You’re living or moving to the UK, and you want to get the most out of your money. But where do you start? Well, for starters, it might be helpful to consider saving for your a-la-carte food items. This can save you a lot of money over time. Additionally, if you have children or are expecting any major expenses such as school tuition or child care, it can be helpful to consider saving for those costs as well. And finally, don’t forget about your utility bills! Keep an eye on your energy usage and see how much money you can save each month by making smart choices.
Uk Personal Finance Software
Moneyhub
You’ll find that the features of Moneyhub are very similar to Money Dashboard. It does come with a couple of benefits though. You can link investment accounts like Nutmeg and Fidelity, plus your mortgages and any loans you may have.
If you’re looking for an overall picture of your net worth, then Moneyhub is one of the best apps out there. However, although you’ll have a free trial for six months, you will then need to pay a 99 pence monthly fee or £9.99 for the year.
Pros:
- Lots of budgeting options
- Unique features to see your financial health
- Comprehensive analysis of your spending habits
- Connects to more financial accounts compared to its rivals
Cons:
- There is a small fee
- Might not be worth paying depending on the features you need
Emma
The Emma app links to your current accounts, savings and investments and keeps track of money coming in and going out. You can breakdown into categories where your money is being spent or which merchants you use the most.
Emma learns when you have money coming in, so it is able to set you a budget each month. Emma also lists all your subscriptions, which is very handy in finding if you’re paying for services 5 years after you last used them.
There is also an option to move to a paid version of Emma, called Pro, which offers some (rather underwhelming) extras. Emma also offers ‘rewards’. These generally involve you signing up for a trial or purchasing something and receiving money back. No reward should ever involve me spending money.
Pros:
- Ability to set spending limits/budgets
- Set savings goals
- Easy navigation
- Will point out where your money is wasted
- A decent referral scheme
Cons:
- Emma Pro provides little in the way of benefits compared to the free version
- The rewards on offer can often be found at cashback sites with better rates
Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard works in a similar way to Emma. Link your current, savings accounts, investment accounts and credit cards to find out how much you are up or down overall. There is an active budget tracker that breaks down how much you have spent that month and in what categories. You can then compare this to the previous month’s spend.
You can also set yourself a budget for every month. For example, if you don’t want to spend more than £400 on ‘fun’, create your budget, and Money Dashboard will let you know your progress. You can also see how your budget compares to previous months.
Pros:
- A completely free app, there’s not even a paid version
- A comprehensive budget planner
- Easy to set up and operate
- Link to popular investment accounts like Nutmeg and Fidelity and cryptocurrency accounts
- Access to a mobile app and a desktop version
Cons:
- Not as many ‘extra’ features compared to its competitors
Snoop[
Snoop is a little different from the above apps. Instead of showing you graphs and figures, you’ll be shown ‘Snoops’. These are easy-to-understand summaries about your finances, which give you tips about how to save money.
There’s nothing groundbreaking, but Snoop is a simple way of keeping an eye on your money and tracking your spending habits. There is now a paid subscription available, but this isn’t a big improvement on the free version.
Pros:
- Easy to set up
- No fees
- Uses language that everybody understands
- Will let you know of any wasteful subscriptions
- £5 Amazon voucher for referring friends (subject to availability)
- Recommends some useful financial products
Cons:
- Snoops are not always relevant
- They’re keen on you to click on their referral links so Snoop can earn money.
Monzo
Many banks have now started to provide their own budgeting apps and Monzo’s is one of the best. This digital-only bank allows you to track your spending, see your spending trends and set your own monthly budget. You can create savings pots, which will allow you to easily put money aside for a rainy day. Plus, you’ll get instant notifications when you spend with your debit card.
If you upgrade to a paid version of Monzo, you can create custom spending categories, earn interest and boost roundups. You can even track your credit score.
