The popular budgeting app Mint is shutting down, leaving about 3.6 million customers in search of another way to track their spending.
Intuit, the company that owns Mint, is encouraging users to migrate to Credit Karma, a credit-focused app that Intuit owns. But so far, Credit Karma doesn’t offer the budget-setting tools that Mint provided, and it’s unclear what features will be added in the future. Here’s a look at other budget apps you can download through the Apple App Store or Google Play. All prices listed are as of November 2023.
1. Best Overall: You Need a Budget
You Need a Budget is a strong choice if you want to use a detailed and hands-on budgeting app to monitor expenses. By helping you prioritize where you spend your money, YNAB offers a holistic approach to monitoring your spending habits. YNAB provides four rules for users to follow.
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The first is based on what’s known as the zero-based budgeting method, in which you assign every dollar in your bank account to a specific expense. If an emergency arises, the app helps you make changes to your budget to accommodate any unexpected expenses. The second rule is to plan for large, infrequent expenses (say, for home repairs or annual insurance premiums) by setting aside money for them each month, while the third rule encourages you to make adjustments if you run out of money in one of your budgeting categories by moving money to it from a different category. YNAB’s fourth rule is to “age your money” — in other words, once you get used to budgeting and spending less, you can pay for your current monthly bills with money you saved from the previous month rather than from your most recent paycheck. In addition to providing budgeting advice, YNAB also offers live money-management workshops online.
Price: Free trial for 34 days, then $14.99 a month or $99 if you pay annually.
2. Best for Beginners: Simplifi and Tiller
If you’re new to using a budgeting app, you can ease in with one of these choices.
Quicken’s Simplififeatures easy-to-navigate menus and charts and it creates a personalized spending plan you can use to monitor your income and expenses. Your spending plan adjusts as your expenses change, and the app’s features let you easily tweak your budget. In addition to tracking your spending, Simplifi helps you plan for the future, projecting your cash flow based on upcoming bills so you can change your spending accordingly.
Price: $3.99 monthly.
Tiller (www.tillerhq.com) may be the best app for you if you like using spreadsheets to balance your budget. After you link your financial accounts to Tiller, you can use one of its templates to create a customized budget spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, and the sheets automatically draw in updated information about your spending and balances from the linked accounts. You can also have Tiller send you daily email updates about your account balances.
Price: Free for 30 days, then $79 annually.
3. Best App for Investors: Empower
Jason Gerber, a certified financial planner and managing partner for Prime Capital Investment Advisors, recommends Empower (formerly known as Personal Capital) because it allows you to monitor both your spending and your investment portfolios.
For example, if you have investment accounts with Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley, you can review both of your portfolios, including a breakdown of holdings and their allocations, on a dashboard on the Empower app. You can also link other types of accounts, such as 529 college savings plans, health savings accounts and your home mortgage.
Price: Free.
4. Best for Debt Management: PocketGuard
If you subscribe to a PocketGuard Plus membership, you can set up a debt-payoff plan that is integrated into your budget. You enter details such as the minimum payment and annual percentage rate on your debts, and PocketGuard allocates adequate money to put toward the debt and compiles a payment schedule. Members of the Plus plan can also create unlimited budgets and savings goals.
The free Basic plan lets you create a budget and track your bills, spending and income.
Price: Free for the Basic plan. The Plus plan is $7.99 monthly, $34.99 annually or $79.99 for a lifetime membership.
5. Best App for Couples: Honeydue
After you download the Honeydue app, you can invite your partner via email or text message to download it, too. Once you both have the app, you can monitor your budgets and track your spending habits for joint accounts. (Your partner won’t be able to see information about your individual accounts and vice versa.) You can also coordinate bill payments and discuss how to manage your budget in the app’s chat section.
Price: Free.
6. Best for You and Your Financial Adviser: Monarch
While some budgeting apps help you stay on track with your partner, Monarch lets you team up with your financial adviser. As with other budgeting apps, once you connect your accounts to Monarch, you can track your spending. However, Monarch also allows you to securely share your account information with your adviser so you can collaborate on your savings and investment goals. You can also share the app with your partner or someone else from your household, who will have his or her own login.
