Managing your personal finance might sometimes be difficult especially when you have different income streams and multiple expenditure outlets. You definitely need a tool to help with all the crazy detailing and recording it requires.
That’s where technology comes in.
In this article, I have compiled the 10 best mobile applications that can take the burden of managing your money off your shoulders. Using them will help you monitor your purchases, revenue, budgeting, debt repayment, and even develop an effective savings lifestyle.
How does a money management app work?
They simply help users to track and control their financials including all inflows and outflows effectively on an app.
That means your personal budgeting plan, savings and investment schedule, and spending pattern will all be closely monitored from one central platform alongside all the various income streams.
What to look out for when choosing a money management app?
- Flexibility: It is important to be able to easily navigate the interface even with no prior financial education. Also, the app should be customizable, that means, you can choose your default currency, expense category and other personal preferences.
- Real time tracking of expenses: A good money manager app should help you track your expenses conveniently and show you periodical money balances. This is best done when linked to a bank account.
- Different currency option: This feature in a money manager app allows a user to switch between currencies and it synchronizes your data in real time. For those whose businesses operate using different currencies, this feature is most important.
- Income and expenditure schedules, savings planner and periodical budgeting tool should be clearly differentiated: A good virtual manager shows you your periodical balances at a glance. You shouldn’t have to take some lessons before you locate your total expenses per month or savings balance.
10 Best money manager apps
Here are the best money manager apps:
1. Money manager app
Money manager is an app where you can manage your finances with ease. With money manager, you can control how much you spend by budgeting your money, tracking your purchases, and reviewing your balances at a glance. This way, you will know when you have reached your spending limits.
How to use
- Download from playstore for android devices or appstore for IOS devices.
- You will be asked to sign up. You can choose to continue without signing up.
- Next, is to choose your default currency and then select your main account balance.
- You can customize by setting up your income and expenditure categories.
- Voila, all you need to do now is inputting details of your financial transactions as they occur.
Main features:
- Side-by-side expenses and income schedules for easy comparison.
- Periodical and detailed recording of transactions like daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
- You can create different categories for individual transactions for instance, expenses has outlets like family, transportation, health and many others. While Income sources has categories such as paycheck, gift and others.
- It is flexible to use
- Multiple accounts usage
- You can download the summary of your financials as an excel document.
- Multicurrency options
2. You need a budget (YNAB) app
This is another good money management app that gives total money control by allowing a user to budget strategically and pay off their debts effectively.
How to use
- Download ‘You need a budget app’ from playstore or appstore for android and IOS devices respectively.
- Create a YNAB account by signing up with your email address.
- Choose currency and build your budget estimates beginning with detailed expenditure categories.
Main features:
- Flexible budgeting
- Bank synchronization
- Real time expense tracking
- Loan planner and calculator
- Financial goal tracking
- No ads or in-app purchases
- Financial reports
3. Dollarbird
This is a calendar-based mobile application that tracks your spending pattern and with the data helps you plan against future spending. Dollarbird calculates past and future transactions to give current balances, and further allows joint finances with friends and family.
How to use
- Download Dollarbird application on Playstore or Appstore.
- Sign up using your email address.
- Edit calendar with you financial
Main features:
- Money forecast feature
- Calendar-based interface
- Financial collaboration with family and friends feature
- Auto-categorization of financial entries
- Auto-calculation of balances for each time period
- Data synchronization across devices
- Contains in-app purchases up to N880.00-N21,000.00 per item
4. Expensify
This is one of the best money management tools that serve as a travel agent as well as a business and money manager. Expensify integrates different unique features such as receipts scanning, business tracker for corporate users, personal expenditures tracker, and the special booking feature that helps users to book their flights, hotels, and car services straight from the app.
With this app, you can scan a photo of any receipt received from different sources and organize your spending by using this option. It also has a customized card that its users can opt for.
How to use
- Download app from Google playstore or appstore for android and IOS devices respectively.
