I get it. You don’t want to be a slave to a budget. You’re sick of not being able to meet your financial goals because of your lack of budgeting. You’ve tried to keep track along the way but nothing ever seems to stick and you just feel failed by budgeting software and apps. Fear not budgeter, I have compiled a list of great personal finance budgeting tools that are the best around today.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have a paycheck that’s bigger than your mortgage. It’s easy to find yourself in over your head with high interest rates and excessive fees. Most people aren’t lacking money; they’re just lacking a budget. Using personal finance planning tools can help you track your spending, manage your debt and increase your cash flow to provide more financial flexibility in your life. You can find several personal finance budgeting software programs online for free along with many online resources.
What is the best personal finance software to use? How do you choose a financial budgeting application that helps you manage your money better? These are questions worth knowing the answer to. There are plenty of program solutions available, both free and paid.
Are you curious what is the best personal finance budgeting software? Or maybe you want to know more about best budgeting and personal finance apps. Today I will tell you which are my favorite budgeting software and financial tracking apps. Let’s get started.
How to Choose a Personal Finance Software
The first step you’ll want to take when choosing a personal finance software is nailing down what you need. For example, if you’re really pinching pennies, you won’t want to go for pricier software. And if you’re looking for help with taxes, you obviously wouldn’t want to use software that doesn’t help with that.
There are three big things to consider when picking a perfect software: your budget, your goals, and your desired features. As mentioned, you’ll want to opt for software you can afford – since saving money is the whole point in the first place. If you’re concerned about saving money on your software, PocketGuard is a great choice.
However, if you’re looking to manage different incomes and minimize expenses, then Personal Capital or Albert are good choices. There are all kinds of reasons you’d want to opt for personal finance software, so make sure you know what you want.
YNAB
YNAB stands for You Need A Budget, and it’s a personal finance software that helps you manage your money and save. YNAB is available on Windows and Mac, as well as on Android and iOS mobile platforms.
YNAB can be downloaded for free from the company’s website to try out before purchasing a subscription.
If you are looking for the best personal finance budgeting software, then the answer is You Need a Budget. This software is helpful in setting up a budget and tracking your spending. YNAB offers cloud-based and mobile app versions with similar functionality. If you prefer the traditional desktop version of YNAB, it can be installed on Mac OS X 10.6 and higher or Windows 7 and later (32-bit).
The cost of using this product depends on whether you choose to subscribe or buy outright: $83.99 per year if paid monthly, $83.99 every 6 months, or $79 one time payment if purchased outright without any further commitment required from your part (which makes sense considering how useful this program is!).
There are three payment options: one-month trial with no commitment, $5 per month (the equivalent of paying $60 annually), or $6 per month (the equivalent of paying $72 annually).
Mint
Mint is one of the most popular personal finance sites, with good reason. It’s easy for beginners to use, plus it offers a lot of features and support options.
If you’re an online user, Mint might be a great fit for you. The app is easy to use and has a simple interface—essential for beginners who are new to budgeting software or tracking their finances in general.
Mint also has strong security measures: the company uses SSL encryption (the same technology used by banks) when transmitting data between users’ computers and its servers, which makes it difficult for hackers to intercept information during transfers. And while some other apps may offer more advanced features at higher costs (like YNAB), Mint is free if all you need is basic budgeting capabilities; additional features like bill reminders cost $59/year after an initial 30-day trial period expires (or $99/year).
Mvelopes
Mvelopes is an envelope-based budgeting app. It helps you track spending and keep to a budget by letting you set up an unlimited number of envelopes for each expense category. For example, you might create separate envelopes for “Movies,” “Food,” “Gifts,” and so on. Once the money in each envelope is gone, it’s gone; this forces users to be more thoughtful about their purchases.
The free version of Mvelopes allows up to 11 separate envelopes per category, but if that’s not enough for you, there’s also a premium version that gives users access to 99 envelopes at $4 per month (or $35 per year).
Banktivity
Banktivity is a powerful personal finance app that can help you organize all of your accounts in one place. With Banktivity, you can keep track of expenses, money coming in, and more.
The app includes easy-to-use tools for creating budgets and tracking your spending. It also has a scheduling feature so that you can see bills coming up on the calendar.
You can use Banktivity whether or not you have a subscription plan (more on this later). You’ll need to download it from an app store: either Apple’s App Store or Google Play Store depending on whether you want it on mobile devices like iPhones or Android phones
Every Dollar
Every Dollar is a free budgeting tool that makes it easy to set up a budget and track your spending. Once you’ve created an account, you can enter your income and bills, then track all of your expenses. One benefit is that EveryDollar offers an option for extra savings: the app will automatically transfer a certain amount from each paycheck into an FDIC-insured savings account.
It’s quick and easy to set up — just enter your monthly income, any recurring bills (like rent or insurance), and how much money you want to save each month. But if you have irregular expenses like car repairs or medical bills, this program may not be right for you because it doesn’t provide any way of entering them manually. The other issue is that there isn’t much room for customization; if something doesn’t fit into one category (like gas money), it may be difficult to find where else it belongs in the budgeting process without making changes yourself in Excel first.
Of course there are some limitations with using this type of software over the long term—you can only use it on desktop computers at home unless someone else wants access too — but overall we think EveryDollar provides plenty of good value while still being affordable enough that anyone who uses it regularly won’t feel pressured into upgrading every year just so they continue getting features like automatic transfers between accounts!
Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard is a free budgeting software that works in conjunction with your bank accounts. Unlike other personal finance apps, it doesn’t require you to link all of your accounts into one place (like Mint or Personal Capital). Instead, Money Dashboard connects directly with the bank so that all your balances are up-to-date in real time. This means no more logging in and out of various banking sites just to check on your balance—it’ll be right there on the screen!
If you’re looking for an alternative way to manage your finances without having to carry around multiple apps, this might be just what you need!
PocketSmith
PocketSmith is an online personal finance application that allows you to set up budgets, track your spending and savings over a timeline and connect with other users.
To use PocketSmith, you’ll need to create an account on their website (which is free) and connect bank accounts, credit cards or loans from financial institutions like ANZ or Citibank. You can then set up budget categories for all of your expenses – including rent, groceries and entertainment – and track where you spend using their nifty graphs.
PocketSmith also allows you to connect with other people who use the app so that you can compare your budgets with friends or family members so that everyone knows what’s going on in each other’s lives!
Goodbudget
Goodbudget is a digital analog of the envelope system. In other words, it’s an old-school budgeting technique that uses cash to control spending. With Goodbudget, you set up a series of “envelopes” for each type of spending (e.g., groceries and entertainment), and then allocate “cash” in your budget for each month or year. When the money runs out, so does your ability to spend on that category until next week or next year!
Goodbudget is great whether you’re single or have kids: they even have an app just for couples who want to share finances with each other! It’s available both as a free app on iTunes and Android Market as well as in paid versions ($5/month) that offer more features like password protection, unlimited budgets and time periods, custom categories/envelopes, automatic syncing across devices (even offline!), exporting data into Excel files for further analysis…and much more!!
CountAbout
CountAbout is a web-based, desktop and mobile app that allows you to manage your personal finances. The software is cloud-based, so it can be accessed both online and offline. It’s also cross-platform, so it works on both Windows and Mac OS X systems.
You can use CountAbout to track your income, expenses, investments and debts—and even plan for future events like weddings or births. You can create multiple accounts to represent each type of asset you’re tracking (like checking or savings accounts) or liability (like credit cards).
Banktivity 6
Banktivity 6 is available for Mac computers and offers a suite of financial management tools. Its primary functions are budgeting, expense tracking and investment tracking, but you can also use it to manage your accounting and bill payment records. The software supports bank aggregation so you can track all your accounts in one place. The new version has an improved design that makes it more user-friendly than previous versions.
Buxfer
Buxfer is a free budgeting app that allows you to set up account balances, track income and expenses, and create budgets. It’s available for both Windows and Mac computers as well as smartphones.
The free version of Buxfer is good for personal use but not ideal if you’re looking to do business budgeting or tracking cash transactions. The paid version ($9 per month) has more features like automatic synchronization of transactions across all devices—handy if your spouse also uses it—and detailed reports about spending habits that could be useful for business owners keeping track of their funds.
Buxfer does not automatically sync transactions between your computer and smartphone when they happen; you have to manually enter whatever debit or credit card charge into the app yourself, which can be tedious if you want an accurate picture of where your money goes each month (but on the other hand may help hold users accountable).
FreeAgent
FreeAgent is an accounting software that you can use to manage your finances. It’s cloud-based and works across all devices, so you can log in and get your work done wherever you are.
FreeAgent was originally designed for freelancers and small businesses, but has since expanded to include more features like invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, project management, automated bank feeds and reporting.
You can try out the product for free before deciding whether or not it will work well with your business needs. The paid version is $12 per month per user if billed monthly or $20 per month if billed annually or quarterly (paid plans start at two users).
Simple Budget Keeper Pro
Simple Budget Keeper Pro is a free budget and personal finance app that makes it easy to track your spending, income, savings, and bills.
- Track your spending by category: From groceries to gas to entertainment—you can categorize every single dollar you spend. Plus, you can use the barcode scanner to add items in seconds.
- Track income from multiple sources: Add paychecks from all of your jobs or freelance gigs in one place so you have a clear picture of how much money is coming in each month.
- Track savings goals and keep up with progress toward them: You’ll always know if those retirement contributions are on track or if there’s still time left before year-end tax season arrives.*
Sharemoney
- Cost: $0
- Features: International money transfers, low fees and fast delivery
This is a great option if you’re looking to send money overseas. It’s free to use on their website or through the mobile app and they have a 24/7 support team available in multiple languages. You can also schedule your transfers up to 30 days in advance!
- Works on: Web (no download required) iOS Android
- Supported countries: US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand
They currently support bank accounts and credit cards from over 50 countries around the world including US residents who reside outside of their state or country.
Whether you’re looking for budgeting software that’s free or aren’t afraid to pay a little extra, there’s an app out there to help you manage your money.
Whether you’re looking for budgeting software that’s free or aren’t afraid to pay a little extra, there’s an app out there to help you manage your money.
You could try Money Dashboard—it’s free and comes with built-in templates for tracking everything from groceries to entertainment spending. It also has an iPhone app, so it’s easy to use on the go.
PocketSmith and YNAB both have free trials available, giving you enough time to see if they suit your needs before committing. If not, no worries: both apps are paid versions with advanced features and support options.
Banktivity 6 is Mac only while all of our other picks come in Windows and Mac versions, but we think this is worth the extra cost if you need a powerful tool that works specifically on Apple devices (and don’t mind paying).
Conclusion
Many people have financial problems. They think that they have no control over their money. This is not true, because you can manage your money and make it work for you. You need to think of your budget as a way to make your hard-earned cash work harder for you. Use free personal budget software and start saving right away!
The personal finance software will make your financial life much easier and enable you to keep track of where your money is going. This post should help you find the best programs, so you can free up money for more important things like retirement planning.