Have you ever wondered how much of your money goes to paying off bills? Or how much disposable income you can afford to spend without affecting your day-to-day living expenses?
Organising your finances can be a time consuming and mundane process. Keeping track of your spending and expenses is not a common practice amongst many households; but could there be a benefit of doing so?
Preparing a weekly or monthly budget is an activity that can be embraced by anyone, no matter their financial status! The benefits of creating a budget could result in a more balanced and financially secure lifestyle for you and your family. Fortunately, there are now a range of mobile applications designed to aid people with their personal finance and stick to living within their means.
Based on user popularity and backing from credible sources, here we look at 5 apps and assess their positive features.
TrackMySPEND
Designed by ASIC, TrackMySpend is a free and easy-to-use app, working across multiple devices (both mobile and PC) - which means more than one person can share this account!
A basic budgeting app which allows you to categorise expenses and set aside fixed spending amounts, helping you determine your purchase decisions based on ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. TrackMySpend lets you download the data to Microsoft Excel, so you can further analyse it on your own or import it to another accounting program.
Pocketbook
This is a free-to-use Australian budgeting app, which suits individuals wanting to track expenses in order to work out monthly spend. Pocketbook allows you to set limits on your expenses, so you’re always mindful of your purchasing decisions, and helps you stick to your budget! Plus, they send you a notification anytime money is drawn from your account (which is useful in case you detect any errors or duplicate charges).
You can also use Pocketbook to connect to your respective banking account, which means you can automatically record your wages coming through.
Expensify
This app helps you keep on top of your spending by giving you the ability to scan receipts. Expensify pulls data within those receipts, such as the date, time and amount, and puts it into a CSV file ready for your review (or your accountant).
This free app is perfect for those who are used to keeping their receipts.
Splitwise
This app was designed for people who need to split expenses – think about couples, flatmates, or even colleagues for business expenses. Splitwise tracks the total amount owed by each individual, and can send notification reminders via email when expenses (such as rent or utilities) are due, which is a great way to avoid forgetting to pay someone back!
HomeBudget with Sync
This is the only paid app on our list – but we think it’s worth a mention!
HomeBudget with Sync is a great option for tracking family/multiple expenses on a single platform. You’ll need to manually enter information regarding your expenses, ensuring that you are in control when it comes to providing the data. One of the biggest advantages of this app is the ability to sync your budget so it is accessible between several devices – meaning everyone is working off the same information!
Can Debt Fix Help You With Your Finances?
If you feel like you’re being held down by debt, there are a lot of ways we can make your situation become better. Read our page on how to get out of debt to see if you can apply any of these, or contact us directly for a free, confidential consultation.
