Our everyday money management activities can get a bit overwhelming as it takes time and concentration to manage and keep an up-to-date records on our finances. Personal money management software takes the hassle out of this task and makes it much easier to get it done. Our monetary activities include budgeting, monitoring credit cards, retirement planning, reconciling bank accounts and income tax management.
Features of good personal money management software include online banking, investing, planning and reporting. Here are the top five financial software available for personal money management.
1. Quicken
Quicken offers a number of personal money management software programs that will meet the needs of your Family’s Budget Manager. This software provider is one of the most experienced companies in this field. Their software is up-to-date, user-friendly and the packages are feature-rich. Packages include:
* Quicken online – This is their online money management software that is aimed at getting the beginner familiar with personal money management software and how to use it. As a basic package, Quicken online is very secure and allows you to do the following:
- View all of your accounts in one place.
- Use the budgeting tools to set your budget, pay bills, manage Credit Cards and save. The tool is equipped with step-by-step instructions on how to carry out each activity.
- Use simple graphs to show your spending, income and balances.
- Receive bill alerts.
- Other Quicken tools include Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Premier, and Quicken Essentials for Mac.
2. AceMoney
One of the more advanced Personal Finance Software packages is supplied by MechCAD. This package is known as AceMoney. The software is easy to use and packed with features. Users are able to manage multiple accounts quite easily, track your spending habits and use one of the many reporting options.
AceMoney lacks some of the key features of its competitors, but is still a great personal finance software. AceMoney key features include the ability to:
- Manage multiple accounts
- Track investments
- Track spending
- Allow creation of budgets
This is another  online money management software tool that has gained popularity because it is free of charge, easy to set up and the budgeting tools are also easy to use. Mint automatically retrieves the user’s latest financial data from the financial institutions they use online. It then integrates the collected information with its service and carries out an analysis.
Mint is especially popular among those who find other feature-rich software too complex to understand. The software offers users features such as budgeting tools, charts and alerts that makes it much easier for them to manage their finances.
4. You Need a Budget or YNAB Pro
This personal money management software focuses mainly on budgeting. It has three basic goals.
- Help the user gain control of their personal money.
- Help the user get out of debt.
- Help the user reach his or her financial goals.
If the user overspends on one category of the budget for one month, the software deducts the overspent amount from that category of the budget for the next month.
5. PocketSmith
If you are a more visual person you might like PocketSmith which allows you to manage your income, bill pay and other events based on a calendar. You simply enter the events and it will help you track your finances. Since most people know what day they get paid and what day their bills are due, this approach makes managing your money easy.
Editor’s Note:
Here are a few more for good measure:
Another good money management software worthy of your consideration is Mvelopes Personal it works similarly to the old envelope system of dividing up your money but it is done entirely online so you have access from anywhere.
PearBudget began as a simple spreadsheet created by a husband and wife team and grew into a simple to use online budget software that is easy to use and flexible. It allows you to create your own categories. It is designed specifically for budgeting, it lets you designate expenses as monthly or irregular (things that happen a few times a year like taxes or insurance) and helps you budget appropriately.
See Also:
- Go Pro as the Family’s Budget Manager
- What You Need to Know About Deducting Travel Expenses
- High Performance Savings Accounts
- Term vs. Whole Life Insurance – What Should You Choose?
- The Wealthy Buy Assets, the Poor Buy Liabilities, and the Middle Class Buy Liabilities Believing They Are Assets
Recommended by Amazon:
- How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any
- TurboTax Deluxe Federal + E-File + State
- J.K. Lasser’s Your Income Tax Preparation Guide
- You Need A Budget
Photo Credits: By StevenGroves