When it comes to getting out of debt, a monthly budget is essential. Free budgeting apps can help.
As life happens — it’s messy and complicated — and when we’re running around dealing with things, we might forget to consult a Word document tucked away in an office computer or a few scribbled figures on the back of an envelope.
That’s why it makes perfect sense to use something that most of us carry with us at all times — our smartphones.
There are countless budgeting apps on the market, many of them free or very low cost. They can act like a little personal accountant, monitoring our spending and letting us know when we’re getting off track.
Most of them also let you see your interest rates on each debt and how long it will take to pay off each one. No need to get bogged down in complex calculations.
Here’s a look at three of the best free budgeting apps out there and how they can help you achieve your goal of debt freedom.
Mint
Among the most popular budgeting apps, Mint is free and available for both desktop and mobile. The ingenious and motivating “Goals” feature allows you to easily define targets for paying off your debts.
It’s not just about your credit cards — it’ll help you with your mortgage, student loan, and anything else you’ve got, and it can link to your bank account.
Mint will show you at a glance how far you are along the repayment road and offer advice on how to get there quicker.
Credit Card Payoff
Credit Card Payoff is a free Android budget app that can help you do just what its name suggests. Enter your credit card info, and it will automatically track your debt. It can also calculate the monthly payments you’ll need to make in order to pay off your debt within a set amount of time.
The elegant design includes graphs to show you what your custom payoff plan looks like compared to your current plan, a vivid glimpse at total interest paid and other information related to different payoff scenarios.
Tally
Another free budget app, Tally is more proactive than most. Focused on credit card debt, it helps you avoid juggling paperwork and interest rates by rolling all your cards together and devising the best strategy for paying them off. You can set a timeline for when you want to be rid of the debt, and it’ll tell you how you much you need to pay.
What’s more, if you have a good credit score, Tally even offers its own low-APR line of credit that can be used to pay off and replace high-APR credit card debts. You can ask Tally to check whether you qualify, and it’ll run a soft check that won’t damage your credit score.
The bottom line
These are just a few of the dozens of great debt-reducing budget apps out there. Why not give one of them a try and let the algorithms of the modern age smooth your path to becoming debt-free?
