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The Best Free Personal Finance Tools

There are tons of personal finance tools out there, some are free, some cost some money. I’ve put together a list of the best free personal finance tools. These free personal finance tools will help you budget better, save money, and kick debt in the face.

For Budgeting

Mint.com 

Mint gives you some default categories to start with but you can create and customize whatever categories you like. By connecting your bank account to Mint it will automatically track your spending so you know how much you have left in each category of your budget.

It works best if you stay on top of your spending, it will sometimes categorize things wrong. Even so, it is a great tool to get started with budgeting.

Numbers Budget Template or Your Own Excel Spreadsheet

If you have a Mac then you have Numbers which comes with a great budget worksheet with transactions in one sheet and your budget in the other. If you know a little bit about Excel then you can build your own budget worksheet as well.

Level Money 

Level Money is an app focused on analyzing your big financial picture and builds a plan for you based on your income and bills. It lets you know how much you can spend day to day or by week.

Envelopes

Yes, the ones in your desk drawer. The simple envelope system is a great way to start budgeting because it not only restricts your spending but it also lets you visualize where all your money is going.

Want to use the envelope system but don’t want to deal with cash? Check out my How to Budget Successfully Every Time post, I outline how I used monopoly money and the envelope system.

For Frugal Living/Saving Money

Chime

I love Chime because it automates savings so I don’t have to think about it, it just sets the money aside in a savings account. Making sure I don’t end up spending it. Chime is a great way to start saving up for an emergency fund or fun money fund, whatever works for you.

Best Tool

Chime works by starting a spending account (takes 5 minutes) and opting into the automatic savings plan. (Learn more about getting started with Chime).  Every time I use the Chime Debit Card it rounds up my purchase to the nearest dollar and puts in in savings. Right now they also offer a double round-up bonus on those savings. All those withdrawals add up over time. Chime is free to use, with no monthly fees. With Chime, you end up saving money without having to think about it.

Coupons

You can get them from the newspaper or in the mail. You don’t have to be an extreme couponer to quickly and easily save money. The key is to only clip coupons for things you need. Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon.

Rain Checks

If the store is out of something you wanted, especially if it was on sale ask if you can get a rain check. It will preserve the price of the item and you can get it the next time you go to the store when they are back in stock.

Pinterest 

Is a never ending resource of frugal hacks and DIYs that can save you money. Though it only saves you money if you aren’t having to buy a ton of supplies to attempt the DIY.

Also, check to see if there is a review of the hack or DIY to see if it really works. There are some great sites out there that test Pinterest, Pinterest fails can be especially entertaining.

For Debt Repayment

Qoins

Qoins is a tool that finds extra money in your account and puts it towards your debt. Qoins makes an extra debt payment for you on the 15th of every month using your spare change from the previous month.

Now, I did say this list was of free personal finance tools. Qoins cost $1.99 a month. BUT it takes that out of the spare change when it makes the extra payment for you. If your spare change is less than $20 they will skip the payment that month and roll that over free of charge. Since you never notice the $1.99 I thought this was still a great personal finance tool.  I’ve just signed up for Qoins and I’m excited to see it save me on interest.

Best Debt Pay Off Tool

One way I’m making extra debt payments is with Qoins. When you sign up for Qoins, you connect your bank account and then spend as you normally would. Qoins will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and put that change towards an extra debt payment.

Basically, Qoins will help you pay down debt faster by applying an extra payment for you by using your spare change. There is a $1.99 charge each month. However, they take it out of the spare change they set aside for you so you never see a charge in your bank account. If there isn’t at least $10 in your Qoins account they will roll that amount into the next month free of charge.

Learn more on How Qoins Can Help You Pay Off Debt Faster

Unbury.me

Unbury.me lets you imput your debt and see how long it will take you to pay it off by adjusting how much you put towards your debt. I just recently discovered this tool but I like that it clearly shows you the difference between using the snowball or avalanche method of paying off debt.

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It is simple but effective because it shows you just how much each of each payment will go towards principal vs interest. It is also nice that it doesn’t require you to connect to your accounts.

Debt Payoff Assistant

This is an App that pretty much does what Unbury.me does. It’s just in an app instead of online. It breaks down each of your payments and lets you choose between the snowball or avalanche method.

Wrapping it Up with a Bow on Top

Not having money to pay for a personal finance tool is no excuse for not getting your finances in order, there are tons of tools that are free. Figure out which one will work for you based on if you are trying to budget, save, or kick debt in the face and start kicking some financial ass.

 What other free personal finance tools do you use? Let me know in the comments!

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14 thoughts on “The Best Free Personal Finance Tools”

    • I didn’t realize that Mint wasn’t available in the UK, good to know. Honestly I never stick to the apps, I love my good old fashioned excel sheet.

      Reply
  1. Mint is terrific. I think it’s really just the best budgeting tool.

    I love Digit! I use it all the time and love how it just ciphers out small amounts I don’t even notice. When it hits $100, I can transfer it to a savings goal.

    Reply

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