Posted on 10/11/2016
We all want to save money, but let’s face it, budgeting is tough. All the number crunching, spreadsheets and discipline required to track and limit your spending means that most budgets end up in the trash after just a few weeks.
But in the age where technology has found an answer to most things, there are now simpler ways to set-up and manage a budget. Here are five of the best free mobile phone budgeting apps that enable you to set-up a budget in a few clicks and easily track and limit your spending over time.
the age where technology has found an answer to most things, there are now simpler ways to set-up and manage a budget. Here are five of the best free mobile phone budgeting apps that enable you to set-up a budget in a few clicks and easily track and limit your spending over time.
Dollarbird
Free
Dollarbird creates a calendar for you to track your past and future income and expenses. The colour-coded calendar allows you to view upcoming bills, set reminders or lock in when your next paycheck will be coming in.
By logging past and present expenses Dollarbird is able to give you a current balance and a monthly report where you can view your finances on multiple graphs. Being able to see these at a glance, makes it great for those living paycheck-to-paycheck or living by a strict budget.
Wally
Free
Wally houses all your financial details in one easy to view platform. The budgeting app allows you to set savings targets while defining each of your expenses with different categories and coloured icons.
Wally aims to cut the time required for budgeting through the introduction of a smart scan feature which allows you to pull the data from a scanned receipt. As a bonus, Wally works with global currency, so you can continue to use it while travelling.
Trackmyspend
Free
Trackmyspend is an app by Moneysmart, a website guide created by independent government agency, ASIC. As the name suggests it tracks where and when you are spending your money, as opposed to full budgeting functionality.
The app allows you to record and categorise your expenses while showing how much of your spending limit remains. It even lets you tag expenses as ‘needs’ or ‘wants’ to help identify where savings can be made.
Mvelopes
Free
Mvelopes replicates envelope budgeting from yesteryear, except it’s digital and in your pocket. You allocate a certain amount of money to each envelope, or in this case category with the idea that when there is no money left, you cease spending or take it from another category.
Mvelopes does this through the mobile app and can connect to your accounts to retrieve income and expenses or it can be entered manually. The free version allows you to have twenty-five envelopes and connect to four different financial institutions.
Pocket Expense
Free
Pocket Expense, featuring a simple and attractive interface, brings all your financial accounts together to help you achieve your savings goals.
In the palm of your hand, sort your transactions, track your bills, set reminders for upcoming bills, and lock in your budget.
The app helps you stay in control of your spending with charts and statistics providing a snapshot of your finances.