Pros:
- Simple to organise your spending
- Budget and bank with the same app
- Great card for spending abroad
- £5 for referring friends
Cons:
- You can only connect to other banks and cards if you pay a monthly fee
Monese
Like Monzo, Monese allows you to bank and budget all from one app. You can set weekly or monthly spending budgets, move your money into separate pots and receive instant notifications when a transaction is made.
Pros:
- Access to multi-currency accounts
- Ability to categorise your spending
- A great refer a friend scheme
Cons:
- Lacks some budgeting features compared to rival apps
Quirk
This is an app that claims to be tailored to you. When you start with Quirk, you fill out a quick survey about your financial preferences. The app can then give you tips based on your ‘unique character’. With the ability to add multiple accounts, this is a good app for keeping an eye on your overall wealth.
Pros:
- Free to use
- Easy to set up and monitor your budgets
- Quite nifty being able to see your overall wealth
Cons:
- I’m not convinced that your financial character actually changes much
- Can be a little tough to navigate the app
- Unable to link to investment accounts, meaning you have to manually add the value of them to Quirk
- This means your overall wealth will probably not be accurate
Tandem
Tandem is useful for letting you know how much money you have available to spend throughout the month. It calculates how much your expected bills will be and subtracts it from your income.
Tandem originally had an autosave function, but this was removed in January 2021.
Any money you have in your Tandem account earns a rather decent 1.35% (better than many rivals). However, you can place your money in fixed-term savings account for better returns.
Pros:
- Free to use
- A decent choice of savings accounts
- FSCS protected
Cons:
- Limited budgeting and finance options since being granted full bank status
personal finance software free
Mint
Mint is a free online budget planner from Intuit, the makers of TurboTax and Quickbooks. This app brings all of your financial data together, showing you an overview of your budget, spending, bills, and credit score. You can create your own budget, set goals and reminders, and sync your data between web and apps. Security is enhanced by encryption and multi-factor authentication. You can also use Mint to track your investments and portfolio.
Access Mint via the web or phone apps for iOS and Android.
GnuCash
GnuCash is desktop software; its features include tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. GnuCash is based on double-entry accounting for balanced books and you can run a number of reports to see your financial data. GnuCash also offers small-business accounting tools that let you manage customers and vendors, handle invoicing and bill payment, and even payroll.
GnuCash is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, BSD, and Solaris. There is a companion app for Android that will let you track expenses on the go and later import them into the desktop software.
AceMoney Lite
AceMoney Lite bills itself as the best Quicken alternative. You can manage your budgets, track your finances in multiple currencies, keep an eye on your investments and analyze your spending habits. You can also do online banking. As this is the lite version, you’re limited to two accounts; the full version supports unlimited accounts.
AceMoney Lite is compatible with Windows and Mac OS X.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital offers free financial software for tracking investments and planning for retirement, in addition to its tools for cash flow, spending, budgeting and net worth. Personal Capital’s focus is on investments, showing you the performance of your portfolio over time and helping you make decisions for the future, so its budgeting components aren’t as robust as other software.
If you’re not an investor or prefer fine-tuning your budget to getting the broad view, Personal Capital may not be the best fit. However, if you want to save for college or retirement, its free tools will show you whether you’re on track.
Personal Capital can be accessed via the web or apps for Android and iOS.
Buddi
Buddi is an open-source budget software that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems and has been translated into multiple languages. Buddi can encrypt financial data with a password, and it’s designed to be easy to use even if you have no financial background.
Features include budgeting, tracking accounts, and personal finance reports, but you will have to enter transactions manually. Free plugins add more features, and the online user manual is easy to read and use.
Buddi is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Free Budget Spreadsheets
If you don’t need fully featured personal financial software and you’re just concerned about keeping a budget, there are some great free budget spreadsheet templates you can use with Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc or Google Sheets. Just download and open them in your spreadsheet software to get a handle on your cash flow.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best way to track personal finances?
Apps and budgeting software make it easy to categorize your spending so you can see when and where your money is going—at a glance. Knowing these patterns is the first step toward changing your behavior to start saving more.
