inconvenience for some. With a free and paid version, this is a good start for anyone beginning on their financial wellness journey.
By no means is this a comprehensive list but we hope these resources will have you well on your way researching the best apps that might contribute to your financial wellness!