So you are trying to set up your budget. You are wondering which budgeting apps are best. Here is my take on which app to use.
Mint
Mint will allow you to syncs many kinds of accounts, checking, savings, credit cards, loans, investments and bills
Mint tracks your expenses and places them in budget categories. You can then personalize these categories. You can set limits for these categories, and Mint lets you know if you’re approaching those limits.
One possible downside to Mint I see is not being able to plan ahead with your money. Mint tracks your budget instead which can be extremely helpful. For people that want to be more active in their budgeting this could be a con.
Mint is free.
YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is great for more hands-on individuals. YNAB follows the zero-based budgeting system, which has you make a plan for every dollar you earn.
When you get paid, you tell YNAB how much of your income should go toward categories, including expenses, savings and investing.
YNAB allows you to link your checking, savings accounts, as well as credit cards and loans
One possible downside to YNAB is you have to be very hands on with your budget. Based on how you want to budget this could be a con.
YNAB costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year.
EveryDollar
EveryDollar provides a simpler version of zero-based budgeting compared to YNAB.
With the free version of EveryDollar your accounts do not sync. You have to manually put this information in. This also includes outgoing money as well as incoming. I see this more like using a spreadsheet.
With the paid version you do get accounts to sync and will track like other budgeting apps.
EveryDollar cost $79.99 a year or $12.99 a month
RocketMoney
RocketMoney allows you syncs many kinds of accounts, checking, savings, credit cards
RocketMoney tracks your expenses and places them in budget categories. You can then personalize these categories.
Another benefit is the managed subscription feature. Making it easy to cancel most common subscriptions out there. This however can not cancel all subscriptions.
One possible downside to RocketMoney I see is not being able to plan ahead with your money. RocketMoney tracks your budget instead which can be extremely helpful. For people that want to be more active in their budgeting this could be a con.
The base version is free.
RocketMoney allows the user to select the amount. RocketMoney price range is from $3-$12/month. The $3 and $4 options are billed annually.
GoodBudget
Goodbudget is more about planning for your finances than tracking previous transactions.
This app is based on the envelope budgeting system, in which you portion out your monthly income toward specific spending categories called envelopes.
GoodBudget doesn’t connect your bank accounts. You manually add account balances
Then you assign money toward envelopes.
GoodBudget offers a free version that allows one account, two devices and limited envelopes.
Its paid version, Goodbudget Plus, allows unlimited envelopes and accounts, up to five devices.
Goodbudget is free.
Goodbudget Plus is $8 per month or $70 per year
What do I Use?
I personally use RocketMoney as my app of choice. I like being able to quickly glance to see where my money is going and what upcoming charges I have. However I use an excel spreadsheet to actually set my budget and track it. I prefer this method due to being more hands on.
Conclusion
No matter what app you choose you can’t go wrong. Because just starting a budget is a step in the right direction.
