Thank you to Kayla Clough from Ourstart for this guest post. When it comes to budgeting, the task can be daunting for many. When it comes to understanding your financial picture, having a handle of your income and outgoings is one of those necessary exercises. If the thought of pulling out a spreadsheet is not your thing or fills you with dread, these free money apps are for you. We like anything that makes our relationship with money easy!
Budgeting Apps (Mint & Wally)
One of the most important responsibilities that all people share is the need to keep track of their personal finances. While most people know that keeping track of their money and budgeting is extremely important, doing so can be confusing and challenging. This can be especially true for people with young children. Life can be extremely expensive and hectic. For young mums with kids that would like to better manage their money, using a budgeting software could be a great option. Two great budgeting and personal finance solutions available today are Mint and Wally. These applications have a variety of features that can help anyone to better organize and manage their financial lives.
All Accounts in One Place
One of the advantages of using Mint or Wally is that it will consolidate all of your financial accounts into one place. One of the problems that people can have is that they can have their accounts at different financial institutions. This can make it very hard and confusing. Particularly when trying to understand your true and full financial picture. When you use Mint or Wally, all of these accounts will be linked. It is then summarised in the application to give you a full view of your financial life.
Alert Features
Another advantage of using one of these personal finance software programs is that it will be able to provide you with alerts. When you link your accounts with one of the budgeting programs, you receive regular updates to notify you. This is handy for when payments on bills are due. Or when account funds are running low. Or if you appear to be spending above your budget. This can notify you ahead of time to make sure that you do not run into any potential problems in the near-term.
Budget Building
Mint and Wally can also both be used to help budget your personal financial life. When you first sign up for one of the applications, it will be able to go through all of your financial records and work with you to develop a personal budget. It will also be able to review all of your historical spending reports to identify where you are currently spending too much money and where you can cut back. It can also help you to develop additional savings accounts and reserves for future expenses, such as paying for a child’s education.
Long-Term Planning
While Mint and Wally can be used to help you manage your monthly budget, it can also be used to make long-term goals come to fruition. The application can help with goals for long-term saving and investing. This could include saving for a house deposit or saving up for college/university costs. All of these accounts will be able to be reviewed by the application to see how you are tracking towards your goals.
I recently reviewed Starling Bank’s goal based bank account app so I am a huge fan of goal based apps in my blog Is this the best bank account ever?
Accessibility
Most importantly, when you’re using Mint or Wally, you will also be able to access your account anywhere. Mint and Wally will both operate off of a system that is accessible online or through a mobile application. This will allow you to access your accounts when you are on the go. This is ideal for any busy parent that does not have the time to sit at home going through their financial records.
Resources:
Join The Money Circle membership
Join the next FREE Plug Your Money Leaks Challenge
Book in a complimentary call to discuss how financial coaching can help you move from financial overwhelm to confidence and control.
Join Catherine’s Facebook Page and FREE Facebook Group
My Online Courses – Investing for beginners from £1
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You can sign up to Mint’s FREE app here
You can sign up to Wally’s FREE app here