The Top 5 Budget Apps For 2022

Does anyone else feel like all of their friends just seem to have it *together* with their money? While you’re just freewheeling in pure financial chaos? 

The truth is, most of us are out here learning about money the hard way. There’s just this annoying taboo around money that means none of us talk about it (shout out to the true friends who understand how broke we really are) 👀

Lack of education on financial literacy, soaring inflation, a pandemic and huge household debt all contribute to the shitstorm that has left 64% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. 

To most people (evidently not us at Cleo) budgeting isn’t the sexiest topic in the world, but it’s a necessary part of fixing your financial health.  Because you shouldn't be carrying all that stress around in your brain, babes. Let the robots do it for you. 

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This is where budgeting apps come in 📱

Two questions you want to ask when choosing the one for you 💍

1. What features can I access for free, if any?
2. Do these features work for my specific circumstances and goals?

We’ve considered ‘em, and found the best budgeting apps for 2022 -  so you don’t have to.

Lessdoit. 

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Best all-rounder budget app: Mint 🍃

The pros of choosing Mint as your budgeting app: 

✔️It’s freeeeee

✔️It syncs to all your accounts: checking and savings, loans, investments, bills. 

✔️ Mint provides budget categories for you and automatically sorts your spending into them. You can then personalize these categories and set limits for yourself, and Mint notifies you when you’re reaching these limits. 

✔️ Mint also shows you your credit score 

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We had to really scrape the barrel for cons to Mint, which are:

❌ You can’t join accounts, so it’s not great for household budgeting 

❌Avoid Mint if you aren’t a fan of a slightly medical shade of green 

❌ Since Mint is a free app, it does gain revenue by selling the shit out of its users’ data (although this is made anonymous)

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Best Hands-On budget app: You Need A Budget ✋

✔️ YNAB allows for greater personalisation that other apps, and it’s super sensitive to your specific spending habits. 

✔️On top of your typical budget, YNAB allows you to create goals and monthly payments to pay off unexpected bills such as car repairs.

✔️If you spend more in one category, you can balance this out by moving funds from another category.

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YNAB has one pretty big downside:

❌ You have to pay either $14.99 per month or $98.99 a year to use, although you can try it out with a free month’s trial. College students can get a free year with YNAB. 

❌ If you’re willing to invest in your budgeting app, this one’s for you, but it might not be the best if you are totally broke.

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Best for envelope budgeting: Good Budget ✉️

✔️Goodbudget is more about planning your budget than tracking your spending. 

Everyone budgets differently, and this one will work for you if you just want some help portioning out your monthly budget. 

✔️ The envelope budgeting system is basically where you sort your monthly income into spending categories (or envelopes)

✔️ Goodbudget offers a free version with limited envelopes, and you pay to access more

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❌The app doesn’t connect bank accounts. You manually add account balances that you can pull from your own online banking page. So this might not be the best for you if you really need an app to hold you accountable and track every dollar. 

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Best budget app for couples: HoneyDue 🍯

✔️ Most household budgeting occurs in…households. HoneyDue allows you to collaborate with your partner on the household budget. 

✔️ The app has three sections: each partner’s individual expenses and a section where shared expenses appear

✔️ There’s a shared calendar for bills

✔️HoneyDue is free to use 

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❌Although HoneyDue is free, it uses advertisements that appear while you’re using the app

Our COMPLETELY UNBIASED favorite budget app: Cleo 💙

Look, yes, it is a plug, but we’ve put it last because we’re humble 🙈

🔍 By syncing your accounts, Cleo allows you to track your daily ins and outs, manage bills and rent, and make your own saving goals

📊 She divides your spending into categories, which you can personalize, and will tell you your top merchants  

🔥 If you need someone to hold you accountable for your chaotic spending habits, check out roast mode. If you’re feeling too financially delicate for a roast rn, hype mode is for you

💙 All of these are free features on the app. In the paid version, you also get access to our Credit Builder (if you need to unf*ck your credit), and avoid payday loans or overdraft fees with the cash advance feature

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And that concludes our tour of the best budgeting apps for 2023. Congrats, you’ve taken the first step towards fixing your financial health. Budget off into the sunset, bae 💘 

Enjoy this post? Def give it a share or send it along to a friend. You never know, it could make a big difference. And of course, if you want to try the best money app in the world for free, just hit this link right here.

Big love. Cleo 💙

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