Online Budgeting Tools

Budgeting is important. It’s like brushing your teeth twice a day, if you don’t do it, you’ll get cavities. If you don’t make a financial plan, you won’t be able to enjoy life to the fullest. Instead of scoffing at the idea of downloading an app to keep track of your spending, scoff at those who don’t budget and spend their money willy-nilly. Also, Willy Nilly could be the name of an orthodontist in a children’s book where animals talk.

When you take control of your money via smart economic planning, you don’t have to give up the things you enjoy. We’re not saying you have to give up your Netflix subscription or that Uber ride to the grocery store because you’re too tired from working three gig-economy jobs to walk the four blocks. What we are saying is, you can do everything you want while paying off your student debt and saving for a rainy day.

Back in the day, which was a Thursday actually, you had to buy budgeting programs. You’d purchase some kind of package from an electronics store or your accountant would have a side-hustle and sell bootlegs of Microsoft’s personal budget planner from the trunk of their car. You’d pop that CD-ROM into the drive of your PC computer that took up more real-estate than a golf course. You’d input numbers into a spreadsheet and maybe even use Post-its to remind yourself to save a certain amount each month. Imagine having to write things down by hand on little yellow blocks of sticky notes? Oof. That sounds like a whole to-do.

Thankfully, with the online budgeting tools we love, you don’t have to do any of that. In fact, if you still use a giant PC or bulbous iMac, you may want to stop being a living Portlandia character and get with the times. It’s for your own good.

Making a financial plan and sticking to it, won’t keep cavities away but it will keep you steady. You’ll be able to pay your bills on time, pay rent, make a dent in your student debt, and keep a nice chunk of change in your savings account for the future – which by the way, is also a Thursday.

If you’re wondering why your bank account looks so sad all the time, you’re not alone. Paying your credit card while trying to create some semblance of personal capital (not to mention paying rent, eating and trying to have some kind of life) requires budget tools. But, how do you know which one works – or better yet, how do you know what kind of budget you’ll be able to stick to?

That’s the thing with financial goals. It’s nice to have them, but, you need free online budgeting tools that will actually help you meet your monetary targets. Anyone can create a budget, but sticking to it, is another thing. The budgeting apps that we recommend will help you do just that.

We’ll also provide you with surefire ways to save money like the 50/30/20 rule of budgeting or the “you don’t have to eat $0.42 instant noodles for every meal to pay off your student loan” personal finance method.