One of the most important habits to stay aligned with our financial goals, as described in this post, “How to Grow Your Savings – 10 Frugal Habits”, is to avoid unnecessary spending. This is hard to accomplish unless we track our spending.
While tracking our spending can be easily done by writing it down on a book or a piece of paper, this simple method is not easy to use when we want to analyse our spending in a more visualised way, e.g. seeing the spending in a form of graph or chart.
Whether you want to track your spending to save money, pay off debts faster, or put an end to late payment fees, having a spending tracker or budget app and knowing how to use it can help you effectively and efficiently with your financial goals.
Here are 5 best free apps to track your spending and/or budget:
1. Google Sheet
Google Sheet is free and it’s as powerful as the expensive Microsoft Excel when it comes to visualising data into graphs and charts. All you need is a Gmail account and you’ll have access to use Google sheet. If you know nothing about using Google sheet, here is a basic tutorial that can help you start. If you want to know how to build graphs and charts, here is an easy to understand tutorial.
Unlike other apps that automatically update a certain budget amount for the entire year that it can be frustrating if we only want to adjust a particular month, Google Sheet allows you to adjust anything to your liking without the headache of automation.
The downside of Google Sheet is that you’ll have to at least know some basic spreadsheet info before being able to use this app.
2. Spending Tracker
Spending Tracker is available for free on both Google Play (for Android users) and App Store (for IOS/Apple users).
This app is best for those who just want a simple “Income and Expense” tracker. The budget mode allows you to compare between a fixed amount you plan to spend against what you have actually spent so far.
There’s also a feature that differentiates between a one-off payment (e.g. a takeaway coffee) and a regular payment (e.g. house rent, internet bills).
Visualising the expenses using a pie chart format is as easy as turning the phone from portrait to landscape mode.
Unfortunately, it has no link to bank or credit cards, so you have to put everything manually.
3. Andromoney
Like Spending Tracker, Andromoney is also available on both Google Play and App Store.
With more specific information on how an item is purchased (e.g. cash, credit cards, bank account), Andromoney is perfect for those who want to double check or reconcile their credit cards and bank accounts too.
However, one of the least favourite features from Andromoney is that the budget amount can’t be varied. If you change an amount in the budget, it will adjust all the previous month’s amount.
4. Goodbudget
This app is available for both Android and Apple users. It uses an old school method that tracks spending using the envelope method which encourages more conscious spending. The free account allows you to have 10 regular envelopes and 10 more envelopes, while the paid ones (costs $60 per year) allow you to have unlimited envelopes.
While it’s a very good method to keep an eye on actual spending and what is in the budget, it can be confusing for those who never know what the envelope method means.
This app doesn’t sync to your bank so everything has to be done manually. It can get frustrating if you’re the type of person who wants everything automatically updated.
5. Pocketbook
Pocketbook is similar to Mint. But unlike Mint, Pocketbook is available for Australian users. It syncs with most Australian banks so it’s handy for those who are a fan of automation.
Furthermore, you can set a budget/allowance for each category, e.g. you set $50 for takeaway coffee per month and the app will let you know if you’re near your limit.
Unfortunately, this app only syncs with the big four banks in Australia at this stage. If you’re with a smaller bank, the bank may not be supported and you’ll have to enter the information manually.