Is personal finance software safe?
Go with trusted brands, and you can expect the same types of firewalls and encryption that you’d expect from a banking website. It’s often the human who does something risky rather than a flaw in the software.
Best budget app
Mint
Best budgeting app overall
Cost: Free
Mint is one of the most popular budgeting apps and for good reason. It is free to use, something rare among the best budgeting apps, and you get financial budgeting shared by 24 million users.
The app allows you to create a personalized budget and will then monitor your spending. It studies your spending habits and advises how to increase your savings. It will also check your subscriptions to ensure that you are not paying for services you do not need. With MintSights, you can set goals to reach financial milestones and build a stronger financial foundation. Once you connect your accounts, you can easily navigate between outstanding account balances, your monthly expenses versus spending, and even access your free credit score. Mint is compatible with not just banking accounts, but also your credit cards, loans, and investments. You can even file your IRS taxes and receive your refund through the app’s integrated TurboTax services.
Goodbudget
Best budgeting app with digital envelopes
Cost: There is a free version with ads, or you can upgrade to an ad-free plan for $7 per month or $60 per year.
Goodbudget is a budgeting app that helps you create and stick to a budget. There is available debt tracking to keep you motivated and on track. It also helps with money management so you know exactly where your funds are and how they are performing. You will have to subscribe to Goodbudget, but once you do, you will have wide access to the app through both the web and multiple phones. This means that it is easy to share your account with others, like a spouse or family member. It helps you stay connected financially even if you are physically apart, helping to prevent miscommunications and financial mishaps. All transactions are synced to the cloud so you never have to worry about certain financial transactions going missing. Review pie charts and reports to track your spending, with generated reports to show your finances in greater detail. Digital envelopes help you categorize your finances into available funds with each envelope assigned to certain expenses. It is a visual way to improve your finances through the help of virtual tools.
Personal Capital
Best budgeting app for investors
Cost: Personal Capital is free to use.
More than 2.8 million people utilize Personal Capital, and it is a portfolio tracker specifically designed to help with your investments, offering a unique digital approach to your personal finance. The app works with several different types of accounts, including your normal banking accounts, as well as investments, stocks, and retirement funds. The exclusive Retirement Planner tool helps you view your 401K, IRAs, and also your debt so you can have a complete, well-rounded portrait of your finances at the click of a button. The Cash Flow graph stacks your income versus your expenses for an overall financial snapshot that is easy to understand, plus there is an Investment Checkup tool that checks your investments, looking for ways to minimize risk while maximizing rewards. The Retirement Planner is an excellent option when you want to create and manage your retirement. You also have the option to join Personal Capital as an investment client so you can receive direct support from its financial advisors.
Pocketguard
Best budgeting app for overspenders
Cost: There are three subscription plans, in addition to a basic plan with limited features for free.
| Type of plan | Cost |
| Monthly | $7.99 |
| Annual | $34.99 |
| Lifetime One-Time Purchase | $79.99 |
PocketGuard takes a different approach to budgeting, utilizing smart algorithms to manage and track your spending. It also monitors your bills, helping to ensure that you do not miss a payment and risk falling further into debt. There is a bill tracker and organizer available as soon as you link your bank accounts. Any subscriptions you have will be automatically flagged and built into your monthly budget. With the IN MY POCKET feature, the app will automatically calculate your monthly expenses and then advise you on what is left over to spend. It also can help you negotiate better interest rates on your existing accounts, helping you save those extra dollars. It is easy to identify what disposable income you have to spend when the app does all the calculating and reporting for you. You do not have to pay to use PocketGuard, although you will need to subscribe if you want to access all of the best features.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to save money in the UK with Personal Finance Software, there are a few ways to do so. Save money on groceries by shopping at local stores or buying food online. Save money on car repairs and health insurance by signing up for a car loan or getting quotes from various providers. And, of course, save money on taxes through carefulbudgeting and donating to charity.