As personal finance moves increasingly online, budgeting apps are taking the industry by storm. They can help you grasp the confusing parts of your expenses and simplify this complex industry. Starting in the early 2000s, the desire for high-speed mobile access to one’s finances has sparked technological innovations. These finance apps require users’ personal information, like bank accounts and credit card numbers, to properly assess users’ purchasing habits.
Each with its own specialization, these apps use visual aids to demonstrate where your money is going and how you can save. See which app works best for you below.
Digit
If you’re looking to visualize your expenses and set a savings goal, Digit may be right for you. After creating an account and connecting your bank account, Digit assesses your finances and organizes your purchases into diagrams. It demonstrates the amount spent on major purchases: restaurants, clothing, mortgage payments and more.
Now that you can visualize your payment habits, Digit allows you to allocate a percentage of your current checking account balance to your savings account. You can choose a variety of automatic savings options, such as:
- A rainy day fund.
- Student loans.
- Travel.
- Retirement.
- Splurge savings.
- A custom section.
If you think you’ll stray from your savings schedule, Digit allows you to automate your savings withdrawals. The self-regulating app will extract a specified percent or amount from your bank account at a designated rate. You’ll find your savings quickly building as the withdrawn amount earn 1 percent interest annually. All funds stored in the app are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and can be withdrawn at any time. Digit is available on both Android and IOS phones.
Spendee
If you’re a disorganized person, Spendee will help you separate your spending into straightforward categories. Spendee is fully customizable – you’re able to choose the type, timeframe and amount to set aside for your budget. You can access Spendee for free and receive one budget as well as one cash wallet slot, or choose one of Spendee’s premium packages.
Related Article: Creating a Budget
Spendee Plus, for $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year, gives users unlimited budgets and cash wallets as well as the ability to share these budgets with others. This works well for parents’ who are trying to organize their families’ spending habits.
Spendee Premium, $2.99 per month or $22.99 per year, contains all aforementioned materials as well as automated categorization. While other plans require manual entries, the premium version will separate your purchases based on their name, location and amount. This saves you time, as there requires less effort to view your proposed budget. All plans come with a seven-day free trial and a system backup of your budget.
Albert
Albert offers a variety of services within a single platform. Everything from savings to loans, Albert walks users through the process of budgeting their expenses.
Once you create your profile, you can connect your bank account to Albert where it then extracts designated funds every week. Albert will determine to best time to withdraw money, typically between $25 and $100. The system then organizes your data through visual aids, highlighting the extraneous purchases and areas where you can cut down.
You pay for Albert depending on what you think it deserves. That’s right – payment is optional, as low as $0 and as high as $20 per month. When paying for Albert, you unlock the “Genius,” an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can help answer your questions and offer suggestions on ways to improve your current budget.
Albert works best for those who are looking for a basic help on managing personal finance. Though Genius offers helpful advice, the AI system may not be helpful for learning the system, only answering your questions. Albert can help introduce you to investing and organizing your monthly budget.
You Need A Budget (YNAB)
Are you a student who is drowning in debt? Luckily, YNAB is made just for you. Though there is no free version, it works best if you prioritize paying off debts and being proactive with your budgeting.
YNAB connects to your bank account through a third party and scans your finances into the app. This will instantly transfer all transactions to the app where it is color-coded and organized in a variety of ways. You can:
- Download and categorize your purchases.
- Visualize your spending habits with generated charts.
- Keep track of your monthly budget.
- Receive monthly reports of your expenses and income.
After a one-month free trial, YNAB is $83.99 per year. YNAB is user-friendly and can be accessed from any IOS or Android device.
Fudget
Your finances contain extremely sensitive information, so it’s understandable if you don’t feel comfortable sharing these details. With Fudget, there’s no need to connect a bank account as every entry is manually entered. You self-report your earnings and purchases, separating them based on your choice of categories.
Fudget divides this data based on your desired timeline (monthly, weekly or daily) and indicates where you can save through visual displays. You can choose between lists and graphical options to view this information at your comfort.
However, it takes patience and organization to build a working budget with Fudget. As everything is entered through manual entries, you must stay aware of your purchases for you to maximize your Fudget budget.
Nerd Wallet
NerdWallet is an all-encompassing budgeting app that provides a variety of services: credit score alerts, monthly spending reports and consumer rewards. By syncing your bank account, you can receive free credit score reports through the app. NerdWallet tells you of recent changes in your credit and offers recommendations to build your credit. The app will also list factors that are impacting your credit, like utilization and account age.
Related Article: What is personal finance?
Your monthly spending is displayed in the app in sections. NerdWallet shows your current balance and any upcoming payments first. You can add to your monthly payments at any time, though NerdWallet pulls recurring payments from your bank. The app offers monthly takeaways and ways to improve your budget from the previous month. It breaks down your spending in a pie chart, categorizing your purchases in major expenses, such as food, entertainment and shopping.
NerdWallet is one of few budgeting apps that rewards you for making purchases. When you make a purchase at a participating store, you receive a percentage of your purchase in “Check Back,” NerdWallet’s rewards program.
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