10 top personal finance apps

Do you have trouble keeping track of your expenses? Is your pocketbook or desk drawer full of old receipts? Do you often wonder where all your money went? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then maybe it’s time to get a little more organized with your personal finances. Luckily, you already have one of the best financial planning tools right there in your pocketbook – your smartphone!

Personal financial apps have been around since the App Store opened and they keep getting better. There are apps that can help you put together a household budget; apps that will track your spending history (I spent how much on shoes?); and yes, even apps that will store your receipts. Start using a personal finance app today and see if it can make a difference to your life. Here are ten of the best:

Koku

One of newer financial apps, Koku consolidates all your finances into one place, so you know exactly how much you are spending, whether it’s from your checking accounts, savings accounts or credit cards. The intelligent reporting provides a unique analysis of your income and spending habits. Automatic iCloud syncing allows you to access your account on your Mac or smartphone anytime, anywhere. (Visit the App Store to get the current discounted price.)

Platform: iOS
Price: $1.99

Expense Manager

Expense Manager allows you to track expenses by week, month or year, or across categories. You can set up payment alerts, chart expense categories, search for individual transaction, import and export data for desktop analysis, and even take pictures to store receipts. The app includes handy tools such as a currency convertor, tip calculator, tax calculator, and more. Information can be automatically saved to a Dropbox account.

Platform: Android
Price: Free

Mint.com Personal Finance

One of the original personal finance apps and still one of the best, Mint.com syncs with your bank to pull in all your transactions and automatically categorizes them without the need for any additional data entry. Mint creates a customized budget based on your spending and sends bill reminders, alerts and advice right to your phone. A 4-digit PIN keeps your information secure and you can deactivate from your Mint.com profile if you lose your mobile device.

Platform: iOS, Android
Price: Free

Money

More suitable for business or international travel, Money tracks and balances all your cash, debit, credit and savings accounts through manual or Open Financial Exchange (OFX) import. The App includes Balance, Transactions, Budget and Reports tabs for easy reference and management. Automatically converts currencies and enters recurring transactions. All data can be backed up and downloaded to a desktop. iCloud capability allows syncing across other iOS devices.

Platform: iOS
Price: $2.99

MoneyWise

A user-friendly expense-tracking and budgeting tool, MoneyWise is a stand-alone app that monitors cash flow and allows you to set personal financial goals. A flexible tagging structure keeps track of expense categories, and colorful graphs and charts provide at-a-glance reporting. Data can be exported as HTML or as CSV files for Excel import.

Platform: Android
Price: Free

CoinKeeper

A fun app that brings a little amusement to the mundane routine of budgeting and expense-tracking, CoinKeeper uses coins, stars and other icons to represent transactions and color coding to indicate cash surpluses or those dreaded shortfalls. The goal-oriented budgeting feature helps you save money towards dream targets like vacations or a new car and, if you get off track, the app is quick to tell you where you are overspending!

Platform: iOS, Android
Price: $0.99

Spending Tracker

A straight-forward and easy to use expense-tracker, Spending Tracker tells you exactly where your money goes and even helps you build a simple budget. You can organize your spending by day, week, month or customizable categories, and everything is viewable via colorful, easy-to-read charts. A Pro upgrade ($2.99) allows you to schedule repeat transactions and export data for additional analysis.

Platform: iOS
Price: Free

My Weekly Budget

My Weekly Budget differs from most personal finance apps in that it focuses on the week ahead as the best way to help you manage your finances. At the end of the week, you are presented with a brief summary telling you how well (or how poorly) you did against your target. It will also allow you to look back at previous weeks to see how your expenditure pattern may have varied. If you scratch your head and the end of each week wondering where all your money went, then this is the app for you!

Platform: iOS
Price: $0.99

You Need A Budget (YNAB)

The YNAB app syncs with the YNAB desktop software (required) to produce a powerful mobile budgeting tool. YNAB allows you to budget across multiple accounts and analyze your expenditures by time period and category. The Cloud sync means that transactions from all members of the family will instantly show up on the desktop and phone, delivering real-time spending reports. A free YNAB Lite version is also available ($60 YNAB desktop software also required.)

Platform: iOS, Android
Price: $4.99

iSpending

iSpending is another simple app that helps you track your income and expenditure. Expenditures are grouped under customizable categories and instant summaries are available for the day, week, month or year. Straightforward graphics help with the reporting and an easy-to-use search feature allows you to find previous transactions with a couple of clicks. An app passcode provides additional security.

Platform: iOS
Price: Free