By Shipra Singh
Budgeting is indispensable to keeping your finances in order. While the task of monitoring each and every penny you spend may seem daunting, it actually is not. Budgeting apps have made money management easier than ever.
Budgeting apps let you monitor, save and invest your money with a few taps on your smartphone. Entrepreneur India sifted through various money management apps available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store, and zeroed down on four most helpful apps across categories. What more? These services are free of cost.
1. ET Money
This Times Internet-backed expense tracker plus investment management app lets you do it all on one platform. Apart from tracking your expenses, ET Money offers several financial products, such as mutual funds, gold deposit and insurance. It also offers unsecured personal loans of up to INR 20 lakh.Basic Features: It tracks and records expenses through SMSes;
Offers investment options in direct and regular mutual fund schemes and gold deposits;
Lets you track investments made through the app as well as made externally;
Gives motor, health, and term insurance buying option.
Specialty: Unique “SmartDeposit” option lets you deposit and withdraw money in Nippon India Liquid Fund in less than two minutes.
Ratings: 4.6 stars, 5 million+ downloads
2. Walnut
Walnut is one of the first players in the money management app space. It has largely stuck to its original product of expense tracking and has not experimented with other financial services too much. This focused approach and friendly user interface make Walnut one of the easy-to-use expense trackers in the space.Basic features: It tracks and auto-organizes all expenses by reading SMSes;
Lets you check your bank balance and gives monthly summaries on the spending pattern;
Detects bills automatically and sends timely reminders;
Allows BHIM UPI transfers;
Walnut Prime (at no extra cost) offers unsecured loans up to INR 5 lakh to its users.
Specialty: It lets record and split expenses with friends and settle them through the app itself.
Ratings: 4.3 stars, 5 million+ downloads
3. HomeBudget
A basic money management app that lets multiple members of a family manage their cash flow as well as investments on a single app. However, unlike other apps, HomeBudget does not track expenses through SMSes, so you will have to manually add/edit/delete all expenses.Basic features: It adds income and expenses to manage cash flow;
Sets bill reminders to avoid defaulting on payments.
Specialty: The family synch feature lets multiple devices within the family share information and work on a single budget.
Ratings: 4.4 stars, 10,000+ downloads
4. Slonkit
One of its kind, Slonkit lets parents of children aged 10-18 to manage their child’s pocket money and teaches children smart ways of money management. This is done by issuing a Visa-powered prepaid Slonkit card in the child’s name, which can be instantly charged from any debit or credit card. Slonkit card offers a variety of discounts and cashbacks on transactions.The parent can set budget on the card, track expenses, set alerts and create spending limits through the app.
Basic features: It records expenses;
Gives tips for money management;
Lets you manage Slonkit card. You can transfer money, freeze or even discontinue the card in one tap.
Specialty: Parents can monitor their kid’s expenses, set a budget for them and limit their spending.
Ratings: 4.3 stars, 50,000+ downloads
The Epoch Times Copyright © 2022 The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.
