Developing healthy spending habits is a lot easier said than done. Here are 5 expense tracking apps that will help you keep your spending straight.
Life comes at you unexpectedly, and you don’t want to be caught off guard with an extra expense and no money to spare. No matter what phase of life you’re in, budgeting always gives you the upper hand while allowing for financial security.
The app store has gotten a facelift and now offers a tremendous amount of options when it comes to expense tracking and mobile budgeting. Ready to get your budget on and start saving money?
Mint
Looking to get your money management under control? Mint is the perfect free resource for you. Let us repeat that, FREE resource.
When you’re on a budget or just wanting to track your expenses more closely, saving money any way you can is a plus, which is why this app is the perfect choice for money savers everywhere. Mint allows you to connect with your bank accounts so all your expenses are easily tracked at your fingertips.
As your bill due date approaches, Mint will send you an alert and will keep track of how much you have left in your current budget. One of the most helpful features is its ability to see patterns in your spending and give advice on how you can make positive changes.
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Every Dollar
From finance expert, Dave Ramsey comes a simple and easy to use app that gives you full reign to make a budget on your terms. Desktop or mobile-friendly, Every Dollar only takes 10 minutes to get started.
The unique quality about Every Dollar is you make a budget that is completely unique to you. The first step is answering questions about who you are, where you’re at now, and where you want to be.
This is another great resource for those who are looking to save even more money since it’s a free budgeting tool.
Wally
Wally is the perfect app for the person on the go. You won’t need to manually enter your expenses into your phone but instead can take photos of your receipts as you spend. These will automatically be tracked in the app and can also track the locations where you are spending the majority of your money.
While Wally focuses solely on budgeting and not much more, but it does that very well. There are extra services available, such as alerting you when your bills are due.
The app is streamlined and easy to use, even if this is your first time learning how to budget. Since it does give you the ability to ditch the manual data entry, it cuts down on the amount of time you have to spend on your phone and typing in numbers.
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You Need A Budget
You Need a Budget — or YNAB to those most familiar with it — helps dig users out of debt and get out of the habit of living paycheck to paycheck. It gives a role to every single dollar in your budget, applying each of them to an area in your budget so no dollar is unimportant.
Being in debt not only affects your everyday life, but it affects your credit score as well. Learn more about ways you can improve your credit while getting out of debt.
YNAB starts with four rules to live by: every dollar has a job, embrace your true expenses, roll with the punches, and age your money.
YNAB Simplified
Giving every dollar a job allows you to take a good, hard look at only the money you have on hand at the time and determine where it’s going to go. This all to keep in mind that you can’t spend the money you don’t have.
Embracing your expenses means to look down the road and understand what expenses you have that you can’t escape.
For instance, it might be great to spend that extra $50 on a great bottle of wine, but you know you have to pay for car insurance next month and you don’t want to have extra stress. Instead of splurging, pack that extra money away so you’ll feel secure when next month rolls around.
When you roll with the punches, it’s recognizing that things aren’t always going to go according to plan. You’re going to have unexpected expenses and things that happen that are out of your control. When you need to make a change to your budget, just do it — and don’t feel an ounce of guilt.
Finally, aging your money means to try and build up a path where you’re able to save the money you’re making today so you can spend it a month from now. This will get you further away from living paycheck to paycheck.
You Need a Budget helps put things in perspective according to exactly how much money you’re making and won’t allow you to outspend or create a budget with money you don’t have. Being intentional with your money creates margin within your life to put that extra cash towards something worthwhile.
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Mvelopes
Trying to manage your money while also working to build back the debt you’ve accrued is often a stressful experience. Mvelopes breaks it down by allowing you to choose a plan that is best for your particular situation, connects to your bank account, and develops an envelope system that assigns a job to each dollar in your account.
Using a four-step process, Mvelopes walks you step by step process to connect your account with your bank, defining what your income is, putting together a budget, and creating your envelopes.
The best part? Instead of having to physically manage envelopes, they’re all at the tips of your fingers for your convenience.
With the opportunity to choose a plan that works for you, Mvelopes offers many features depending on what goals you have for you and your family. Some plans include coaching and long term planning, while others are more basic, allowing you to develop your own budget.
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Expense Tracking Isn’t as Hard as It Sounds
Even if you’re making six figures a year, a budget creates space in your spending to account for uncommon expenses while also saving for the things that matter most. With today’s technology, it’s easier than ever to learn how to do a little expense tracking.
Budgeting can be fun. It opens up a lot of avenues to save and spend money in other ways. If you’re looking to be an even better budget shopper, read about more items you can buy on a budget!
