Four free apps to help meet your financial goals

Let’s face it. In today’s busy world it can be difficult to always stay on top of your personal finances. It can be a challenge to figure out how much money you should be saving or what kind of budget works best for you. Here are four free apps that can help you set and reach your financial goals.

Mint (Google Play and App Store - available in English only) 

Mint is a financial planning app that does more than budgeting. It allows you to link your bank accounts so you can keep track of all your funds in one spot. You can create budgets for different needs by picking categories and spending limits that work for you. Mint will track your spending and sort your transactions into the categories you set up. Another great feature is Mintsights that analyzes your spending and makes suggestions on how you can reach your financial goals. Mint can even alert you when you have a bill due soon, if you’re over-spending and even when there’s any suspicious activity in your account.

Hardbacon (Google Play and App Store - available in both French and English) 

Hardbacon has all the features to help you budget and manage your money. This app can help you create budgets and keep track of all your monthly subscriptions. It also has a useful feature that keeps a log of the places you frequently spend money at. For example, if you love getting Starbucks every morning, Hardbacon will put that on the list of places you go to the most. What’s special with Hardbacon is that you can also track your investments right within the app. A section of the app also brings you a feed of different articles that you can read to deepen your financial literacy!  

Goodbudget (Android and App Store - available in English only) 

Goodbudget is a unique budgeting app because it follows the envelope budgeting method. Instead of going to the bank every month to withdraw cash and stuff envelopes, you can mimic the process on your phone. Using ‘envelopes’ allows you to visualize how much money you have and how much money you’re spending. The envelope method is great because at the end of the month, you can see how much money you have left. You can then decide where the money can go. For example, if you have a goal to save for a car, you can put that money to the side. Another great feature is that you can sync your budgets with people in your household so you can stay on top of how much everyone is spending. It makes sure that everyone is on track to meet your combined financial goals. 

Spendee (Google Play and App Store - available in both French and English)

Spendee is another app that helps you budget your money to take you closer to your financial goals. You can link your bank and even crypto-currency accounts to the app to analyze your spending habits and create your budget categories. It will let you know whether your cash flow is positive and if you’re spending in a way that doesn’t risk you going over your budget.

Exploring the different digital tools featured in this article can help you take charge of your financial goals. If you want to learn more about managing your money, contact me, and we can set some time up.