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Are you using a budget to manage your money?

• The best budgeting app for 2020. Need to get your spending on track but not sure where to start? Check out the best budgeting apps to find the right one for you.
• The app analyzes spending habits, helps users create a budget and identifies where savings may be found. 'Albert is a great go-to app to help you budget, track your spending and save,' says Trina.

If you said “no,” you’re not alone — 33% of Americans spend and pay bills each month without a firm budget plan in place.

Family budgeting apps 1. You Need A Budget (YNAB) The You Need a Budget, a.k.a. YNAB ('why-nab'), app has often been touted as a lifesaver for people struggling with debt or just looking to make sense of their financial picture. It’s not much more than a series of spreadsheets detailing your bank accounts and expenses, but the fact that they.

Let’s face it, making a budget and figuring out what you’re spending or making each month may not be your idea of a good time. Fortunately, managing your money is now easier than ever thanks to the help of budgeting apps. If you’re one of the 70% of Americans that use mobile banking to keep track of your checking and savings accounts, then adding a budget app into the mix is a no-brainer.

But which budgeting apps are worth your time (and, in some cases, money)? You’re in luck. We’ve rounded up the seven best budget apps to try if you want to master your budget in 2020.

1. Mint

Who it’s good for: Budgeting beginners

Cost: Free

Mint is one of the most popular budgeting apps around, and for good reason. It’s a great, comprehensive tool for learning the basics of budgeting when you’re new to managing money.

Here’s how it works:

You sync Mint to your bank accounts and/or credit card accounts. Then, Mint tracks and records your expenses, adding them to different spending categories based on how you budget.

It’s really that simple. And if you’re still learning the ropes of money management, simple may be better. Becky Beach, money-saving expert and founder of personal finance blog Mom Beach is a devoted Mint user and says it’s great for the beginner who feels overwhelmed with budgeting.

“It has a well-designed user interface that is simple to understand,” Beach says. “I’ve been able to track where my money is going thanks to Mint, while before, I was confused about why I had so little money all the time.”

In a nutshell, Mint is suited for people who want a streamlined budget app that can let them see at a glance how much they’re spending in real time. You can set alerts to let you know when you’re approaching a spending threshold and set savings goals. Mint adds to your financial picture by offering free credit scores and credit monitoring. That’s helpful if you’re hoping to build up your credit rating so you can qualify for the best credit cards.

2. YNAB (You Need a Budget)

Who it’s good for: Fans of zero-based budgeting

Cost: 34-day free trial, then $11.99/month or $84/year

You Need a Budget – YNAB for short – is a good budget app if you prefer a zero-based budget method. This type of budget system means assigning every dollar in your budget a job so that you’re left with zero money left over.

For example, when setting up YNAB, you’d set your budgeting goals, then start adding money into different categories. You might allocate a set amount to rent and utilities, earmark money for dining out and pencil in amounts to add to a savings or money market account for emergencies.

This budget app is good if you’re focused on making every dollar count each month. According to the YNAB site, its users save an average of $600 in the first two months and $6,000 in the first year. That’s pretty tempting if you’ve been struggling with saving money regularly and you want to get a tighter grip on your cash flow.

3. Clarity Money

Who it’s good for: People who want to plug budget leaks

Cost: Free to use, but a fee applies for bill negotiation

Clarity Money is a budget app that’s backed by Marcus by Goldman Sachs, which also happens to offer one of the best savings account options online. In fact, you can open a Marcus high-yield online savings account through the Clarity Money app.

This app is designed for people who want to do two things: track spending and cancel unwanted or unnecessary expenses. Similar to Mint, you sync Clarity Money with your bank and credit card accounts and the app records your spending. You can also leverage Clarity Money’s bill negotiation service to cut out money-wasting stream services.

The app itself is free to use, although Clarity Money does charge a commission fee to find and cancel unwanted subscriptions. But having an app do the work for you could be worth the amount of time (and headaches) you stand to save.

4. Personal Capital

Who it’s good for: People who want to do more than just manage their budget

Cost: Free for budgeting tools; management fee applies to investment advisory services

Personal Capital is designed for more advanced budgeters who want to create a comprehensive financial picture. With this budget app, you can:

• Track your expenses monthly
• View your upcoming bills
• Monitor your cash flow
• Track your debt payoff progress for auto loans, personal loans, student loans and other debts
• Plan your emergency fund savings goals
• Create a retirement savings strategy and/or track your retirement account and investment accounts
• Calculate your net worth

Personal Capital’s financial dashboard is free to access and use, which is great if you want a snapshot of how your income, spending, savings and debt balances track from month to month. Once you start building up some wealth, you might also take advantage of Personal Capital’s investment management tools. A separate fee applies for advisory services, based on the dollar amount of assets you have managed with Personal Capital.

5. Mvelopes

Who it’s good for: Budgeters who like the cash envelope system

Cost: Free trial for 30 days, then $6/month or $55/year

The cash envelope system involves divvying up cash into envelopes that represent different budget categories. The Mvelopes budget app takes that same strategy and applies it to spenders who rely on debit and credit cards.

