Get Your Financial Act Together Using an App

We use apps for a variety of things, from organizing our shopping lists to making sound investment decisions. Calendars, fitness programs, yoga exercises, casino games, books and language lessons can all be accessed using an app. There are good, and there are bad ones, and some that are simply in between. So, how do you decide which are the best ones to use when it comes to managing your money? After all, managing finances isn’t the easiest thing to do for many of us. We no longer have to worry about balancing a checkbook, but paying using a card is so easy that it can sometimes run away with you. A personal finance app can connect with your bank accounts and help you track your spending. There are numerous other ways they can help, as outlined below.

Different Types of Personal Finance Software

There is a wide range of different apps to choose from, firstly. However, the most useful ones tend to fall into one of the following categories.

• Budgeting – for tracking and categorizing spending
• Savings – helps you to put aside money every month
• Taxes – makes it easier to prepare your taxes and file them using a service like the one available with Online Tax Return
• Investment – helps you to build a portfolio and make trades
• Bills – used for managing, negotiating and canceling utilities and subscriptions

What to Look For

If you think you can benefit from using a personal finance tool, you need to think about your goals. What do you want the software to do for you? Would you like the app to be simple or complex? There are a variety of other factors to consider, for example:

• Cost – there are often free and premium versions that you can use. The premium service will have additional features you can access for a fee. Try the app for free in the first place and upgrade if you find it suited your needs.
• Support – often it will be just a user guide or a FAQs page, but there are some that offer additional support from a human or a robo-adviser.
• Restrictions – there may be a limit to the number of accounts you can add, with some only allowing one type. How many accounts do you have? You’ll need software that can cover them all.
• Reports – if rows and rows of figures bamboozle you, look for a tool that breaks down your spending with the help of charts or graphs.
• Security – make sure the app is secure. At the very least it should use 128-bit encryption and be verified by VeriSign, TRUSTe or MacAfee Apps.

If you want to pick the best personal finance app, these are the things you need to consider.

This kind of app is designed to help you make better sense of your money. You will be able to see at a glance how much you have and how much you have already spent. Being able to see all your accounts and analyze your spending will mean you’re better placed to make the best financial decisions. Look for an app that suits your needs. If you’re not planning to make stock market or bitcoin investments, then having this feature will be worthless, for example.