Keeping track of income and expenses is challenging for many people because it’s a round-the-clock job, and it’s easy to lose track of where your money is going and how much you have left. Fortunately, there are quite a few software solutions that can make the job a lot easier. Whether you’re a meticulous planner or someone just trying to make ends meet, keep reading to find the best solution.
Mint
Mint is a comprehensive personal finance tool offered by Intuit. It connects with over 17,000 financial institutions, so it’s a great choice if you have several bank accounts because you can view them all in one place. It automatically categorizes your transactions, making it easier to stay up-to-date and stick to your tracking. Get free credit score tracking with tips on improving your score and plenty of infographics.
Cons
- It’s free to use, but there are lots of ads.
- Limited customization, especially with categories
- Limited investment tracking and financial planning
YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is a personal finance app designed to help users take control of their money by assigning every dollar a job. You can securely link your banking account, set goals, track your subscriptions, and more. They also offer several tools and educational resources to help you better budget and manage your money and provide an ad-free experience.
Cons
- It requires a paid subscription after a free trial period
- No investment tracking
- Learning curve
PocketGuard
PocketGuard is a user-friendly budgeting app that can connect to over 30,000 U.S. and Canadian banks and automatically important and categorize your transactions. It allows for custom categories to make it easier to track your money and can help you renegotiate your recurring monthly bills, only charging you when successful. It also enables you to set personal debt payoff strategies and other goals.
Cons
- While PocketGuard offers a free version, some advanced features require a PocketGuard Plus subscription
- Setting up and adjusting categories can be time-consuming
- Limited investment planning
Expensify
Expensify is a robust expense management platform designed to streamline the process of tracking expenses. It allows you to snap a photo of your receipts which it will then categorize and sort. You can set up workflows that require authorization, multiple expense reports, and more. You can also integrate it with other accounting software like Quickbooks.
Cons
- While Expensify offers a free plan, many of its advanced features are available only through paid plans
- Despite its user-friendly design, new users might require some time to fully understand and utilize all the features effectively
- Occasional synchronization issues
Goodbudget
Goodbudget uses the envelope budgeting method, which helps you allocate your income into different categories, making it easy to manage your finances effectively. The free plan gives you a good number of envelopes, so it’s quite usable. It provides detailed reports on your spending patterns, helping you understand where your money is going. There are also features for tracking debt and setting goals.
Cons
- You need to enter all of your transactions manually
- Limited envelopes in a free account might not be enough for someone with a lot of expenses
Microsoft Access
When already made financial tracker. Using a database like Microsoft Access can be a great way to track your money. You can set up tables quickly, and they are highly customizable with a learning curve similar to what you might find with any of the other programs. It’s also offline and much more private. There are also large communities that will show you how to get any functionality you need, from detailed reports to automation.
Cons
- Microsoft Access can be complex to set up and use, especially for those not familiar with database management
- You need to enter much of the data manually
- Access databases are not as easily shared or accessible on mobile devices compared to cloud-based expense-tracking apps
Our Opinion
We like Microsoft Access for money tracking because your data is more secure and private. You can also connect external programs to the database to retrieve the data at any time, and you are not at the mercy of websites that come and go. However, if setting up a database table is out of the question, the other options on this list are fantastic. Goodbudget is perfect for someone just getting started, while Expensify has the tools to track expenses for large companies.