It’s hard to scroll through TikTok or Instagram for ten minutes without seeing a post or video discussing the rising cost of living. From rising housing and rent costs to massive student loan debt, most people are struggling to find financial breathing room. Creating a budget plan is the best place to start to take control of your finances despite your financial struggles. Luckily, there are plenty of free budgeting apps that can help.
“Taking the first step toward budgeting may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be,” consumer finance advocate Courtney Alev told PS. “Know that you may not come up with a ‘perfect’ budget the first time you try. You may adjust your budget over time, and that’s totally fine.”
Creating a way to manually track your budget yourself might seem like a good idea – I know I did at one point think so – but it might not be as effective as using one of the best budgeting apps out there. But when trying to save money, spending money on a financial expert or budgeting tool may seem counterintuitive, so what’s the solution? The best free budgeting apps are popular resources for anyone who wants to create a budget and stick to it.
“With personal finance apps, you usually just choose which features you want to use and you may want to think about how to track items, but in most cases,” said consumer analyst Julie Ramhold. The best apps will do the legwork already and you only need to enter the basic information.
To help you take control of your finances without spending more money, I researched the best free budgeting apps to save you time.
Experts featured in this article
Courtney Alev is a consumer finance advocate at digital finance company Credit Karma.
Julie Ramhold is a consumer analyst for discount shopping site DealNews.com.