Once you create an account with Monarch, you can add your financial adviser to your account at no extra cost. Your adviser can securely log in to his or her separate account and won’t be able to see your personal identifying information, such as your bank account number.
Price: Free for seven days, then $14.99 monthly or $99.99 annually.
Gerber notes that even though budgeting apps can be helpful, you should try to adopt a hands-on approach to managing your budget, too. Take time every week to review your finances with your partner or on your own. And even if you use an app, he adds, you should consider meeting with a financial adviser to discuss the best way to meet your financial goals.
Security concerns
All of the apps listed here assure users that data obtained from their bank accounts is password-protected and will not be shared with third-party vendors. They also feature two-factor authentication to protect your financial information.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make.
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Topics
Fidelity InvestmentsMorgan Stanley
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
I am an expert and enthusiast-based assistant. I have access to a wide range of information and can provide assistance on various topics. I can help you find answers to your questions and provide insights based on my knowledge and the information available to me.
Regarding the concepts mentioned in this article, let's discuss each one in detail:
1. Budgeting App Mint Shutting Down
The popular budgeting app Mint is indeed shutting down, leaving approximately 3.6 million customers in search of an alternative way to track their spending . Intuit, the company that owns Mint, is encouraging users to migrate to Credit Karma, another app owned by Intuit. However, it's important to note that Credit Karma does not currently offer the same budget-setting tools that Mint provided.
2. You Need a Budget (YNAB)
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is considered the best overall budgeting app. It offers a detailed and hands-on approach to monitoring expenses and helps users prioritize where they spend their money YNAB provides four rules for users to follow:
- Zero-based budgeting method: Assign every dollar in your bank account to a specific expense.
- Plan for large, infrequent expenses: Set aside money each month for expenses like home repairs or annual insurance premiums.
- Make adjustments: If you run out of money in one budgeting category, move money from a different category.
- Age your money: Pay for current monthly bills with money saved from the previous month.
In addition to budgeting advice, YNAB also offers live money-management workshops online. The app offers a free trial for 34 days, after which it costs $14.99 per month or $99 if paid annually .
3. Simplifi and Tiller
For beginners, two budgeting apps to consider are Simplifi and Tiller. Simplifi, offered by Quicken, features easy-to-navigate menus and charts and creates a personalized spending plan based on your income and expenses It also helps you plan for the future by projecting your cash flow based on upcoming bills. Simplifi costs $3.99 per month.
Tiller, on the other hand, is a budgeting app that allows you to create a customized budget spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. It automatically updates your spending and balances from linked accounts and can send you daily email updates about your account balances. Tiller offers a free trial for 30 days, after which it costs $79 annually.
4. Empower (formerly Personal Capital)
Empower is recommended as the best app for investors. It allows you to monitor both your spending and your investment portfolios. You can review and track multiple investment accounts, including a breakdown of holdings and allocations, on the Empower app. It also allows you to link other types of accounts, such as college savings plans and health savings accounts. Empower is free to use.
5. PocketGuard
PocketGuard is considered the best app for debt management. With a PocketGuard Plus membership, you can set up a debt-payoff plan integrated into your budget. The app allocates money toward your debts and creates a payment schedule based on details such as minimum payments and annual percentage rates. PocketGuard also allows you to create unlimited budgets and savings goals. The basic plan is free, while the Plus plan costs $7.99 per month, $34.99 annually, or $79.99 for a lifetime membership .
6. Honeydue
Honeydue is recommended as the best app for couples. It allows you and your partner to monitor budgets and track spending habits for joint accounts. You can also coordinate bill payments and discuss budget management in the app's chat section. Honeydue is free to use.
7. Monarch
Monarch is a budgeting app that allows you to team up with your financial adviser. It allows you to securely share your account information with your adviser, collaborate on savings and investment goals, and track your spending. Monarch also offers the option to share the app with your partner or someone else from your household. It offers a free trial for seven days, after which it costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually.
It's worth noting that while budgeting apps can be helpful, it's also important to adopt a hands-on approach to managing your budget. Regularly reviewing your finances and considering meeting with a financial adviser can further enhance your financial goals.
Please let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with!
