In this day and age no matter what your age is budgeting has become an integral part of life. Whether it is an adult who has a daily income or a college student surviving on mere pocket money, keeping a check on your finances is extremely necessary.
How many times do you check your wallet and you cannot remember where and how you spent your money?
There are so many expenses that we consider minimal and therefore miss out. This is the reason that the calculation of our budget in our brain is way different than what it is. You can technically make the same error in remembering your income but an expense is more likely to be forgotten.
It may sound surprising but many people do not even know what budgeting is let alone how it’s done.
A budget is a plan that consists of an estimate of your cash flow. It is an accounting system that keeps a record of your revenues and expenses. If done correctly, it ensures that an individual is always aware of their spending, earnings, and savings. This gives you an idea of how much money you have left allowing you to make educated decisions about your future spending. Budgeting is important because it allows you to plan your future, something you cannot do when you do not know your wallet.
A budget is a plan that consists of an estimate of your cash flow
The most hassle-free way to keep a track of your money is to download a budgeting app. Multiple exciting features make budgeting interesting. Download one of the applications and see how your spending habits are revolutionized. Constant reminders, accessible figures, and creative charts instill financial efficiency in you.
Below are some budgeting applications for budget management.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
YNAB gives you easy access to your budget and keeps it updated at all times. While it has a lot of advantages and helps you manage your finances effectively, it comes at a cost. Since a lot of budgeting apps exist in the free market, YNAB might be considered comparatively undesirable.
Cons aside YNAB delivers impeccable customer service and is an app that does not only help you manage finances but also teaches you how to do that productively. There are personal support offers that you can access through emails or weekly free workshops. YNAB has multiple features that set it apart. You have the option to ‘Budget Together’ with a partner. You and your partner will have access to all the information in real-time. This is proven effective because you often need someone watching over your expenses to avoid unnecessary spending. You can set your budgets and it will constantly update you with how much you have spent. This helps the user see whether he has gone over or is under the budget before it is too late.
‘Goal Tracking’ now enables users to set personal targets for them to achieve. The app shows you ways to reach your goals, while constantly motivating you through the process. For example, you need to save up for a new car. You can set your goal and then keep funding it from your budget as per your discretion.
Regardless of whether you are a mathematician, everyone appreciates a good chart. YNAB produces amazing visuals of the data through various charts and graphs making budgeting slightly less monotonous than always presumed. One of the most common user fears is security.
YNAB promises high-level security through data encryption. Download it yourself and let the experience dawn upon you. The app has a free trial for 34 days. It recognizes that the users might need a bit of time to understand the app, get a hang of budgeting itself so much so that they become willing to pay for it.
Download YNAB – Google Playstore and Apple Store
Good Budget
Good Budget is a user-friendly app that without any hassle gets you down to business. There are no signup or payment complications. Good Budget helps you categorize your budgets into separate envelopes like groceries, gas, and outings. It gets difficult for the earning member of the family to keep a track of all household expenses. There are times when you become so stringent that you miss out on any family entertainment because of expenses you deem important. Other times you end up overspending on entertainment so much so that there isn’t enough money left for necessary expenses.
Good Budget allows you to avoid this and organize yourself beforehand. You can enter the income that you earn. After you have budgeted your income it also tells you how much you have left available. The categories of budget are split into two sections: Monthly Envelopes and Annual/Irregular Envelopes. There are options to enter multiple earnings which facilitates if your household has more than one source of income. The app does not have a lot of features but delivers what it offers in the simplest way possible. This application can be opened up on multiple devices thus facilitating a shared budget system. However, it does not sync with your bank therefore all details need to be manually added.
Download Good Budget – Google Playstore and Apple Store
Fudget
Fudget has made budgeting easier than you could have ever imagined. It does not require any login credentials. Once installed, the application is ready to be used. As soon as you open the app you are prompted with an offer to avail customer service that walks you through the app. It explains how you can create different budget categorize and swiping right on that tab ‘rename’, or ‘delete’ them. On each budget tab, you can then enter your income and expenses for that category. For all incomes and expenses, you can swipe the tab right to choose options like ‘paid’, ‘star’, or ‘delete’. On the right top corner, you can tap on options to access more features. While most of them are locked you can see the chart version of all your data. The chart will create a pie chart of all your expenses giving you a visual of the proportion of your spending.
A premium feature by the name ‘Fudget Pro’ is also offered. You can then avail several additional features like making quick calculations, sorting your times by date, themes, and removal of ads.
Download Fudget – Google Playstore and Apple Store
Budgetina
As described by the app itself, Budgetina is not an app but ‘a way of life’. A sign-up is required once you install the application which you then need to verify through the email you enter. Once logged in Budgetina asks you multiple questions to collect data about your budgets. There is an ‘i’ button that will also give you possible explanations on that question.
The first few questions just to give you an idea will be;
What is your net paycheck every month?
What is your earned income from interest every month?
Any other monthly income? Freelance work?
How much do you spend on rent every month?
While the questions are being answered, a visual bar will be displayed on the top showing the proportion of your expenses and income. After all the questions have been answered a yearly statistical representation is displayed. Here you can tap on individual months to get further information about it. It will tell you how much you earned, and how much you have remaining. There is an additional feature where you can add particular transactions. It will then give you options to specify if it is a recurring transaction, its month, category, and amount.
There is also a debt calculator that will calculate total interest paid and months to pay off after you input the loan amount, annual interest rate, and monthly payments.
Download Budgetina – Apple Store
Budgeting app+
This app has a very basic usage process requiring no fees or login hassles. Once the app is opened you are given the option to add transactions. Here you enter the amount. Then you need to specify the category in which this amount lies. The expense category has options between miscellaneous, clothes, healthcare, housing, entertainment, lifestyle, vacation, loan, food, and transport. The income category has options between income, salary, investments, interest, child benefit, and savings. Once you have manually entered all transactions an overview is provided by the bank. Here, you can see your income, expenses, and balance at a glance. Right below this, there is a tab that mentions the month of these transactions. You will be able to input transactions for multiple months and view them by swiping left and right on the date tab.
Download Fudget – Apple Store
Wrapping up
Budgeting will make your limited finances seem more than sufficient. It will help you prioritize and set personal targets as to how much you can spend on items. For example, if you are a low-income earner looking for low-budget household items like air conditioners under $300, through proper planning and budgeting, this can be achieved. Often household harmony is dependent on the financial situation. Once you are free of the stress and complications that a fixed income brings you will be able to lead a more happy and healthy life. Downloading any one of these apps will not only keep a track of your existing income but also motivate you to earn more to fulfill the needs that you cannot afford at the moment.
