It’s always a wise move to have some money on the side, in case there’s an emergency or a great investment opportunity emerges. Amidst the global health crisis, it is even more important to watch where your money is going.
Since you probably never leave your home without a smartphone, apps are great tools to watch your spending and investments. This way, you can assess your financial situation, track your spending, and analyze your habits no matter where you are.
With the mobile app market booming, there’s a number of applications to choose from if you want to better manage your finances. Here is a list of best-rated money management apps that will make it easier for you to manage, save, and invest.
1. Mint – All in One Resource
A popular budgeting website and app, Mint allows you to track all your financial activities from all your accounts. You can connect all your bank and credit card accounts and all your monthly bills via this app.
This money management app allows you to create as many budget categories as you might need to help you manage your finances. Another useful feature is analyzing your spending and providing insights into your financial habits, so you can see where you can improve. Plus, a real-time credit score is a nice bonus.
Mint will also remind you when your bills are due, and you can settle them right from the app. Besides offering useful budgeting tools and tips on how to save money, it also allows you to access your investment accounts.
If you want to get smart about your money, Mint is the way to go. Another great thing is that the app is free!
2. Acorns – the Best App for Easy Automated Saving and Investing
If you’re struggling to save money and looking for ways to start investing, there is an easy solution. Acorn puts your spare change to good use and saves your money without you even noticing.
And you can even set up your account to automatically invest your savings in stocks and bonds.
How does it work?
After you connect the app to your bank account and/or a credit card, Acorn allocates a small amount to your savings every time you spend your money as usual. It rounds up your purchases to the next highest dollar, so it’s perfect for non-savers.
Your savings get automatically transferred over to your investment account, where the robo-advisers manage the investments. You can enhance your savings by making regular deposits, and you can even set up a retirement account via Acorns.
There are three available plans, from $1 to $3 monthly, offering you different features. Saving and investing have never been as effortless as with Acorn by your side.
3. YNAB – You Need a Budget App
This app is designed to help you stop living paycheck-to-paycheck, get out of debt, save more money, and manage unexpected expenses. You Need A Budget forces you to live within your means – and if you fall off the wagon, there’s help!
The app enables you to learn what to do differently to gain better control of your money. YNAB requires you to make use of every dollar you earn, whether it is for saving, debt repayment, or covering living expenses.
There is a monthly or annual fee for the app, but the first month is free, so you can check out its features. With claims that an average user saves $600 in their first two months, it may well be worth the investment.
Additional resources, such as free workshops and online classes with a live instructor to teach you budgeting basics, make YNAB an app like no other.
4. Wally – Gain More Insight Into Where Your Money Is Going
Wally is one of the best expense-tracking apps, convenient and easy to use, and it is totally free. If you hated manually entering your expenses and abandoned your previous attempts to track your spending, you will love this app. It allows you to simply take a photo of your receipts.
Wally also centralizes all your accounts so you can better manage and improve your finances. If you are worried about the safety of your sensitive information, syncing your accounts to Wally is encrypted and safe.
The app lets you know how much money you have every time you log in, and it supports almost all foreign currencies. You can increase your savings by controlling your monthly spending or opting to save for a specific goal. Whatever it may be, Wally allows you to track your progress and get your finances in order. With instant insights into your spending habits and cash flow patterns, you can get a clear picture of your finances at any time.
5. Personal Capital – One of the Best Personal Finance Apps
Personal Capital is a free and easy to use app that offers a vast array of services and tools. This financial software tracks every aspect of your finances. It not only syncs all your accounts but also creates summaries of your spending habits and your investment portfolio.
With this powerful app, you can monitor your spending, credit cards, and investment accounts from a single dashboard. As a bonus, there’s a free Retirement Planner, considered to be one of the most comprehensive financial calculators.
The app includes a budgeting section, so you can set a monthly spending goal and track your spending. The Cash Flow Analyzer Spending tool allows you to gain insight into your weekly, monthly, and annual income and spending habits. You can also review your spending and savings by date, category, or merchant. The interface is intuitive, and the investment graphs are easy to read.
Managing your finances and handling investment decisions is easier than ever before, given the abundance of money management apps on the market. But, as with anything else, not all apps are created equal.
The apps listed above come with extensive and useful features, so you can control finances and build a nest egg. Give them a try, see which one works best for you, and enjoy the benefits of being financially responsible.