Since the recession, budgeting and money management has been on the minds of most people. It’s become a reality that we need to start living within our means, think about saving for the future, and get out of debt and back on track. Although it used to be a process to create a budget, track finances, and run reports, it’s now possible to do it all from your smartphone no matter where you are.
Take a look at the following mobile apps that help budget finances, track spending, and manage money all within a simple, user-friendly interface.
1. Manilla
Mailla is a website and mobile bill manager application that lets you view your accounts and bills with one login. Manilla offers support for more than 3,500 providers, including most regional and all national banks in the United States. You’ll find support for most major credit card companies, utility providers, and all major retail, hotel, and auto loyalty reward programs.
In addition to giving you access to your banking and financial information, Manilla will send you reminders when bills are due, help you avoid overspending by tracking account balances, and keep your credit in good standing. Want to avoid late payments or derogatory marks on your credit report? Manilla will send you alerts by text or email whenever you have a bill or payment that is due. You can even upload copies of your most recent bills and store them all in one place for easy access no matter where you are.
Manilla is available for free by visiting their website or downloading the mobile app directly to your smartphone.
2. DailyCost
Looking for an expense tracker for your iPhone? Download DailyCost from the App Store to help track and manage your everyday expenses. Simply input your income and expenses whenever they occur, and DailyCost will keep track of your spending for you. Need to see what you’re spending on a weekly basis? DailyCost provides weekly income and spending charts broken down by category to help you see where your money is going and keep you on budget.
With support for more than 160 currencies and 20 languages, DailyCost will even keep track of exchange rates with automatic updates – perfect if you find yourself traveling internationally. You’ll need an iPhone, iPod, or iPad to take advantage of this app, as there’s no support for Android or Windows Phone as of now.
3. Mint
Mint is another great way to track your expenses and account balances all from one interface. With support for cash balances, loans, credit cards, investments, and property, you’ll be able to keep track of your balances and check in on your investments directly through the Mint website or mobile app. No bookkeeping is required; Mint has partnered with almost all major financial institutions in the United States to provide you access to your financial information without having to manually enter it.
If you’re looking to keep track of your savings and see what you’re spending, Mint categorizes your average spending so you can see where your money is going on a year-to-year, month-to-month, or even daily basis. Need alerts whenever you have a payment due or your account balance is getting low? Mint will send you texts or email alerts for a wide range of financial events. The Mint app will even give you unbiased money management tips along the way to help grow your savings and cut unnecessary spending.
Mint is available for free by visiting the website or downloading the application directly to your smartphone.
4. Check
Available for Android and iOS devices, Check is an app that lets you view your account balances and investments, view and pay your bills, and track your spending all from one simple-to-use interface. Check will send you reminders whenever a bill is due, allow you pay it immediately or set up a future payment.
You can instantly view your account balances, make a payment on your credit card to avoid over the limit and missed payment fees, and monitor your credit report and score with instant notifications. The app comes with 128-bit encryption to keep your data safe from prying eyes.
Check is available to download from Google Play on Android devices or the App Store on your iOS device. Visit the website for more information.
5. Toshl
Toshl is a personal finance app available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Symbian. Toshl allows you to keep track of where your spending your money and set up a budget to help make your paychecks last more than a few days. Simply enter your expenses directly in to the application whenever you spend money, and Toshl will keep track of it and let you know where you stand in your monthly budget.
Enter your rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, memberships, or any other repeating expense and Toshl will keep track of it for you. You can set reminders to pay bills or set up recurring payments and never have to pay a late fee again. Travel often? Toshl will provide automatic exchange rate information on 34 of the most commonly used currencies.
Toshl provides visualizations of your income and expenses for those who don’t like looking at spreadsheets all day, or you can export your data to Excel, PDF, CSV format, or Google Docs. You can export all of your expenses, only certain months, or get even more specific by breaking it down by tags.
Visit the Toshl website for more information on how to download the app to your mobile device and get started.
Creating a monthly budget and tracking your spending no longer has to be a tedious chore. With the apps listed above, you can track all of your spending and income directly from your computer or smartphone. You can set up reminders to pay bills, view all your account balances from one location, and make payments without the need to write checks or buy stamps. Best of all, most of these apps are available at no cost, so there’s no excuse not to get started on your budgeting today.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Harsha K R
