Best Free Budget Apps - 5 TRULY FREE Budgeting Tools

Transcript

are you looking to replace Mint or maybe you simply need a tool to help you manage your money but you don't want to pay anything well you're in luck because we've got the best free budget apps for you in this video today hey everyone this is Andy Hill from Marriage kids and money a channel dedicated to helping you strengthen your family tree and live financially free if you decide to go for any of the apps today that we mentioned in our video please use the links below or click the affiliate links in our video description transparency everyone some of the budget apps mentioned in this list on this video provide us with an affiliate commission if you use those specific links so thank you very much for supporting our Channel if you decide to go for those links before we jump in it's important to remember that nothing is truly free yes it sounds harsh but it's pretty true free apps can make money in a variety of ways from offering inapp purchases and premium features to referring related products and of course selling your data yes some apps do sell your data what exactly does that mean they're not going to give away your bank account number or other sensitive information instead they sell data about your online behaviors and your habits then advertisers and other third parties who buy this data have easy access to information allowing them to predict market trends understand consumer behaviors and create effective ad targeting now that you understand how some free budget apps make their money let's take a look at some of the best free budget apps starting with number five Credit Karma Credit Karma has been on the scene for a really long time originally it focused specifically on credit as in the name now though you can use it to review your expenses see your balances track your net worth and much more let's talk about some of their best features Credit Karma offers a lot of helpful Financial tools within a single app that's cool we love that it offers a basic budget and allows you to keep tabs on your credit not only do you see your score but you can access your full credit report as well now let's talk about some areas for improvement with Credit Karma a lot of mint users jumped into Credit Karma at the recommendation of into it the parent company of both platforms the problem is the budgeting services offered through Credit Karma feel down right lackluster compared to what mint offered users as a result you might feel less supported with your budget needs let's talk about how they make their money when this app is free credit karma is free to use and it's a really helpful tool it makes its money through product referrals which means it will consistently recommend credit cards mortgages and other products to you number four on our list rocket money rocket money is an app for both both IOS and Android users that promises to help simplify your money formerly known as true bill rocket money can help you build the budget track your net worth monitor your credit score and find extra money it does this by searching for and then cancelling unused subscriptions to learn more about rocket money we've got a full review on this channel as well let's talk about some of their best features rocket money is one of the only free apps that tracks your net worth and monitors your credit score our experience is that very few tools do both as a result if you want to streamline your finances this tool can be really helpful now for some areas for improvement rocket money builds itself big time on its ability to cancel unused subscriptions so it's a point of frustration for many users when they realize that this free app charges a pretty penny for that specific service fees are charged on a sliding scale plus they take a cut from their bill negotiations and subscription cancellations let's talk about how they make money when it's free you can get started with rocket money for free however if you want to take advantage of the subscription cancellation Services be prepared to pay some money the price isn't totally clear but rocket money says most people pay between $6 and $12 a month number three on our list good budget have you heard about cash envelope budgeting well the idea is that you create an envelope for each budget category and fund it with cash at the start of of the month then when your cash runs out you're done with spending in that specific category it's a very effective budgeting tool yet in a day and age that is moving towards a cashless Society it can feel a bit old-fashioned enter good budget yes good budget is a digital cash envelope tool that you can use for free let's talk about the best features of good budget the cash envelopes are a really effective way to stick to a budget I've done and it helps we love this tool for people who are just getting started and are looking to truly understand how a budget works and keep a pulse on the inflows and outflows of their money all right let's talk about areas Improvement for good budget currently the free version limits users to One account that means one of the best features is only available if you pay for the app also if you're looking for educational money and investing resources you won't find much with in this tool let's talk about how they make money when it is free good budget yes it is free however if you want to use it as a couple and want your bank account to sync up automatically you got to pay for that subscription to use the unlimited plan which is $80 per year number two every dollar every dollar is a zerob based budget tool that might feel a little familiar to you that's because every dollar is part of ramsy solutions yes as in Dave Ramsey so if you're someone who is using his baby steps model to pay down your debt every dollar might be the tool for you let's talk about their best features every dollar is great for people who are already fans of Dave Ramsey it uses the same principles that you're probably already using to manage your money areas for improvement well however it is worth noting that the free version of every dollar is somewhat limited you cannot link your bank accounts or customize your budget to same way you can with the paid version let's talk about how they make their money when it is free the free version of every dollar it's great yes however the hope is that users will pay to upgrade to the premium version which is $79 per year or get a ramsy Plus subscription at $129 per year so look for that in doing so you can unlock upgraded features giving you a much more robust budgeting experience all right number one on our list Empower empower is a fintech veteran it first came onto the scene as personal capital and amassed a cult following of users especially in the early retirement crowd users love and power because it is a really free tool and it offers a total Financial snapshot of your situation let's talk about best features while the budgeting tool is somewhat limited it is really sophisticated in terms of helping you with retirement planning education savings and portfolio management for people who are looking for a One-Stop shop Empower kind of checks off all the boxes I've personally used Empower formally personal capital for over 7 years to track my net worth analyze my portfolio and reduce my investment fees and I've paid $0 for seven years and it's been nice let's talk about areas Improvement for Empower the most important thing to note about Empower is that it is much more than a budgeting tool as a result some people find the money tracking features a little too simplistic let's talk about how they make their money when is free well Empower really is a free financial tool everybody but they still need to make some money right once you cross into these six figures in assets area Empower is going to give you a call to offer their financial advising Services they also offer a robo advisor as part of their wealth management services this also generates revenue for them as well as a company if you end up getting that Empower phone call you can say thanks but no thanks like I did and just enjoy the free tool well everyone that's our list remember when it comes to building a budget there is some trial and some error involved the same is true for choosing a budgeting tool you can certainly experiment with different options on our best free budgeting apps list that you heard today just remember that even if a tool is free there is often an additional cost as a result you may want to explore other options like creating your own spreadsheet or paying a small subscription fee for a much better budgeting app to try out any of the free budget apps mentioned in this video please use the affiliate links below to access our list or use the individual affiliate links in our video description again we get a small commission if you use those links so thank you so much for considering them if none of these free apps sound like a good fit for you here is a video with our best budget apps for families including my favorite budgeting solution at number one you're going to have to watch the video to find out carpium