Budgeting apps are essential financial management tools, and everyone needs to create them to manage money and finances efficiently. However, creating a budget can be time-consuming, and following through with it even be more tasking. This is why you need easy-to-use budgeting apps.
Budgeting applications are developed to ease both individual and couple’s budgeting affairs. They come in handy where conventional spreadsheet methods of tracking money and transaction fail.
This is because these apps do all the calculating and are more accurate. This article will be reviewing the seven best budgeting apps in Canada. The list includes budget apps compatible with iOS and Andriod devices, suitable for individuals and couples.
What is a Budgeting App?
Budgeting apps are mobile and online applications that help you create budgets by analyzing your money and spending. The budgets created are customized to your lifestyle and your income.
Some budgeting apps help you set savings goals and allow synchronization with your financial accounts and credit cards. The primary aim of budgeting apps is to prevent you from spending beyond your means and save towards plans. They help you set limits, and if you are determined to be a wise spender and saver, a budgeting app will go a long way in helping you become so.
Best Budgeting Apps for Canadians
There are different budgeting apps Canadians can choose from, but these seven are considered the best. They are:
- Mint
- YNAB
- Wally
- KOHO
- Goodbudget
- Pocketguard
- Personal Capital
1. Mint
Mint is a product of Intuit Inc. It is one of the oldest budgeting apps and the most popular free budgeting app. With this app, you can view all of your financial accounts in one place, allowing you to track your spending.
It allows you to set saving goals. Mint categorizes spendings as they are incurred. You will also receive alerts about unusual charges and upcoming bills.
Mint syncs automatically with your account as it supports major banks in Canada. It is free and secured as it uses 128-bit SSL encryption to protect your account. It is available on iOS and Android devices.
2. YNAB
Short for You Need A Budget, YNAB is arguably the best-paid budgeting app for Canadians. You can link your bank accounts and your credit cards. It is designed to help you create a budget and stick to it.
It features tools that are designed to reduce your debt. It also helps you save on unforeseen expenses. YNAB teaches you how to manage your time with live online workshops that are held weekly.
YNAB is available on the web, Android, iOS, iPad, Apple Watch, and Alexa, respectively. It has a free trial of 34 days.
Afterward, you have to pay CA$11.99 per month (billed monthly) or CA$84 per year as a one-time payment billed annually (this lets you save CA$59). YNAB is secured using bank-level 128-bit encryption, and it offers support.
3. Wally
Wally, like Mint, is a free budgeting app. It allows you to track your expenses in different currencies, scan receipts, create your budget to suit your needs, and set savings goals.
You and your friends can split expenses amongst yourselves. As a family or group, you can set group budgets. Wally, however, can’t be linked to your financial institutions; hence you have to manually input data.
Although Wally is free, there is a plan to put out an optional premium service for a monthly subscription fee. Wally is available on the Apple app store. It is also safe to use.
4. KOHO
KOHO is a unique budgeting app that combines budgeting, banking, and savings all in one. It allows you to track your income and expenses in real-time.
It features a prepaid Visa card. There is a ‘round-up’ feature that saves your spare change automatically. It also features a referral program that can pay you up to CA$60 for every friend you refer.
KOHO allows you to set personal and joint saving goals. It is free and also has a premium plan. The premium plan goes for CA$9 per month and CA$84 annually. It also offers a 30-day free trial. It is available on iPhone and Android and is very secured as funds are held with People’s Trust – a CDIC-insured bank.
5. Goodbudget
Goodbudget is a budget app that works based on the envelope budgeting method (where you assign an envelope to each of your spending categories and fill each envelope with cash every month). It allows you to sync and share your budget with family members and between various devices.
With Goodbudget, you can save gradually to pay off your debts. You can also sync the app with your bank accounts.
It offers both a free and paid plan. The paid plan goes for CA$7 per month or CA$60 per year and features advanced and extra services. Goodbudget is secured with 256-bit encryption.
6. Pocketguard
Pocketguard is a budget app that shows you your expenses. Expenses are categorized into multiple categories. It is a free app that allows you to sync your bank accounts to estimate what amount will be left after paying your monthly bills. It has a ‘Lower Your Bills’ feature that analyses your billings and recommends reducing them.
It is secured using 256-bit encryption to safeguard your account. The money in your AutoSave account is held at FDIC-insured banks. Pocketguard is compatible with Android and iOS devices.
7. Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a budgeting app that also provides financial services. It features a free financial tracker that gives you insight into your baking, investments, and credit accounts. It also has retirement planning which is open to all users.
With Personal Capital, you can create a budget, set your savings goals, and make projections on your savings and investments’ future value. It has a free plan and a paid plan that is optional.
The paid plan’s unique feature is that you can add personalized investment services and wealth management advice from licensed financial advisors for a yearly management fee of 0.89% of your investment assets under CA$1 million.
Other budgeting apps Canadians can use include:
- Mylo
- Spender
- TD Bank
- PocketSmith
- Spending Tracker
- Moka
Conclusion
As opposed to budgeting manually, which can be really stressful and hard to track, budgeting apps help you keep all your finances in one place.
You can track them easily and cut back on your spending to save more for the long haul. You can select from any of the budgeting apps from above that suit your financial needs.
Bear in mind that even though most apps are linked to your financial accounts, they cannot bring you out of debt or restrict you from overspending. You have to be disciplined and prepared to change the way you manage your funds for you to take advantage of it.
