Your financial health depends on how much you make, how you spend it, and the little savings left. That’s where financial management tools come in, as they have the features to organize, budget, save and invest your money. Some apps do all that, while others focus on savings and budgeting. Let’s look at apps suitable for personal financial management.
Contents
9 Apps For Sound Money Management
1. Mint – Best for Budgeting
The main features of this app are tracking cash flow and budgeting. It pulls your bank and credit card data for accurate budgeting and spending management. Additionally, you get spending advice and a resource with information on bank accounts with better interest rates.
All its features are free, which makes it stand out from others that offer freemium features.
When you set up alerts, Mint reminds you about payment due dates and low funds to eliminate late payment penalties and bank overdrafts.
This app uses several security features to protect your data, including Verisign scanning and multi-factor authentication.
Pros
- Free
- For iOS and Android devices
- Category modification for expenses
- Synchronized with your bank accounts and credit cards data
- Various security features
Cons
- Expenses may be in the wrong category until you customize the app
2. SmartyPig
If your greatest financial pitfall is spending, SmartyPig turns the cycle around by showing you ways to save money. Using it, you can set savings goals, set up savings accounts, and track your savings progress.
This app functions like a piggy bank but an FDIC-insured one for multiple financial goals. It has a four-step setup process using your social security number.
SmartyPig uses savings goals for you to visualize the end game. Therefore, you set up a biweekly or monthly deposit. However, you can also transfer more funds beyond the configured deposit amount.
This financial management app has high-interest rates, and once you set up your goals and funding source, it runs with minimal effort from you. A deposit balance of up to $10,000 has a 2.50% interest rate.
Pros
- Free, including withdrawals
- Flexible deposits and withdrawals
- A high-interest rate
- Automatic deposits minimize tasks
- FDIC-insured
- Supports multiple savings accounts for various savings goals
Cons
- You’ll need additional apps for budgeting and tracking your spending
3. Personal Capital – Best for Investors
We have it as a choice for investors because this app has some subscription features for wealth management. However, its budgeting features are free. It links your mortgages, loans, savings, credit cards, and more for a clear financial picture.
This money management app summarizes your debts and savings to calculate your net worth. Further, you can organize spending and savings based on the merchant, category, or date.
Pros
- Upgrade features for investment management
- Long-term financial planning
- Fee analyzer for investments
Cons
- Investment features at a cost
4. Trim – Best for Recurring Charges
This financial management app syncs your bank account to help you control your spending by budgeting.
It lets you see your financial details on one platform, and you can request to cancel subscriptions you’re not using to save money. It also negotiates recurring charges with various service providers.
Pros
- All your savings and spending visible in one place
- Free sign up
- Negotiates recurring charges for various services
Cons
- Premium features like assistance with a debt payoff
- No app, just a mobile-friendly website
5. Prism – Best for Bills Tracking
One of the tasks in financial management is keeping track of expenses to avoid late payment penalties. Prism takes care of it by tracking your bills and sending reminders before the due date.
It pulls the due dates of over 10,000 billers, making it one of the more efficient apps. That saves time as you don’t have to log into numerous accounts and websites to pay your bills.
Additionally, Prism gives you the complete financial picture by tracking your income, savings, and expenses.
Lastly, this app uses 256-bit AES encryption, and you can delete your account if you don’t need it anymore.
Pros
- Bills tracking
- Biometric authentication
- Integrates all accounts
- Bills alerts
Cons
- Supports U.S. billers only
6. PowerWallet
This free app has a simple sign-up process using your email address. Once inside the app, you can link your bank accounts to pull information and manage your accounts from this app. It lets you create custom budgets listing your transactions in various categories. You can also separate your accounts into categories like investment, bank, and cash accounts.
PowerWallet also reminds you to pay your bills through regular alerts. Such notifications save you from missing out on repayment dates for mortgages and loans. For example, when you have a personal loan from CreditNinja.com, it reminds you about the repayment dates.
PowerWallet uses McFee, TRUSTe, and VeriSign to secure your data and transactions.
Pros
- Multiple account integration
- Deals and coupons lists
- Tracks cashflow
- Alerts for recurring bills
Cons
- Limited accounts to integrate
7. Wally – Best for Shared Savings Goals
Wally syncs and tracks your savings goals so that your group, whether family or friends, can achieve its financial goals together. Additionally, it manages your budgets to reduce spending on different expense categories.
To do this, even when you travel out of the United States, Wally syncs 15,000 banks across 70 countries. Therefore, it supports hundreds of currencies for your group to track foreign transactions.
Pros
- Group savings and spending tracking
- Tracks foreign transactions
Cons
- In-app purchases for add-ons
8. Credit Sesame – Best for Credit Score
Unlike most apps in this list that focus on saving or budgeting, Credit Sesame analyzes your liabilities and how they affect your credit score. From that data, you get recommendations to improve your score.
On top of that, this app doesn’t require your credit card information. Instead, once you enter your Social Security Number, it pulls data from various sources to track your financial health. You can check your score daily, if necessary, at no cost.
You also get transaction alerts, and Credit Sesame uses 256-bit data protection like financial institutions. Plus, it gives you product and service recommendations based on your financial goals.
Pros
- Free advice to improve your credit score
- Daily credit score check
Cons
- Lacks investing tools to boost savings
9. Goodbudget – Best for Beginners
It’s a budget-tracking app for Android and iOS users. Goodbudget uses an envelope system where each envelope holds money for a particular expense. As such, it curbs the urge to spend on expenses not budgeted for that month.
Goodbudget establishes disciplined spending because when you empty the envelope, there’s nothing else you can do but stop. On top of that, this app lets you share your budget with family or those close to you.
Pros
- Shareable spending budgets
- Savings goals in different envelopes
- Compatible with Android and iOS
Cons
- No sync with bank accounts or credit cards
- Unlimited envelopes attract a fee
Final Thoughts
Your financial objective should guide you when shopping for finance apps. For instance, if your goal is to maximize savings, you’d want an app that helps you budget efficiently. On the other, if increasing your income is a priority, the app should have investment features.
For any financial app, look for security features when linking it to your bank accounts or credit cards. Also, find out if the free features serve your needs.
Main Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
About Post Author
