The truth is – everybody wants to save for retirement and buy their dream home. Unfortunately for most people, their salary disappears the day after payday after paying all the debts they have accumulated throughout the month. The interesting thing is that while the economic situation is not the best, a lot of people earn good money but they don’t know where it all goes. Between the latte every morning, Friday night outings with friends and the latest fashion fads, you don’t even have enough money to pay the bills. This lack of awareness of where your money goes is the reason numerous financial planning tools and apps have been invented to help you have some control over your money. These 5 apps are the best in terms of what they do and they will cost you almost nothing.
Financial Planning Apps #5 – You Need A Budget
You Need a Budget is one of the best financial tools because it puts every shilling you earn to work. The app assigns all your money to specific tasks such as paying bills, paying off debts and saving. This way, you don’t have to wonder what you are doing with your money because it’s all directed somewhere. This app will cost you $6.99 a month after a free 34 days.
Financial Planning Apps #4 – Wally
Sometimes all you need is a clear picture of where your money is going every month and this is what Wally does best. It’s simply a budgeting app that gives you a balanced glimpse of your income versus expenditure so you know where you are spending. It is a free app that does its job well and it can also alert you when your bills are due.
Financial Planning Apps #3 – PocketGuard
If you want an app that will keep you from overspending, PocketGuard is for you because it’s like your own financial lawyer. It keeps an updated picture of all your spending including that $2 coffee you have every morning.
After taking care of all your expenses, you can then see how much money you have for spending. This will keep you from spending money that you don’t have just because you forgot to pay off a debt here and a bill there.
#2 – Acorns
Investing is something that most people leave for the rich. However, Acorns makes it so easy for you to invest by taking all your spare change and investing it for you. For example, if you are shopping and the final figure is $59.10 Acorns will take the $90 cents and invest it. This is a very small figure but over time it accumulates to a good portfolio.
#1 – Mint
Mint is without a doubt the best budgeting tool because it syncs with your bank account and gives you real-time information on all incoming and outgoing money. The app automatically records and categorizes every transaction to show you a picture of your spending.
It will also create a personal budget for you, track all your bills and alerts you whenever a bill is due. If you need to know the health of your credit line, Mint will also give you that information regularly and even suggest ways you can improve your credit score and all this for free.
The primary reason why people misuse money is that they don’t have a strategic plan on how to spend it. With these financial apps available from your mobile devices, you can finally start a journey of consciously tracking your spending habits and knowing where to make changes for the better.