With recessionary trends becoming more frequent globally, it is more important now than ever before to keep a strict watch over your money and ensure that it grows steadily. Most people assume that you would need a battery of accountants and financial planners to manage your investments properly and productively. However, internet connectivity and technology, not to speak of some brilliant app development have ensured that all that you would need and more to monitor your spending and investments to boost your net worth is available on your smartphone. Today, you have a very wide choice of both iOS and Android money management apps that can monitor your cash flow, debt servicing, your bank balances, and investments as well as spending so that you can make more informed financial decisions. You can access all the information you need on the go wherever you go. Some of the best apps that you should install on your smartphone to make money management easier:
Personal Capital
Arguably, one of the best money management apps available for personal use, Personal Capital lets you create and monitor your budget that can pull in data from all your bank, loan, and investment accounts. The app is popular despite competition from thousands of other money management apps simply because the interface is extremely user-friendly. The graphics are very clearly understandable on every screen you see it on, mobile phone included. The app is capable of generating graphs using a variety of parameters like an individual investment, investment account, asset class, etc. that are very easy to read and decipher making investment portfolio management very easy. In some cases, you can even request help from professional money managers. While the app’s budgeting functions may not be as robust as some people would want, the money management tools are more than adequate to get the job done efficiently. With Personal Capital, users have the advantage of being able to consider everything, including investments, and get the entire picture of their finances at one go.
Dollarbird
Many people are extremely uncertain about what the future holds for them even if they are earning well at the moment. The economic climate is extremely dynamic and jobs in many sectors often hang on a very delicate balance. The situation is often compounded by the very heavy credit card debt or student loan balances that they are typically carrying. Dollarbird advocates the idea of putting everything concerning your budget on a simple calendar so that you can get a real-time view of your income and expenses as they are planned to happen. The expense categories can be color-coded so that they are easier to understand. The principal function of the app is to let you view your projected balance so that you know how much money you can spend without being over the limit. If you see that your debts will be pulling you down for a long time, it could be a signal to approach a private debt management company like Nationaldebtrelief.com for assistance in breaking out of your debt trap by negotiating with your creditors.
Mint.com
Perhaps no discussion on online money management tools will be complete without including Mint that has been one of the most popular budgeting web resources for long. Now the same features are also available on both Android and iOS systems in the form of an app. Very much like Personal Capital, Mint is a budgeting tool that also allows you to access your investment accounts. However, in all fairness, users will get a more robust personal budgeting function than investment planning in Mint. As far as budgeting is concerned, mint is quite a heavy lifter because users can create as many budget categories as they want to and also able to categorize every transaction as it happens, even while on the go. With all your bank accounts, loan accounts, credit card accounts, and investment accounts linked on the platform, you can get a complete cash flow and budgeting picture any time you like. By using mint regularly, you can find out where you can improve your money management because Mint has the capability of analyzing your spending habit and suggesting areas of improvement. The app will also remind you of the due dates of bills and credit cards and even has a convenient built-in bill pay feature.
Acorns
Apps that round off your transaction and build up a pile of savings for you with the change are quite common, however, Acorns does almost the same function, but instead of just keeping the change aside, the app invests the money for better returns. Therefore, the app is a very good way for young adults to learn the principles of investing without putting too much at stake. In addition to letting the app round up your transactions, you can also set up instructions for recurring withdrawals to your account or even make a one-time transaction to boost your account balance. The app’s “Found Money” feature allows you to shop with specified brands and receive cash-back from the brand partners that are invested in your account.
YNAB (You Need a Budget)
Unlike many other budgeting apps, YNAB has a monthly subscription fee of $6.99; however, you get the first month’s fee waived off when you sign up. YNAB provides a very robust budgeting and money management platform. According to https://www.forbes.com, YNAB users need to first set a budgeting goal and then fund it by linking it to one or multiple personal finance accounts like a savings bank account, credit card, cash, etc. Users are also prompted to create various spending categories and allocate certain amounts to each to ensure that they do not end up overspending. The YNAB service claims that by using the app, users will be able to save more than $6,000 in the very first year.
Conclusion
Growing your net worth can easily become a mammoth task if you are careless about the way you manage your money. However, given the rising expenses, you must get all your resources together to build a nest egg to guard yourself and your family against financial insecurity. While you need to focus on earning the maximum, you also need to budget your expenses, manage debt, and invest wisely so that the net worth rises. Using money management and budgeting apps on your smartphone, you can eliminate the effort and fuss from the process.
