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Keeping track of your finances doesn't have to involve sifting through boring paperwork or being a mathematician, especially when there are a host of apps that can do all the hard work for you. Here's a selection of personal finance apps you can download for free that will help keep your finances in order.
1. MINT
WHAT: Perhaps the most popular finance app out there, Mint is used for tracking, budgeting and managing money all in one place.
HOW: Syncing all your credit and debit cards with the app's "cloud" means it always updated with your current account activity. This helps keep track of all your expenses, revenue and loans in one central place. The budgeting tool helps you monitor your expenses with a clever labeling system that categorizes your outgoings for easier analysis.
ADDED VALUE: As part of the savings goal option, the app encourages you to set aside money in a separate account and even notifies you if you are ahead or behind schedule.
2. SPLITWISE
WHAT: A digital IOU (I Owe You) tracker for managing small debts among friends or family.
HOW: Keeping track of the money you lend friends or what each person owes at the end of a meal can get tricky. Splitwise makes the process easier and more pleasant by helping you manage all these amounts using one simple tool. You can add friends from your address book or even create specific groups if, for example, you live with roommates and have a lot of regular bills that need to be split.
ADDED VALUE: When you are ready to square your debts, you can pay your friends back with a quick payment through PayPal.
3. LEVEL MONEY
WHAT: Keeping it very simple, Level Money uses your basic financial information to calculate how much spendable money you actually have.
HOW: After entering your bank account and credit card details, the app divides your finances into categories such as income, bills, save and available cash. With the help of some easy-on-the-eye bubble graphs, the app clearly displays the amount of money you have available to spend today, this week, and the rest of the month.
ADDED VALUE: For those who want to go into a little more detail, the app also gives you a quick snapshot of where you've spent the money during each time period, as well as any pending transactions.
4. CREDIT KARMA MOBILE
WHAT: Credit Karma Mobile provides you with free access to your credit score in order to manage your credit more efficiently.
HOW: Believing that free access to personal credit scores and reports is a fundamental consumer right, the app sheds light on how credit scores work and breaks down information barriers. Through a detailed report card, you can keep track of how you’re doing and understand what factors affect your score.
ADDED VALUE: Push notifications can alert you to important information such as a decrease in account balance, which in turn lets you take an active role in your finances.
5. CHECK
WHAT: A handy way to organize and pay bills all from one smart app.
HOW: As well as reminding you when to pay your bills, the Check app goes a step further by letting you pay directly through your phone.
ADDED VALUE: Having the app linked to your bank details means that it can monitor your situation and let you know when and if funds are running low or how close you are to your credit limit.
