Personal finance apps have been around for a while, and they keep getting better. Possibly the first application was Quicken in the early 80's. Back then most applications were clunky and not all that intuitive to use. They also required manual entry and upkeep for all your money management tasks, making them less than appealing to use.
Fast forward to today and you have applications that connect to with your bank to sync your account data, along with machine learning and AI to help with things like debt. Many even have features like automated building your savings by rounding up expenses to the next dollar and credit building features.
Many of us tend to struggle with managing finances one way or another. It's not just about budgeting, but can also be related to monitoring, in order to keep yourself on track or to get out of debt with credit cards or something similar. While for some it can seem very straightforward, others can find it difficult to deal with debt and struggle in a number of ways.
1. For most of your budgeting needs, you might look at You Need a Budget (YNAB) to help you with getting out of debt and taking control. Where it shines is with its budgeting, and how it can help you not only get out of debt, but also how you can learn to save more, and put an end to living paycheck-to-paycheck.
2. While Personal Capital is mainly used as an investment tool, but it does come with a few features that can be helpful for anyone looking to track their spending. While it's more geared towards wealth management with a suite of dynamic tools to choose from, its Savings Planner helps towards paying down debt and tracking your progress.
3. Using Goodbudget is like a new spin on the envelope budgeting method. It not only helps to manage your finances, but stay on the same page with anyone else in your family for personal finances with budgeting categories and being able to share budgets. You might say it allows you to plan your spending instead of just tracking it.
4. PocketSmith is an interesting option and claims to provide all the tools you might need. How you spend your money today affects your financial future, and with its built-in financial forecasting you can see what that future might look like. You can even test out scenarios, such as what your debt might look like if you skip your morning coffee and used the money saved to pay down your debt a little more each month.
5. Mint is a popular free option that helps with budgets, spend tracking and more. It allows you to see where all your money is going, and even helps you find savings you may have missed. You also get access to your credit score for free and help you reach your goals with personalized insights to make managing your money a whole lot easier.
Some say that which isn't monitored, isn't managed. Others say failing to plan is like planning to fail. While there's some truth with either, it just makes sense that you would use readily available tools to do a better job of managing something as important as your personal finances.
Apps like the above almost pay for themselves instantly, and can save all kinds of headaches or heartaches that come with personal finance.
The future of personal finance apps remains to be seen, but there's an increase in 'challenger banks', money management and utilizing AI and other technologies within fintech that has started to