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Budgeting Tools: The 5 Best Tools for Better Finances

budgeting tools

Talking about money can be difficult. Saving money and sticking to a budget can be even harder. In 2018, we are lucky enough to have tools that can be downloaded right to our smartphones and software programs that can be added to our desktops to help us use our money wisely and stick to an allotted budget. Managing money can be challenging, and these products aim to help you understand your habits and improve them. On top of that, these tools are also simple enough to be used by someone who is not an accounting major, which is a big plus. Below, we’ll review the best budgeting tools in 2018.

Product

Pros

cons

check online

Acorns

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Makes investing easy
  • Takes little effort to create an account
  • Could have more explanation on investments
website

Intuit Mint

  • Easy-to-use application
  • Gives a solid overview of your financial well-being
  • Provides tips and tricks to save money
  • Very basic summary of your budget
  • Can take a while for your actual bank account to link to the application
website

Quicken Premier 2018

  • Gives a well-rounded summary of your financial health
  • Online storage for your data - included in your purchase
  • Provides updates as soon as they are released
  • Has a lot of information to take in on user pages
  • Can be difficult to use
website

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

  • Sorts spending into categories to help you keep an eye on your money
  • Easy to understand “the job” of every dollar
  • Helps users map out plans
  • Can be hard to understand
  • Interface  - looks crowded at times
website

Joy

  • Tunes into the psychology behind spending
  • User-friendly interface
  • Easy to personalize to your needs
  • Not very straightforward with how you are spending
  • Might be too “gray” for black and white-minded people
  • Only available for Apple users as of now
website

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Are Budgeting Tools?

Budgeting tools are created to help everyday people budget their money wisely and stay on track with their financial goals. Most of them can be downloaded right to your smartphone via the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

2. What Do the Best Budgeting Tools Do?

The best budgeting tools link to your bank account and keep track of your personal spending trends so you can see where you can improve, invest and save money. Most will give you suggestions to keep your budget balanced each month and will give you alerts if you’re overspending in one particular area.

3. Where Can You Buy the Best Budgeting Tools?

A nice side note is that most of these budgeting tools are available for free in a smartphone’s app store! More advanced options are available for as little as $70 at your local office supply store.

4. Which of the Best Budgeting Tools Should I Pick?

We've selected the five best budgeting tools. The one you pick all depends on your preferences. If you like investing your money, there are best budgeting tools specifically designed for that, and if you want to see your spending trends, there are best budgeting tools made for that as well.

How We Reviewed

The following products were reviewed based on the following parameters:  Features, Pros & Cons, Price and Where to Buy. We wanted to pick tools that were easy to use, easy to understand and had a good user rating. We also wanted to make sure they were priced reasonably and had good security measures in place so the user can have peace of mind while using them.

Overall Price Range of the Best Budgeting Tools

One can expect to spend anywhere from around $7 on simple budgeting tools to around $70 on the more advanced budgeting tools while some are available for free in your phone’s application center. With the more advanced options, you get to view investment portfolios, and you can access storage on your personalized cloud among other features you won’t have access to with the free budgeting apps. Still, the free options are great if you just want basic oversights of your spending habits and advice on how to improve your spending. Keep reading to see which tools we think are the best for budgeting, their features and their pros and cons.

What We Reviewed

  • Acorns
  • Intuit Mint
  • Quicken Premier 2018
  • YNAB
  • Joy

Acorns

Features

Acorns is great for those who want to invest their money but aren’t sure where to start. Acorns links to your bank accounts then “rounds up” to the nearest dollar and invests that money into stocks on purchases you’ve already made. For example, if you spend $4.75 on a coffee, Acorns will automatically invest the extra 25 cents into a stock. It’s making money for you effortlessly, and you don't even have to think about it.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Makes investing easy
  • Takes little effort to create an account

Cons

  • Could have more explanation on investments
  • Where to Buy
  • Benefits
  • Security/Safety

Download it today in your app store! Or head to www.acorns.com to create an account then login on the application.

Acorns is really easy to use and makes investing easy. Making investments in stocks and companies can be confusing, but Acorns makes it simple to make money and invest in your future. It also provides users with a projected worth so the user can see how much money they’ll be worth when they're ready to retire.

Acorns has a good security system in place and won’t share your bank account information with third-party applications. The user has to login with a PIN every time the account is accessed, and the application will log the user out as well. Acorns uses multi-factor authentication and encryption to ensure information is safe.

Intuit Mint

Features

From the makers of QuickBooks and TurboTax comes Mint. Mint by Intuit gives a good overview of your budget and problem areas, the places you spend too much money. It sends alerts to let you know when you’re on budget and how your cash flow is each month. It also keeps track of changes in your credit score and gives you tips to improve it. If a user adds dates that bills are due, the application will send you email reminders and notifications so they are always paid on time.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use application
  • Gives a solid overview of your financial well-being
  • Provides tips and tricks to save money

Cons

  • Very basic summary of your budget
  • Can take a while for your actual bank account to link to the application
  • Where to Buy
  • Benefits
  • Security/Safety

You can head to www.mint.com to create an account, or go to your phone’s app center to download it.

