Budgeting has a reputation for being complicated. For some people, the word brings to mind spreadsheets, receipts, calculators, and hours spent categorizing purchases. Technology has changed that experience considerably.
Today, budgeting apps can organize transactions, display spending patterns, create categories, track recurring expenses, and bring financial information together in one place. Different apps approach budgeting in different ways, which can make learning about them a useful introduction to the different methods people use to understand their everyday finances.
What Budgeting Apps Actually Do
Budgeting apps generally take financial information and organize it in ways that may be easier to understand. Depending on the app, users may be able to connect financial accounts, manually enter transactions, create spending categories, establish goals, monitor recurring expenses, or view reports showing how their financial activity changes over time.
Features, costs, privacy practices, security measures, and account connectivity vary by provider. TBO Bank does not endorse or recommend the third party applications discussed below. They are included as examples of commonly available budgeting tools and approaches.
Before connecting a bank account to any third party service, consumers should review the provider’s current terms, privacy policies, security practices, fees, and permissions.
1. YNAB
YNAB, originally known as You Need A Budget, approaches budgeting around planning how available money will be used.
Its system is commonly associated with the idea of giving each dollar a purpose. Users can connect eligible financial accounts to import transactions automatically and use categories to organize their financial activity. The service also offers goal tracking, reports, and the ability to share a subscription with other members of a household.
Rather than simply showing where money has already gone, YNAB emphasizes planning and categorization. That makes it an example of a more hands on approach to budgeting.
2. PocketGuard
PocketGuard takes a somewhat different approach. The platform can connect financial accounts and organize information involving income, expenses, bills, transactions, savings, and other financial activity.
Among its current features are transaction categorization, recurring expense tracking, spending insights, financial goals, and budgeting tools. It also supports several budgeting approaches, including zero based, envelope, and 50/30/20 budgeting.
PocketGuard illustrates how budgeting applications can bring information from multiple financial sources into a single interface. Some features require a paid subscription, so consumers should review current pricing and functionality before deciding whether a service meets their needs.
3. Goodbudget
Goodbudget brings a much older budgeting concept into the digital world: the envelope method.
Traditional envelope budgeting involves separating available money into different categories, historically represented by physical envelopes. One envelope might represent groceries, another entertainment, and another household expenses.
Goodbudget creates digital versions of those categories. The service is available through the web and mobile devices and also allows household budgets to be shared.
It is a good example of how technology has not necessarily replaced traditional budgeting concepts. In some cases, it has simply created new ways to organize and visualize them.
4. Honeydue
Household finances can become more complicated when more than one person is involved. Honeydue is designed specifically around couples who want to view and discuss financial activity together.
The app can connect different types of financial accounts, provide bill reminders, and allow partners to communicate about individual transactions. Users can also control what financial information they choose to share with one another.
Honeydue demonstrates another category of budgeting technology: tools built around collaboration rather than solely individual expense tracking.
5. Your Bank’s Mobile Banking App
A separate budgeting application is not the only place consumers can review their financial activity.
Mobile banking can provide direct access to checking and savings account information, including balances and recent transactions. That information can make it easier to recognize recurring payments, review purchases, monitor deposits, and understand how money has moved through an account.
For someone primarily interested in understanding the activity taking place within their bank accounts, these built in tools may provide useful information without introducing another third party application.
TBO Bank customers can learn more about available features through TBO Bank Mobile Banking.
Different Apps Reflect Different Budgeting Styles
One of the interesting things about budgeting technology is how differently these applications approach the same basic problem.
YNAB emphasizes assigning available money to categories. Goodbudget digitizes the envelope method. PocketGuard brings together transactions and other financial information. Honeydue emphasizes shared household finances. Mobile banking provides direct visibility into activity involving bank accounts.
None of these approaches is universally appropriate for every person or household. Some consumers enjoy detailed categories and planning, while others primarily want an easier way to see recent transactions.
Understanding those differences can make the broader concept of budgeting easier to understand.
Consider Privacy and Security Before Connecting Accounts
There is another important consideration whenever a budgeting application asks to connect to a financial account: data security and privacy.
Third party financial applications may use outside services or other technology to connect with financial institutions. How information is accessed, stored, shared, and protected can vary by provider.
Before providing financial information or account access to a third party application, consumers should understand what information the service can access, how it protects that information, whether information is shared with other companies, and how access can be removed.
TBO Bank provides additional information about protecting personal and financial information through our Online Security resources.
Budgeting Tools Provide Information, Not Answers
No budgeting application can determine what someone’s financial priorities should be.
What these tools can do is organize information. They can show transactions, group expenses, identify recurring activity, and present financial information in ways that may be easier to understand.
The decisions made with that information remain personal.
Income, housing, family size, debt, location, lifestyle, and individual priorities can all influence someone’s financial circumstances. An app that works well for one household may not fit another household at all.
Final Thoughts
Budgeting apps have made it easier to see financial information in new ways. Some focus on detailed planning, others organize spending into categories, and some are designed specifically for households managing money together.
There is no single budgeting app that is appropriate for everyone, and using one is not necessary to better understand everyday financial activity.
Sometimes the most valuable feature is simply visibility. Whether that comes from a budgeting application or your bank’s digital tools, being able to see balances, transactions, and recurring activity can make the financial side of everyday life easier to understand.
At TBO Bank, we believe modern banking technology should complement the personal relationships that have always defined community banking. Customers can use convenient digital tools to access account information while still having local people available in Orrick and Prairie Village when they have questions about TBO Bank accounts and services.
