5 Finance Apps to Help You Budget After the Holidays

Post-holidays is the best time to reevaluate your budget, spending and financial well-being. The new year brings new beginnings, and our finances could usually benefit from a refocus to get back on track. Here are a few apps available for your smartphone that can make the process a bit easier.

Acorns is a great way to build up some savings. It rounds up the purchases you make to the nearest dollar and saves the difference. With as little as five dollars you’re able to invest and start building a little nest egg from there. Plus, there are platforms to help you save for retirement or college. They also have educational materials to help you learn more about personal financing, too.

Mint has been a go-to budgeting app for quite some time. The app automatically updates and categorizes your transactions to create a real-time picture of your spending. You can add personalized categories, track bills, split ATM transactions into what you bought, and set budgets. Mint will also send you alerts when you’re getting close to reaching your budget. And, you can get a free credit score so that you can see your financial picture as a whole.

YNAB or You Need A Budget, is said to be a great budgeting tool. It comes at a bit of a price, at $83.99 a year or $6.99 a month, but you do receive an initial 34-day free trial.  YNAB imports your transactions from your current bank accounts. From there you can categorize your funds into an envelope-based system, helping you keep track of spending and giving you a platform to see your financial life in one spot.

PocketGuard is a great app to help you know how much money you have for spending. It shows you how much money is available to spend between paychecks, after accounting for bills and savings contributions. It also gives you the option to go more in-depth on your spending and track where your extra cash is going.

Spendee is a well-received app that allows you to connect bank accounts as well as cryptocurrencies and e-wallets, and inputs your cash expenses manually to give you a full view of how your financial life stands each month. Spendee gives you updates, sets budgets and lets you see how much you’re able to spend per day without going over budget. There is also a shared-wallet option for couples and families. This lets you include information from every user’s connected accounts and provides you with an overall view to see how you can meet your financial goals as a team. Save for significant expenses, like a vacation or tuition costs. All your financial summary information is provided in graphics and charts, making things easy to read and helping you visualize exactly where you are financially.

When our finances are in the right place, it seems the rest of life is manageable. Knowing that we are covered financially and prepared for a rainy day is such a great feeling. Budgeting can be challenging and confusing, but with a few useful apps and some self-control, the process can be made a lot easier.