As more and more of us embrace the technological with a variety of hand-held devices, the ease of creating a portable budget is increasing. For the diligent budgeter gone is the need to store paper receipts to be sifted through when calculating your expenditures. In its place is an assortment of mobile applications that can shortcut many of the highly manual steps that take so much time and result in many people just not bothering.
If you’re looking to jump on the budget bandwagon we’ve outlined the basics of three different apps to get you started:
Budgee If you’re new to apps (or budgeting) Budgee is a great place to start. It’s budgeting made simple and the software is uncomplicated and intuitive. Create new categories, budgets and keep track as you go. You can also export your budget data to email with Budgee.
The down-side: Because Budgee is so simple there are no functions to track savings or reminders – but for those who only need the basics it can be an ideal app option.
Cost: Free. Only available for Apple device users at this time .
Best Budget The free version of this app is easy to use and allows you to create multiple flexible budgets. You can set both income and expenses to be recurring and check into each transaction and budgets’ history. There is an option to create reminders to help you manage payments and reports that can be exported in a variety of formats.
The down-side: Using the free version means that there are ads throughout the app, although this doesn’t seem to hinder the ability to use it.
Cost: Free or $0.99 to buy the more powerful, ad-free version. Available for apple devices only.
Mint.com Probably the best-known (and award winning) budgeting app, Mint is now ready for Canada. With Mint you can see your financial accounts (they support all major Canadian banks), personalize savings and set different budgets. Mint will automatically update your information, categorize transactions for you and you can set up email alerts to help you avoid fees and flag any overspending.
Cost: Free. Available online or on mobile devices.
The down-side: The app can take quite a lot of time to set up and if you intend to use it fully some people are hesitant to provide all their personal banking information, although Mint assures its users it is secure and uses the same encryption and physical security as banks.
If you feel like your budget normally hovers over your shoulder, take control (even on the move). A functioning budget is a key part of healthy finances and can do wonders for a good night sleep!
Not sure what a licensed Trustee can do to help you? Contact us for a free, no-commitment consultation to review your options.