You sync your bank, credit card and other financial accounts to the app. Then you create virtual envelopes for each of your budget categories. You can then fund envelopes, assign transactions to different envelopes, move money between envelopes and round up any money that hasn’t been spent — similar to how you’d budget if you were using cash instead.

Aside from making it easy to adapt a cash envelope budget system to a debit or credit card lifestyle, Mvelopes can help you brush up on the finer points of budgeting. The Mvelopes website includes a huge library of free educational resources, including videos and articles on how to budget and manage money so you can use the app to its full potential.

6. PocketGuard

Who it’s good for: Budgeters who want to keep it simple

Cost: Free for basic PocketGuard; $3.99/month or $34.99/year for PocketGuard Plus

PocketGuard is designed for people who want a streamlined way to track spending, make a budget and manage their finances. You can link your credit cards, checking accounts, savings accounts, personal loans, investments — you name it.

The app updates your spending transactions automatically so you see exactly where your money goes. Another nice feature: PocketGuard tells you how much money in your budget is safe to spend after you’ve paid the bills and added a little something to savings. That can help you avoid overdrafting your account and racking up pricey overdraft fees, which collectively cost consumers over $34 billion annually.

Even better, this budget app analyzes your spending and helps you find other ways to save. From there, you can work on finding the best savings account or CD option to hold your extra cash.

7. Goodbudget

Who it’s for: Couples who want to budget together

Cost: Free for the basic version, $6/month for Goodbudget Plus

Goodbudget is another budget app that utilizes the envelope method to help you track your expenses each month. The app can sync with bank and credit card accounts across multiple devices, which is what makes it a good option for couples who are trying to stay on top of their household budget as a team.

Goodbudget uses a values-based budgeting approach. You set aside money to meet your needs first, then assign dollar amounts based on what’s most important to you. For example, that might be saving money to buy a home if you’re already checking out mortgage rates. Or making a bigger dent in your auto loans or other debts.

This is a great budget app to try if you want no surprises when it comes to your money each month. You decide how many envelopes you need and how to fill them. As money goes out again, you can have the peace of mind of knowing your most important expenses are covered.

Tips for budgeting successfully

Using a budget app makes managing your money simpler and less stressful. But there are a few more things you can do to make sure your budgeting efforts pay off. Give these tips a try to get the most bang for your budgeting buck:

1. Take advantage of the goal-setting tools included in a budget app.

This can help with tracking your progress and staying motivated to stick with your big (or small) money goals.

2. Shop around for the best credit cards to use to earn rewards on spending.

For example, if you’re interested in earning cash back, then you might consider the Capital One Savor Rewards credit card or the Citi Double Cash Card.

For travel miles and points, there’s the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card or the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card.

3. Remember to budget for irregular expenses.

This includes things like insurance premiums or other expenses you pay biannually or annually. Consider setting aside money from every paycheck for those expenses, so you’re not scrambling to come up with the cash when those bills are due.

4. Schedule a monthly budget date to review your spending and income.

Go over each spending category to see what’s increased or decreased from the previous month and do the same with your income.

5. Remember to include saving in your budget.

Last but not least, add in a line item for emergency savings, a down payment fund or any other goal on your list when planning your budget. Make sure you’re keeping your money in the right place. A CD or money market account, for example, might work best for long-term goals, while a high-yield savings account could be better for saving in the short-term.
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Budgeting is a discipline that’s not often met with excitement. Many assume that budgeting is something reserved for companies or, say, freelance workers. However, personal budget software is just as important as corporate one — it’s a fundamental understanding of where money is coming and going.

You may consider it to be boring, tiring, time-consuming, or difficult, but managing your finances well can help you achieve goals and stave off the stress of a rainy day. Thankfully, there are tools and apps on Mac which can help you get on top of budgeting, no matter how experienced you are.

Why Should I Use Budget Tracking Software?

If you haven’t done a budget before, you should start now. You never know when you might need a particular sum of money to solve an issue, meet a goal, or take advantage of a sudden opportunity.

Budget programs help you reduce the stress and uncertainty that comes with not knowing where you stand financially. If you don’t have a home budget software, you might be tracking towards a situation where you run out of money, without even knowing it. If you do have a budget, then you’ll have a documented plan of action to improve your situation.

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Importantly, you don’t need any qualifications to do a budget, nor do you need to be good with numbers. Take advantage of the best budget software for Mac to help you take control of your finances without the hassle. Budgeting tools come in many shapes and sizes, so selecting the right one for you depends on personal preference and previous experience with managing money.

Handy tips for budgeting tools

If you’re ready to start your budget, it’s best to consider a strategic approach to ensure maximum utility. Too often, budgets sit collecting dust after being created, and sometimes the act of creating a budget could feel like enough to satisfy financial concerns — it’s not. Here are some tips for making the most out of your budget.

First of all, definitely use an app to help you manage a budget. App developers invest a lot of time and money into figuring out how their software can make your life easier and better, so rather than trying to understand all the nuances for yourself, let a dedicated app do it for you. There’s even some free budget software around, so you have very few excuses not to try!