Mint provides a summary of your spending and keeps you up-to-date on your habits by sending you reminders. It has an area for your credit score and shows you how you’re doing each 90 days and gives detailed reasons why your score looks the way it does. Mint provides tips for improving your score as well, such as applying for new credit cards.

You have to login with your PIN each time to access Mint and when you exit the application, you’re logged out automatically. Mint uses multi-factor authentication and security scans to keep your data safe.

Quicken Premier 2018

Features

Quicken Premier 2018 is the higher-caliber version of Mint and Acorns, encased in a software for a desktop. It combines your investment profiles, your checking accounts and your savings accounts all in one place on your desktop. You can export your spending registers to Excel and email reports from Quicken. This option seems like it would be a good fit for a small business owner because it is in-depth and provides lots of insight into spending habits.

Pros

  • Gives a well-rounded summary of your financial health
  • Online storage for your data - included in your purchase
  • Provides updates as soon as they are released

Cons

  • Has a lot of information to take in on user pages
  • Can be difficult to use
  • Where to Buy
  • Benefits
  • Security/Safety

This budgeting tool can be purchased and downloaded on www.quicken.com or bought from the local office supply store.

You can keep an eye on your spending trends and even search through your transactions to find specific ones. You can email reports straight from Quicken, and all of your information syncs across your computer and your mobile device so it’s always up to date.

Financial information is encrypted, and none of your banking information is readable as it’s being imported from your bank. Overall, Quicken Premier is very safe to use.

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

Features

YNAB is an abbreviation for “You Need A Budget” and helps users examine their spending habits, get out and stay out of debt and encourages them to put money away and save. They have four rules that make up the YNAB method to help you succeed. There are desktop and mobile versions available so you can view your finances on a computer screen or on your mobile device.

Pros

  • Sorts spending into categories to help you keep an eye on your money
  • Easy to understand “the job” of every dollar
  • Helps users map out plans

Cons

  • Can be hard to understand
  • Interface  - looks crowded at times
  • Where to Buy
  • Benefits
  • Security/Safety

You can buy this product on www.youneedabudget.com or in your phone’s app center.

YNAB helps users map out a plan to feel in charge of their money so they aren’t living paycheck to paycheck. It gives each dollar you have a specific job and helps you track how to use it, to help you save and live stress-free.

YNAB helps you choose strong passwords and encrypts your data to keep it safe. Security is a priority for the YNAB team, and it shows in their products.

Joy

Features

Joy is a relatively new application that takes a cool view on managing your money. The whole concept is that when you spend money on experiences and other people---rather than unnecessary items---you find joy and are happier overall. You rank each of your debit card transactions with a happy or sad face to show how you feel about it, and it reminds you to put money into savings each day. The idea is that people will find happiness in taking control of their financial well-being and take steps to improve their habits. The Joy website is really interactive and provides real-life stories of users who have tried Joy and shares their spending habits.

Pros

  • Tunes into the psychology behind spending
  • User-friendly interface
  • Easy to personalize to your needs

Cons

  • Not very straightforward with how you are spending
  • Might be too “gray” for black and white-minded people
  • Only available for Apple users as of now
  • PRICE
  • Where to Buy
  • Benefits
  • Security/Safety

This product is free through Apple’s App Store.

You can find Joy for IOS or go to www.findjoy.com to create an account.

Joy asks you specified questions to make a personalized money coach for you. Your coach can message you in a chat room, setting and giving you updates on your spending trends and how it relates to your happiness. It also reminds you to save money when it deems that you have enough to put away. The fact that your happiness plays into why you spend money is a really cool aspect of this budgeting tool and gives more meaning to each of your purchases. Over time, you can see trends and see why you spend on certain things.

Joy doesn’t share your personal information with anyone, and you must go through multiple steps to make major changes to your account, which ups the security and safety of this budgeting tool. Overall, it's a safe application to use.

The Verdict

Different budgeting tools provide different benefits for their users. As far as the best budgeting tools, each one can help you in different areas of your financial health.

If you’re looking to invest effortlessly and not have to think about how much money to put into a portfolio, Acorns is the way to go. You don’t have to do anything to invest in popular companies other than make your regular purchases. If you’re looking for an easy to use budgeting tool that gives you reminders on when to pay your bills, Mint by Intuit is a fantastic choice. Joy provides a psychological look at why you’re spending what you are and aims to improve your happiness by helping you manage your money. YNAB sets out a clear plan for spending and helps you stick to it. For users looking to view all of their information in one place and are willing to spend a bit of money, Quicken Premier 2018 and its robust reports would be a great option for them.

All five of these products will help you better yourself financially today and prepare for whatever comes your way tomorrow.

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