In today’s world, gone are the days of paper and pencil
budgets. Now, all you have to do to keep track of your personal finances are an
app or two downloaded onto your smartphone. According to Benzinga.com, here are
the top five personal finance apps and what they can do for you.
1. Money Destop-(within Honor CU app)
integrates multiple accounts (including bank, credit, loan and
retirement accounts) into one place, provides trending information and can
document budgeting plans.
a. Positives:
Free, suggests financial institutions with higher savings rates, credit
cards
with lower interest rates, provides graphics and saving alternatives, provides
free credit
score,
allows manual input of cash transactions.
b. Negatives: what
negatives? J
2. Honor CU Mobile Banking-
check balances perform transfers and much more. Just go to our site and click
on the It’s
Me 24/7 Online Banking logo. You’re also able to check out any
information on our website with Mobile Banking, giving you access to not only
your account but information on Honor’s other products and services
whenever/wherever you want!
a. Positives:
Free, low rates, can deposit checks without going to the bank, see all
information about your account, apply for loans, etc.
b. Negatives: what
negatives? J
3. BillGuard -
pulls all your credit/debit transactions and sends you alerts of potential
fraudulent charges. It also alerts you if a retailer experiences a data breach
and if you shopped at that merchant during the breach period.
a. Positives:
Free, can flag and dispute charges through the app, evaluates your spending
habits and finds relevant coupons.
b. Negatives: Is
best used in tandem with another app because it only focuses on transactions
and threats vs. being a comprehensive personal finance aide
4. Personal Capital-
tracks investments by account or asset class, and allows you to compare your
portfolio to major indices. The app offers investment checkups and 401(k) and
mutual-fund fee calculators.
a. Positives: Free, offers a unique view for investors
while still providing information on basic personal finance.
b. Negatives:
While it is a top-notch security function, the app is a "read-only
service" and does not allow for funds to be moved within the app.
5. Better Haves: Designed for couples as an accountability spending
and budgeting system. Virtual envelopes are filled with money and as spending
occurs. it keeps expenses organized and easily tracked.
a. Positives: Free,
has the ability for multiple people to view the same information from different
devices, provides real time updates. The envelope system sends reminders to
both users when envelops are getting low and spending in that area needs to be
more closely monitored.
b. Negatives:
Still fairly new and has a few minor kinks that need to be tweaked. Involves a
lot of interaction with the app.
6. Shoeboxed-
provides a way to easily keep up with cash spending in addition to credit/debit
card spending. Based on pictures of your receipts, Shoeboxed collects and
organizes spending habits.
a. Positives:
Creates shareable expense reports, broad range of import and export methods
including pictures, email, and scanning.
b. Negatives:
Not updated in real time. Because everything is verified as accurate by a
Shoebox team member, each receipt can take up to an hour to become live in the
app.
c. Cost
options-DIY: Free; Lite: $9.95/month after free trial; Classic: $29.95/month
after free trial; Business: $49.95/month after free trial; Executive:
$99.95/month after free trial.
Don’t forget to follow Honor on Twitter @honorcu! Tweet us and let us know what you want to hear us talk about on Mason Jar Monday next week using #askhonorcu!
To hear 97.5 Y Country's Mark Durocher & Honor Credit Union's Scott McFarland talk about personal finance apps, click on the Mason Jar Monday episode below!
