Best Ways To Track Your Spending In 2020

Do you ever look at your bank account and have no idea where your money went?

​Like, I know I just got paid and haven't spent much money but there is nothing in there. I'm sure that's why they say the first step in getting your finances in order is tracking your spending. Once you have an idea of where you are spending your money it will become easier to create a budget and stick to it.

Here are the best apps to track your spending in 2020!

Just a heads up I haven't used any of these apps but know people who have. Once I create my budget I can trick myself into different games to just not spend money. My favorite is breaking it down to how much I can spend per week and just being under that. If you want to see how I got to a 76% savings rate or need help creating a budget click those links.

Okay, let's get into the reason you're here!
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Mint  
If you are looking for an easy to use tool Mint may be your choice! Mint has been around for a long time and is now owned by Intuit which has other services like Quickbooks and TurboTax. Just a heads up though, the app is free but you will have ads that pop up. But, free is free.

The great thing about Mint is you are able to track expenses across multiple banks, credit cards or investment accounts. This allows you to create a budget based off recorded transactions or you can always create one based off how much you want to spend on each category a month. Since it's keeping track of your spending you can categorize across all your accounts. You'll probably need to go back and change some expenses manually so luckily that's an option.  Mint also provides free credit scores, bill payment reminders, and low balance alerts.  

Overall, no list of budget apps would be complete without a mention of Mint. Mint is free, supports a wide range of banks and lenders, and comes from one of the largest and most trusted names in financial software, Intuit.  With Mint you'll get help with budgeting, expense tracking, credit monitoring, and bills. But it isn't perfect and there are a handful of bugs in the software, and new features are slow to release since Intuit bought the app in 2009. 

Mint is the best for spending less and saving more. 

You Need A Budget (YNAB)
If you want to live by the guidelines that you should spend only the money you have available, which I do, this is your app!  If you use the app you'll be forced to give a job to every dollar you earn, whether that is savings, expenses or investments, and the app with show you a budget. YNAB is trying to help young adults get their finances in order with things like free daily workshops, an online resource library with guides that cover finance topics, a community forum and explains how to use the app effectively. The app can be linked to multiple bank accounts to make it easier to track and plan for expenses.  

If this all sounds great and you're waiting for the catch it's that after a free 34-day trial, YNAB costs $84 per year. The only exception is for students who get one year free, plus a 10% discount after the first year. It isn’t perfect for everyone, but if you want to start budgeting and need help getting the process moving, YNAB is likely a good fit for your needs.

YNAB is the best for zero based budgeting.

Personal Capital
If you are able to create you own budget and want to track and categorize every expense on linked cards you can do that here. Personal Capital may be best for those individuals who have a slightly better handle on their current money situation and are trying to monitor it.  You'll be able to see charts and graphs of your monthly cashflow, break downs by categories and dive deeper into your spending habits. You can also keep track of your net worth if you are interested in that. This app probably isn't the best for budgeting but is great for tracking your overall finances and especially your investments. 

Personal Capital is the best for tracking wealth and spending. 

Clarity Money
Doing my research Clarity Money had some of the best reviews and provides you with an online and mobile option. The  app on your phone is extremely easy to navigate, has a wide range of accounts that are supported, and has nice images to give a fun in-app analysis that highlights your recent activities like spending, savings, or manage your subscriptions. 

One of the main features is being able to track your spending each month compared to your expected monthly income. Making it easy to see where you spent within a few screen taps. Like other apps you can check your credit score, automatically add to a savings account or manage/track your subscription. They recently updated the version to include a new budgeting feature also. They are able to calculate your average weekly spending by category so you can set an informed budget.

Clarity Money is the best for an all inclusive budgeting experience.

Wally
Wally is a streamlined expense tracking app that provide great insight to where your money is going. Hate entering in all your expenses? Wally allows you to take a photo of your receipts and uses geo-location to fill in the information for you.  You don't have to manually log in all your expenses at the end of the day, week, or month.

It then uses insights into how you're spending using artificial intelligence and other fancy technologies. They focus primarily on spending and try to give you useful information and feedback. They have also created a social feature for shared expenses.

Wally is the best for tracking expenses. 

Mvelopes
​Mvelopes recreates the old envelope budgeting system for the digital age. Envelope budgeting is where you put cash in envelopes at the start of the month, and you can spend until your envelopes are empty. This was to help people look at your money at the beginning and not after you've spent it. You can set up how much you want to spend on coffee, clothes, or Amazon each month. The app then helps by offering spending forecasts and suggestions to help you from going overboard.  

Mvelopes is free but costs $95 a year to link unlimited accounts, create more than 25 envelopes, and have access to a debt management tool.

Mvelopes in the best for people who like envelope budgeting styles. That may be obvious, it's right in the name. 

Summary
If you continue to search online there will be more apps that pop up but they will have similar features, like Goodbudget is very similar to Mvelopes. I simply wanted to highlight the differences in types and styles. If I were to use one of these I would probably use Mvelopes as that is the most similar to how I manage my budget currently. But if I wanted an all inclusive tracker and budgeting app I'm the most intrigued by Clarity. The images and functionality of it look like it is easy to use and engaging.