An important piece of advice before you go any further
Okay, we admit that courtesy of Google it has now become possible to turn your android phone into your financial advisor, planner and assistant; but, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind before you dive head-on into the android market to scout for apps that would allow you to manage your finances better. First: It is a good idea to check with your bank first before you pay for financial applications for your android phone. Banks understand mobile banking and also the demands of their customers, so, you should first check with them if they have any specialized applications. The second most important thing that you need to keep in mind is security of your transactions and also your smart phone; you need to be able to make sure that the applications can be accessed only by you and not anyone who has your phone.
Another very important thing that you need to understand is no single application would be able to perform accurately if you don’t feed it with data continuously. So, you have to make a commitment to inputting and maintaining all the data – if you can’t do that, app functionality would be limited and you can’t expect it to change your spending habits or bring more discipline into your budgeting.
Here are the top four finance applications for android phones:
Easy Money
If you are looking for an expense tracker and budget planner application for android, Easy Money is just the thing you need. You would be able to track your expenses and stick to your budget very easily using the powerful yet intuitive user interface designed specifically for android platforms. Easy Money notifies you about recurring transactions, overdue bill notifications and also status of transfers between accounts. The Easy Money home screen allows you to add new transactions without even opening the application and your account summary would always be a “tap” away. It has a color-coded budget format so you know when you are overspending and also allows you to export all data in a CSV format for a structured spreadsheet analysis. You can try out the application for free for 30 days but after that you would have to shell out $9.95 and this application definitely looks worth its salt.
Nickel tracker personal budgeting app
This is one application that ties your hands the moment you spend a buck above your budget. Nickel lets you set up monthly or weekly budget limits and then you need to enter your daily purchases everyday throughout the week; the moment you go over your budget, the application is going to alert you. If you want to figure out where you went wrong, you can e-mail yourself a monthly summary right from the application itself in a spreadsheet format. The program basically uses the concept of envelope budgeting to help you abide by your budget. And, the good news is that it’s absolutely free!
Pageonce Personal Finance
If you are looking for some serious application that will allow you to track your bank accounts, credit cards, pending bills and investments and everything else that can give you a nightmare, Pageonce Personal Finance is just the thing for you. This application is more often a personal manager and apart from managing financial stuff, it also tracks your cell phone minutes, travel itineraries and frequent flyer miles. You can also check on your Netflix queue, Facebook account and eBay account and a different other social networking accounts using this software. The premium version even provides real-time information about flights. Yes, you guessed it right – there are both free and premium versions. The free version has limited functionalities and is ad supported unlike the premium version. The only drawback that Pageonce Personal Finance has is it does not have a budgeting feature.
Mint
If you are looking for a perfect finance watchdog, you might want to have an account with Mint. Just like almost all other finance applications, Mint tracks your transactions, gives you real-time information on account balances, alerts you every time you stray out of budget, alerts you about unusual spending activity (is very useful when your account balance is not at the top of your mind) and also alerts you when you have low account balance. The Mint android widget would also allow you to have screenshots of overall cash transactions and receive your account summary right on your home screen without having to launch the application. Well, this is also a free application, but you need to have a Mint.com account.
Robb Biggs is a finance writer and money saving expert who writes for a number of well known finance blogs on subjects ranging from the UK Payday Loans market to debt advice and worldwide money matters.
