Best Budgeting Apps to Use

By Kaitlin Hurtado on May 13, 2021

This article is brought to you by GradGuard. We protect college students and their families from the financial risks of college life, like providing a refund for tuition or replacing a stolen backpack when your school may not. When the unexpected happens, GradGuard’s tuition insurance and renters insurance can help you get back on track.

No matter where you are at in life, there’s one power you should never underestimate — the power of budgeting. Whether you already feel financially secure, or if finances remain as one of the main stressors in your life, being able to effectively budget can bring a positive impact to multiple areas to your life, whether it be your goal to go to that year-end friend vacation or finally eliminate the stress of those lingering student loans. Lucky for you, your chances of successful budgeting don’t have to rely solely on your planning abilities — there are plenty of budgeting apps out there to help you shape and follow the perfect budget for yourself, without the headache.

Keep reading for budget apps that will be worth the download.

best budgeting apps

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Truebill

If the number one factor preventing you from following a budget is your ability to track all your bills, look no further than Truebill. The app will identify all of your subscriptions to help you stop spending your hard-earned money on things you don’t need. The magazine you subscribed to in college that has been mailed out to your old apartment every month? The streaming subscription you no longer log into thanks to your roommate’s login? Truebill can help you manage what subscriptions you actually want to keep versus which ones you can cancel.

Truebill will also identify where you are overpaying and offer ways you can reduce your bills, something you may find yourself never taking the time to sit down and accomplish on your own.

If you do find yourself wanting to cancel a subscription or two, Truebill can do all the work for you.

PocketGuard 

Protect what’s in your pocket (and bank accounts) with the budgeting app PocketGuard. Do you often find yourself wondering where the majority of your paychecks go? Well, PocketGuard could help you figure out exactly where all your money is going. With the app, you can create custom categories and hashtags to track every expense you log, from monthly rent and utility bills to those daily cups of coffee you grab on your way to work. Quickly, you’ll be able to map out where those extra dollars are getting funneled to.

You can track every bill you pay for, from the amount you will be spending to the day it’s due — you will even get insight into where you can save on bills when it counts. Link all your bank accounts, credit cards, and investments in the app to monitor your money across all accounts.

Utilize PocketGuard’s Autosave feature to reach your savings goals. Do you want to work toward saving up for a big vacation, but have no idea how much you can afford to actually set aside and still have spending money for necessities? Log what amount you want to save for and the app will work out how much you can afford to save toward your goal and give you a guideline to work toward.

Mint 

What’s better than a budgeting app that can help you shape up the ultimate budget? A free one. Mint helps you reach your financial goals by allowing you to create custom budgets, track your spending (including all those pesky subscriptions), monitor your credit score, and will offer you personalized insights along the way.

The top perks of Mint include:

- Minimizing the number of apps needed for budgeting. With Mint, you can track your cash, credit cards, loans, and investments.

- Monitor your spending (and allow the app to do it for you). Mint can notify you when a subscription raises its costs, or when a bill is due.

- Personalized “Mintsights.” As you use the app and follow your budgets, Mint will offer personalized insights to help you better budget, save more, and spend smarter.

Acorns 

Do you find yourself having trouble actually committing to putting away money toward your savings? Maybe it’s because you don’t find yourself able to put away money you can’t use instantly, or maybe you simply forget to every time payday rolls around. Either way, Acorns can be the perfect app to aid you in your savings.

Start simple and small. Using Acorns, you can put aside spare change and set amounts from your paycheck to invest and save your way to your financial goals. The $3.75 you spend on your daily coffee run? Acorns will round that purchase up to the next dollar and take the $.25 and put it toward your investments or savings. While each transaction is mere spare change to you, it will quickly add up with every purchase made, no matter how small.

Even if you are new to the world of investing, Acorns is a great way to get started without overwhelming yourself too quickly.

Budgeting doesn’t have to take up all your time, effort, and energy to be effective. With these apps in mind (and on your phone), budgeting toward your goals and financial stability can less of a hassle.

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