Budget. Did you just get cold chills reading that word? It’s not a popular word, and it’s certainly not a popular idea. Typically, the idea of a budget is enough to take away any sense of fun you might have when thinking about spending your money. But, it doesn’t have to be.

There are several benefits to creating a monthly budget. When you have a budget in place, you instantly:

•     Make your money work for you
•     Assign each dollar in your account a job
•     You get 100% control of your money
•     You can track your expenses
•     You’ll relieve some of the stress that finances can bring
•     You will create a “safety net”

There are obvious benefits to creating and maintaining a budget, and there are just as many tools to help you budget as there are benefits.

So, where do you start?

First, figure out how much you make each month. Then, figure out how much you spend. Once you figure out what you’re bringing in vs. what you’re spending, you can start creating specific categories for your money. This is where you get to tell your money what to do.

Now, you’ve got a basic budget in place. You know what you’re making, what you’re spending, and your money has a specific goal. But, how do you keep track of all that information in a manageable way?

Budget apps! The great thing about budget apps – not only do they keep track of your budget, but you can take them with you everywhere you go. Check out some of the best budgeting apps for 2020.

Wally — Get the details of all your financial activity in an easy-to-digest template. Categorize spending destinations, set goals, and create charts. Wally provides you with the full picture of your account in a simple and colorful template. Easy to look at and easy to understand, Wally makes tracking and analyzing your financial habits easy.

Acorns — You know how it’s hard to overcome the mental hump of setting money aside? Well, Acorns removes that struggle from the equation. By rounding up each of your transactions to the nearest dollar, it puts the funds into an investment portfolio. This app looks out for “future you” and makes sure you always have a few acorns hidden away for a rainy day too.

Mint – Create budgets, track bills and receive a free credit report when you use Mint. However, it’s the budgeting feature that really makes Mint shine. It allows you to link your bank, loan, and credit card accounts and then uses the information from those accounts to suggest a budget for you based on your spending. Mint takes it a step further by breaking that spending down into categories like “entertainment,” “food and dining,” and shopping. The best part? You’ll be able to see how much you can save by cutting back in each category.

Mvelopes – A popular budgeting method is the envelope system, a style of budgeting, where you put cash in envelopes for different spending categories and when the envelope is empty, that budget category is spent for the month. This is great for people who like a cash only system, but for people who use credit and debit cards, this can be challenging. Enter Mvelopes, an app that makes it easy to follow cash style budgeting in a digital world.

Of course, while you’re downloading apps, make sure you’re using our mobile app! At First Financial, our app allows you to check your balances, transfer money, pay bills, review your spending and deposit checks remotely. Still have questions about budgeting and financial planning? Check out our handy budgeting guide, or make an appointment with one of our member service representatives and let us help get your budget on track!