Apps to keep you on budget and out of debt
Learn how to save cash and keep yourself on track with these top tools
Budgeting. Yes, there’s an app for that, too.
Most apps seem designed to give users things they never even realized they wanted, but there’s a certain category that delivers something they sorely need: budgeting help, particularly in retirement.
But you only get as much out of these applications as you put into them, warns Charmaine Huber, a Toronto certified money coach and host of Rogers TV’s Your Money Your Business.
While they can be useful for everything from maintaining budgets and organizing receipts to tracking bills, there is one major downside to the plethora of personal finance apps for smartphones and tablets, Huber says: Most require serious commitment from the user.
“The biggest drawback is that you have to put all this information in,” she explains, whether closely monitoring one’s bills, receipts or new purchases. “Many clients (often) do so at the outset. Then, like a New Year’s resolution, it all falls apart. The problem is you have to be diligent and keep updating . . . people are good at the beginning and then it falls off after a week or two. The shine has worn off and it all falls apart.”
When it comes to apps and money, John Lennon shouldn’t have been so dismissive. The best things in life really are free.
Huber recommends never spending money to download a financial app and that users should see if they can stick with it before considering a costly upgrade to an advanced version. Plus, there are plenty of high free high-quality options, she explains. Huber offers her top four free options:
Mint:
Features: Mint may be the most popular financial app around. From the makers of TurboTax, this was one of Time Magazine’s best 50 apps of the year in 2016. The secret to its success: human laziness. You give it access to all your bank accounts and credit cards — even from different institutions — and it automatically tracks your transactions, crunches the numbers on your spending habits and helps manage your budget. It even provides a free credit score and provides tips on keeping it healthy. The weekly summary page, available Sundays (and sent via notification), offers a handy seven-day window.
Bottom Line: Do you hate data entry? Then this one’s for you. Give Mint access to your financial world and let it paint a clear picture.
YNAB:
Features: It’s all in the name. You Need a Budget. This app allows you to create and retool your monthly budget on the fly, promising to help you understand what’s happening to each and every paycheque and learn how to save more of every payday for a rainy day — or sunny-day patio. Unlike Mint, it relies on user input for expenses and income. But the result is often a more accurate, detailed portrayal of where your money is going — and the state of your monthly treasury — at any given moment. Because Mint automatically updates transactions by tapping into your various accounts, expenses can occasionally end up mislabeled and filed under incorrect spending categories. Who says computers are smarter than machines?
Bottom Line: A balanced balance sheet. But you need to make it work for you.
Fudget:
Features: Fudget’s interface is simple and bare-bones. While it relies on user input, it’s designed to be clutterfree. No dazzling, special features or fancy expense-tracker functions. It has a budget-for-dummies appeal.
Bottom Line: Good for those who know their limitations.
Spendee:
Features: Spendee’s big selling point is pictures. Its core functions are similar to other budget apps, but it delivers colourful infographics to show you just how much money you don’t have. The Sharing Wallets function allows you to track shared accounts and budget lines with family members, roommates or colleagues. Meanwhile, the ability to work in multiple currencies is also handy for the business person always crossing borders.
Bottom Line: Who doesn’t like a nice pie chart? A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Maybe the same holds true for numbers.
Other top apps:
Wally Next: You can track cash, bank accounts, loans, digital wallets and gift cards all in one place. This budgeting tool includes an optional InstaScan function that automatically picks out relevant data from your receipts and plugs it in. No manual entry is required. Just take a photo of your receipt and voila.
Bill Minder: Collect and track all your bills in one place. Also features comprehensive charts and graphs, but this app will cost you $3.49.
Debt Master: Track your debt — from student loans to mortgage payments. The app is available for under $3; if it helps your debt-management cause, that price may be worth it.
Canada Post Corporation: Includes ePost, an online mailbox for e-bills. It’s a paperless world, you might as well live in it. Also features a tracking function for packages and a secure “Vault” to store valuable information.
Receipts by Wave for business: Scan your receipts, upload and connect the data to your App in seconds. Also includes handy tracking and categorization of all your receipts. Ideal for small business owners.
Bloomberg: Stay in touch with the markets, vital business news and keep track of your portfolio.
Banking Apps: Chris Buttigieg, senior manager of wealth planning strategy for BMO Wealth Management, recommends an app from one of the Big Five banks. He says working within your banking institution may make monitoring your financial picture less labour intensive and planning budgeting strategies easier. This path also guarantees you won’t violate your bank’s online user agreements. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has warned users could be breaching by providing a third-party app their user ID and passwords to access financial data.