- Sign using one of the options available, preferably email
- Login and get started on managing your finances
Main features:
- Travel booking feature
- Unlimited receipt scanning
- Integration of accounts from different sources
- Expense management
- Corporate card purchases
- Easy exporting of transaction reports in different formats.
- Tax tracking feature
5. Spendee
This is a free budgeting and money management app that enables users to integrate all their separate financial accounts in one place.
How to use
- Download Spendee app from Google playstore or appstore for android and IOS devices respectively
- Sign up with email
- Start optimizing your finances by either connecting a bank account to Spendee, adding expense wallets or just creating a budget.
Main features:
- Account integration in one place for example, online banking, e-wallet, crypto wallet
- Budgeting tracker
- Multiple currency feature
- Web version
- Data sync across devices
- Account organization into specific wallet categories
- Savings planner tool
- Collaborative finances feature
- Premium version available
6. Money lover
Money lover is a good personal finance tracker to monitor savings, control expenditure, and budget effectively. It is a great personal bookkeeping app for individuals and households.
How to use
- Download money lover app from Playstore or Appstore.
- Create an account
- Log in and start managing your finances by sorting expenses into categories and editing account information.
Main features:
- Connection to bank account
- Spending tracker
- Personal finance planner
- Periodical summary of financial transactions
- Budgeting tool
- Recurring transactions
- Premium upgrade available
7. Wallet
Wallet is another great tool to organize your expenses, save money and plan your budgets.
How to use
- Download wallet app on Playstore or Appstore
- Create account
- Start managing your finances by tracking expenditures and budgeting your finances.
Main features:
- Automatic bank synchronization
- Financial goals and spending tracker
- Flexible Budgeting tool
- Debt management
- Planned payments
- Shared accounts option
- Multiple currency
- Periodical financial reports and external data imports
8. Mint
This virtual money manager is built to control financial transactions from different accounts for example, revenues and expenses from either cash, salary or bank accounts using different currencies.
How to use
- Download mint app from Playstore or Appstore
- Sign up with your email address
- Input financial transactions as they occur on the account’s dashboard.
Main features:
- Multiple accounts feature
- Income-expense control
- Simple design layout
- Budgeting feature
- Web version availability
- Graphical analysis of all accounts
- Inflexibility
- Limited currency options
- Contains ads
9. Good budget; budget and finance
Good budget is a virtual financial manager that will help you manage your income through effective budgeting. It uses the envelope system of budgeting that assigns each individual expenditure item to a particular income envelope. This way, your entire budget is divided into smaller spending factions that can be easily controlled instead of the bulk budgeting that may be difficult to maintain.
How to use
- Download Goodbudget app from playstore or appstore for Android and IOS devices respectively.
- Sign in by creating new household budget
- Proceed to setup budget, create expenditure categories
- Set budget period for each category whether monthly, annually or per goal.
- Select budget amount and save
- Choose spending envelopes
- Finally, go to register household and select finish
- You can now view all your anticipated transactions and planned savings in a summarized window.
Main features:
- Easy information sync across multiple devices and the web
- Real time expenditure tracking
- Household budgeting and financial planning
- income planner tool called envelopes
- Savings plan
- Periodical budgeing
- Subscriber plan to unlock additional features
- Ads free, In-app purchases of N300.00-N21,500.00 per item
10. Fudget
Fudget is one of the best money manager apps out there. It practically eases the stress of money management for an individual. With fudget, you can track your budget, control your spending and save for the rainy days.
The best part is its simplicity, anyone without a financial education can use it comfortably in managing their finances. It is available for download for both android and IOS devices.
Main features:
- Real time money tracker
- Organized budgeting
- Simplicity of user interface
- Option of recurring expenditures
- Choice of currency
- Flexibility
- Income and expenditure balances schedule
- Savings planner
- Pro version for more features
- Contain ads and in-app purchases of N470.00 per item