If you run a business (or freelance on a side), a little bit of work each week means end of year taxes are a breeze. It’s not about doing a marathon of work in a few days, but making a habit to consistently do a little bit here and there. Try aiming for 10 minutes every few days. The best tax preparation software will also have reminders and notifications to help you achieve this goal.

It might sound contradictory, but budgeting isn’t always about getting the numbers 100% accurate. When it comes to tax preparation software — sure. But budgeting is mostly about understanding where your money is being spent and then using that information to make more informed decisions going forward. Therefore, make sure you categorize your transactions so that it’s easier to spot those minutiae differences and trends. The best finance apps should do this for you automatically.

In summary, you want to ensure you take advantage of the online budgeting tools available to you, aim to update your records frequently, and focus on categorization over accuracy.

Features of good personal budget software

The best personal budget software for Mac is easier to pin down when you know exactly what you’re looking for. Not all apps are the same — they vary by function and pricing. Generally speaking, there are a few key features you want to see in your budget software for Mac:

• It should be simple and easy to add new records or transactions

• Importing bank and credit card statements should be possible

• Automatically synchronizing statements will take the edge off your manual inputting

• Useful dashboards or visuals will help you understand your situation at a glance

• You should be able to categorize your transactions into groups

Out of those five key points, the ability to import is often the most essential. Importing saves you the hassle of adding each transaction into the money management software line-by-line, which adds up to a lot of time. It’s hard enough already to schedule frequent updates to your budget, so if you can remove the largest friction point of manual entry, then you’re in a good place.

The best budget software for Mac comparison

When it comes to programs to help budget money, there are countless options. It’s easy to get lost diving deep into each budget software review, but here are some of the best available, ranging from beautifully basic to powerfully advanced.

You’ve probably heard of Quicken, given that the name has been around since the early 80s. Even then, it was known as one of the best tax software companies around. That says something about the strong product, which carries all of the basic functions you’ll need to manage your budget well.

Right away though, you might notice that the interface has become somewhat dated in comparison to the newer contenders out there. But one of Quicken’s praised features is the ability to download bank statements and have the records automatically categorized, which can drastically reduce the time it takes to input your information, so you can spend more time making sense of it. Sadly, the Mac version is somewhat limited when it comes to advanced features, unless you splash out for the Home and Business edition.

MoneyDance is very similar to Quicken in terms of its basic features, including the ability to create a budget with notifications for bills and invoices. It also allows you to make your own charts and graphs to monitor spending habits over time, which can be seen on the homepage for a quick glance of your activity. Out-of-the-box integrations with online banking services also make it easy to send payments.

Unlike Quicken, Moneydance has some more advanced features including an investment monitor, which tracks your investments and their fluctuations — a useful addition, although best for the intermediate to advanced user. The app also has a developer API system in place to allow extended functions, mostly good for power users. Importantly, security is not an issue, as Moneydance utilizes end-to-end encryption for your data to give you that extra peace of mind.

You Need A Budget, also known as YNAB, is budget tracking software that runs on both Windows and Mac via web — saving automatically to the cloud, which is a bonus for multi-platform users. It also features native apps for iOS and Android, so you can literally tackle your budget from anywhere.

The app itself follows a simple design language, which is perfect for beginners, but if you find yourself needing help you can sign up for a personal instructor. YNAB doesn’t let you slack at all, and if you start to stray from your budget, the app will raise a red flag through it’s built-in Accountability Partner.

Although YNAB doesn’t support the ability to download and automatically categorize records from bank statements, it could be argued that entering them manually helps the user pay more attention to where their spending is going. Still, it’s a more time-consuming process that might be problematic for users processing hundreds or more records each month.

MoneyWiz stays true to its name — a comprehensive budget software and investment tracker that’s packed full with over 400 useful features. View your financial situation quickly by browsing accounts, groups, or searching for individual records. Speaking of records, you can enter them manually or have them automatically sync with leading banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and financial services for an accurate real-time understanding of your accounts.

With all of this data in hand, MoneyWiz can prepare and export over 50 reports to help you gain deeper insights into your finances. Your data could be accessed from its cloud-based app or straight from the native software for Mac. All in all, MoneyWiz is extremely powerful: accessible for beginners and interesting for the most advanced users.

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Receipts is yet another money management software for Mac, and is specifically well-known for its clever handling of invoicing. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, Receipts automatically reads and translates important information about your bills, such as amount, date, currency, and more (even if the text is in another language).

Besides, Receipts can issue payments for invoices directly using third-party providers, such as iFinance and BankX. The OCR technology alone makes it a strong contender against other more simple online budgeting tools. Not least, Mac users will be glad to see how this application was designed to look and feel like a macOS product. Using a familiar user interface could make life a little easier after all.

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Between the five options above, you have a strong starting point for your budgeting tools depending on your experience. Remember that importing is one of the key features to look for in budget programs. Still, in order to find the best fit you might need to try a couple of different options.

Thankfully, both MoneyWiz and Receipts have a free 7-day trial that you can take advantage of by heading over to Setapp, an app subscription service for Mac that gives you access to over 150 macOS apps, including all the necessary budget tools. Getting MoneyWiz and Receipts at once? You won’t be disappointed.

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Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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