In today’s world, there’s an app for just about everything - including budgeting and saving money. But with so many choices, finding the best option for your lifestyle and goals can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But we’ve decided to do the work for you!
Our team has scoured the internet and app stores to find you the best budgeting and saving apps for 2024.
What is budgeting, and why should I have a budget?
Budgeting refers to the process taken initially to understand the income and expenditure of your household income and determine your cash flow position. Without a clear understanding of your cash flow position and spending habits, it’s challenging to be sure of your financial progression and whether the strategies you’re implementing are appropriate or even feasible.
If you don’t have a budget, check out our free budget template.
How much money should I be saving?
How much money you should be saving differs from person to person and relies heavily on the short, medium and long-term goals you have for yourself and/or your family. Many theories suggest you should be allocating only 30 per cent of your income to your rent or mortgage, but with the rising cost of living, this isn’t always feasible.
Head to our blog to find out how much of your payslip you should save.
What tools can help me budget?
If you’re someone who has always struggled to save money, we’ve got a few things that might help. First, consider reaching out to an Inovayt financial planner. Our team has experience with people from all different financial backgrounds and will be able to help you determine - and set up a plan to achieve - your financial goals.
Other tools that can help you budget is our free budget template or budgeting apps you can easily download to your smartphone or device. Navigating this can be tricky (there are so many out there!) but here are some of our favourite apps to help you budget in 2024.
What are the best budgeting apps in 2024?
Frollo
Frollo is a free app run by an Australian fintech company. It has features like a financial passport, which shows your income, spending, assets, and liabilities for the last 12 months - something that could be invaluable when applying for loans. It also has smart money tips, separate budgets based on goals and a dashboard for tracking your net worth.
Cost: Free
Buddy
With its bright colours and creative customisations, it’s easy to see why Buddy is such a popular budgeting app. Originally developed in Sweden, it’s now available to Australian users. One great thing about Buddy is that you can invite family and friends into your budgets, enabling shared budgeting and distribution of costs for social events such as holidays, or even to split bills within a household.
Cost: Free version or premium for $4.99 per month, $34.99 per year
YNAB
Short for ‘You Need A Budget’, YNAB is an award-winning budgeting app helping users budget their money and get out of debt. One of YNAB’s main points isn’t on looking into past financial insights, but rather focusing on your present situation and future possibilities. It helps users figure out financial goals and priorities and gives every dollar a role to play. This app offers a proactive approach to budgeting, featuring helpful insights and workshops to educate and empower you on your finances and help you get ahead.
Cost: Free version or premium for $14.99 per month, $99 per year
Up
While many of you may know Up as a bank, did you know it comes with a great budget tracker, too? Offering the regular features of an internet banking and savings app, Up also has some great features to help users save money and meet their financial goals. As it’s connected to your banking, you can set up auto-savings and round-ups on purchases, create savings goals and even get a home loan through the app.
Cost: App is free for Up Bank customers
Goodbudget
The GoodBudget app is based on a traditional money-saving method you may be familiar with. This method sees people putting different amounts of money into envelopes based on what it’ll be spent on (e.g., rent, food, utilities). Like most things in this day and age, this method of budgeting has now gone digital! GoodBudget allows you to enjoy the same set up without having envelopes and physical cash everywhere.
Cost: Free version or premium for $8 per month, $70 per year
WeMoney
WeMoney brands itself as a financial wellness platform rather than just a budgeting app. It offers users the ability to track spending by linking their bank accounts and other premium features such as monthly credit score checks and personalised loan offers. WeMoney has a strong focus on Australians looking to pay down their debt and lower their repayments but offers useful features for everyone.
Cost: Free version or premium for $9.99 per month
Empower
Formerly known as Personal Capital, Empower has fantastic reporting capabilities, desktop options, investment management and spending tracking. It’ll give you a view of your entire financial situation from daily spending right up to portfolio tracking. There are various tools on this app to help you save for retirement and create a solid emergency fund.
Cost: Free
PocketSmith
PocketSmith is a great app for Aussies looking to travel overseas. The free plan is available for life and lets you create 12 different budgets with two accounts, and provides a projection for your finances over the next six months. As we mentioned, PocketSmith is great for international travellers. It allows you to add foreign currencies meaning you can budget for your holiday all in one place.
Cost: Free version, premium for $10.95 per month or super for $21.95 per month
Simplsaver
Last but not least, Simplsaver. This straightforward budgeting app comes without the bells and whistles of some of the others but is just as effective for budgeting. A lot of the time, you simply need to know what you’re spending - this app does the trick! Offering a traditional budgeting calculator and the ability to track your monthly expenses, this one is for those needing something easy to use.
Cost: Free version or premium for $6.99 per year
How can a mortgage broker help me with budgeting and saving?
At Inovayt, we’re here to guide you through your financial journey regardless of what stage you’re at. Our team is passionate about finding the right budgeting and saving techniques to suit you. If you’re looking to maximise your savings in 2024 and kick some financial goals, get in touch with one of our financial advisors today.
