5 Apps That Help You Budget Better

If you struggle to stick to a budget and are looking for better ways to manage your personal finances, then your smartphone can be your strongest financial ally.

Budgeting apps can help you not only easily track spending, but they can also make it fun to stick to your budget, too.

Here are five popular budgeting apps available for both iOS and Android devices — and best of all, they’re free.

The envelope budget, revamped

Goodbudget takes the envelope budgeting method, where cash is divided among envelopes labeled for different purposes, into the digital age.

By allocating set amounts to each spending category upfront, you can easily stay within your budget constraints and see how close you are to overspending. The app lets you use pre-set “envelope” categories, such as groceries and gas, or create your own.

The free version also syncs with up to two devices for household sharing and gives you access to a community support forum.

Mint: Big-picture budgeting

Mint has been around since 2007 and, with more than 10 million downloads worldwide, it’s one of the most popular budgeting services available. Mint syncs with bank accounts, lists your bills,  and can also report your credit score. Once you connect your financial accounts, the app gives you an overview of your financial habits and trends.

You can also see where you’re spending your money month-to-month and even year-to-year, and how much you can save by cutting back on any category.

Plus, with helpful features like bill payment reminders and unusual spending alerts, you can easily keep track of your outgoing expenses.

Albert: Get rewarded for saving

With Albert, there’s no need to manually update info or log transactions; you simply connect your accounts and let it work its magic.

In addition to tracking your income and spending, the app can make it easy to save, too. It can calculate how much you can safely save and then automatically transfers that amount from your checking account into a separate Albert savings account.

At the end of each year, you can earn a reward of 10 cents for every $100 saved.

Clarity Money: Control forgotten subscriptions

Clarity Money helps you organize your finances by breaking down your spending by category. Once you’ve linked your financial accounts, you can track transactions with handy graphs and charts for a visual representation of your current financial position.

Helpful features include the ability to calculate your average weekly spend, set weekly budget goals, and check your free credit score.

Clarity Money is also unique — it not only tracks subscriptions for you, but it also lets you cancel any forgotten or unwanted recurring subscriptions directly from the app.

Pocketguard: Budgeting on autopilot

Pocketguard analyzes your income, bills, and goals, and automatically creates a personalized budget. You can link everything from your checking and savings accounts to investments, so that you can see all your finances in one place.

A special feature lets you track how much money you have left over each month to set aside for savings.

The app also updates your transactions in real time and gives you the option to set spending limits for each category.

Use budgeting apps to change your financial future

Whether you’re looking to reduce your spending to get out of debt or save for a big ticket purchase in the future, these apps can help you get your spending in line and give you insights about your financial health.