Managing your money isn’t the easiest thing to do. Now that we no longer balance a checkbook, tracking and expenses and keeping up with the bank balance can get a little difficult. Personal finance apps can connect with your bank account and help you keep up with your spending. Not only that, personal finance apps can help you pinpoint areas that you’ve been spending, track upcoming bill payments (some allow you to pay your bills directly through the app), keep up with your credit score and investment portfolio. The best personal finance apps provide several different features (e-mail reminders, bill due dates, track subscriptions, shared wallets, etc.) for managing your overall finances. All the apps on our list are available on both iOS and Android, so you can enjoy no matter which smartphone giant you’re partial to.
Courtesy of Mint
Mint, Intuit’s personal finances apps, is one of the most well-known personal finance apps that provides your complete financial picture in one place. Once you link your credit and debit cards to your account, Mint pulls your transactions, categorizes them and shows how you’re spending your money. You can keep track of your bills and spending and create a budget you can stick to. Free access to your credit score is one of the more recent additions. You can get a breakdown of the factors contributing to your credit score to stay on top of your credit health. Plus, you can track your investments and schedule utility payments. For bills that you manually pay, the app can send e-mail reminders or add the due dates to your phone calendar.
Best for Debt Payoff: You Need a Budget
You Need a Budget is a personal finance app that’s built around YNAB’s Four Rules. The rules – Give every dollar a job, Embrace your true expenses, Roll with the punches and Age your money – not only help you build a better budget but also help you gain control of your spending. Import transactions from your checking account and apply them to each budget category to get an accurate picture of your spending. Keep a balanced budget by adjusting budget categories if you accidentally overspend (or if you underbudgeted for a certain category). Detailed reports show you how your spending is progressing throughout the month and help you spot places that you can improve your spending. According to YNAB, the average new user saves $600 in the first two months and more than $6,000 in the first year. You can try the app for free for the first 34 days.
Best for Bill Payment: Prism
Prism shows all your bills and financial accounts in a single app, giving you a complete picture of your finances. The app touts 11,000 billers – more than any other app – including larger banks and even smaller utility companies. Add your bills to the app and Prism automatically tracks your bills and sends due date reminders to help you prevent late payments. You can use the app itself to pay your bills by scheduling payments to be made the same day or several days in advance. Prism eliminates the need to login to multiple accounts paying bills.