7 Free Tools to Assist You in Managing Your Money Like A Pro: If you value your money, this post is for you!
There are several applications and websites that may assist you with budgeting, investing, and saving money. You no longer have to remember everything and jot it down in an old notebook.
Keeping this in mind, here are seven of the finest free money-saving tools.
Google Spreadsheets
Google Sheets is a robust spreadsheet program. I use Sheets to keep track of my investments and net worth. Sheets make tracking expenses straightforward, and there are various free budget templates available.
Google Finance has an easy-to-use interface for importing stock, ETF, and mutual fund data. Most exchange-traded funds and mutual funds allow you to track the price, name, and even cost ratio.
The spreadsheet tracks the performance of equities, ETFs, and mutual funds. It also maintains track of my asset allocation and notifies me when it is time to rebalance.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is maybe the best all-around money app. This free tool assists you in keeping track of your spending, income, bank accounts, credit cards, home value, bitcoin, and taxable and retirement investment accounts. Its most attractive features are around investing.
When you connect your retirement and investment accounts, Personal Capital gives a wealth of information about your portfolio. You may examine your asset allocation, investment fees, and retirement progress. Its Fee Analyzer computes the weighted average cost of your assets as well as the impact these charges will have on your wealth over time. Furthermore, its Investment Analyzer examines your portfolio and makes investment recommendations based on your risk tolerance.
Personal Capital can also track dividends and interest on your assets. It tracks bills as they become due. It also contains a savings planner to aid you in attaining your savings goals. Personal Capital offers smartphone and tablet apps in addition to a website.
Mint
Mint was among the earliest internet budgeting tools. Customers, like Personal Capital, may connect their accounts to Mint to handle anything from budgeting to investing. Mint also contains bill and subscription monitors, as well as credit monitoring features.
Personal Capital is focused on investors, whereas Mint is geared toward budgets. You may establish expense categories, set savings objectives, and track your payments. Mint makes money through advertising, so you may expect to see personalized offers for credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial products.
Portfolio Visualizer
Portfolio Visualizer should not be used as a budgeting tool. Rather, it gives consumers tools for assessing their investments. When you enter your investments, Portfolio Visualize provides information on performance and risk, among other things. You may also compare your portfolio to other low-maintenance portfolios like the 3-Fund Portfolio.
Furthermore, the instrument includes a host of other possibilities. Monte Carlo simulations may be used to model a portfolio. It allows you to make lump sum deposits, monthly payments, and withdrawals, making it useful regardless of your investment level. It also offers factor analysis, portfolio optimization, and forecasting models (e.g., momentum).
Morningstar
Another respected fund manager is Morningstar. While there is a cost involved, you may track your portfolio for free (minus some premium features like X-Ray). The drawback is that users must manually enter and manage their portfolios. On the bright side, Morningstar offers some of the most comprehensive data, ETFs, and mutual funds available to individual investors.
Goodbudget
Goodbudget is a budgeting program that uses the envelope principle. Goodbudget, which is accessible in both free and subscription versions, includes tools for controlling debt and creating savings goals. The program is mobile device friendly, allowing users to sync and manage their funds across many platforms.
Furthermore, Goodbudget provides a Bootcamp for those who are new to budgeting and money management. The Bootcamp covers everything from emergency fund savings to couple budgeting to home ownership.
Trim
Finally, Trim works with clients to help them save money. Trim analyzes your spending when you link accounts to identify places where you might save money. Trim will negotiate on your behalf to reduce your monthly spending on everything from your phone bill to medical costs after receiving your permission. It also detects any expired subscriptions that you may like to cancel.
It is entirely free to create an account. If you enable Trim to bargain on your behalf and Trim saves you money, Trim charges a fee equal to 15% of the amount saved during the first year. Trim claims that its customers save $620 on average.
Final Thoughts
The sheer number of new financial products competing for our time and money might be overwhelming. Fortunately, many of the tools described above are free (though some may have paid versions) and cover almost every aspect of our financial life. Personal Capital, in our opinion, is the most adaptable, yet all of them offer useful features to help you manage your money.