Some of them let you pay them online for free, others charge for using a credit card to pay off the balance (this makes my airline miles credit card strategy useless). Normally you’re getting 4-8 different bills mailed to you at different times of the month. The best part? It’s free! Category leading software to help manage your life for free? The software then helps you manage your life toward those goals and keeping your spending on plan with your budget. With Mint you track not only your spending, but what your goals are. It’s common to think “There’s no way I spend $75 per month on lattes and mochas!”, but then the analysis pops up and shows how much you’re spending at coffee shops. One of the biggest features of Mint is you get a snapshot of what your spending looks like. You can manage your money at directly or on any device that lets you run smartphone apps from Apple and Google like the iPad, iPhone, and their Android equivalents. The company was purchased by Intuit and has pumped out high quality apps for both the iOS and Android platforms. The standard bearer for budgeting software, Mint has outlasted the likes of Wesabe and Microsoft Money (both defunct) and surged in popularity among users. Start here and get this step right before moving on.

You can’t pay down debt or save for retirement if you can’t stop spending more than you earn. No matter the name, managing your day-to-day finances well will enable the rest of your financial plans to come to fruition. Budgeting Software ToolsĬall it a budget, a spending plan, or just spending less than you earn. Here are some of the best of the best software tools to help you do just that. Everyone needs to have a budget, a way to manage their investments, a plan to eliminate their debt, the ability to keep tabs on their credit score, and the option to handle their taxes without help from an expensive accountant.

There are five major areas of personal finance software to help you manage your money.

The best personal finance software