Online Tools for Money Management
Just in case you have been under a rock for the last week, the United States government is in shut down mode and the state of the economy is at best in limbo, depending on which side of the argument you are listening to. Therefore many Americans and international investors are trying to sort out what this mess means for their financial future. The question that arises in this economic climate is how to protect the bit of money you have and where to track your income, expenditures, investments, and savings; more importantly, how to simply safeguard yourself.
Learning to track and monitor your money in multiple locations is the best way to monitor your spending and development of savings for the future. There are multiple apps available through your bank, credit union, employer, and investment program, but the trick is finding one streamlined sites that offers you security and flexibility.
FlexScore
This personal finance site calculates your financial score based on how you manage your money. You take the 15-20 minutes to enter all your information and the site helps you track and monitor important financial decisions. For example you earn points when you lower you mortgage rate or lose points when you move money to a stock that is not profiting. Each step of your financial life is tracked and you are guided to other decisions. This tool helps you to become a better planner and work around the difficult financial decisions life might offer. Senior Analyst at Corporate Insight, Doug Miller, says that users are not just making decisions for the mere growth of points, but to see tangible changes in financial status. When choosing FlexScore users should know that the program does not offer a human advisor and there is no household score function so married couples will need to track their score separately.
Mint.com
Get your finances organized and working for you through Mint.com. This innovative website has worked to convert the doubters to their side through their partnership with the IRS and fast return updates. By entering all your account information into their secure encrypted server, Mint will notify you of all your transactions and how your budget is being met. During tax season, Mint.com will track your IRS activity and any refund or payments in your future. Mint will help you budget and graph all your expenditures. You will be able to see how much you spend at Starbucks opposed to the grocery store. Mint allows you to set goals, a budget and target savings plans. This is a good online tool especially for those just starting out.
Budget Tracker
At Budget tracker you get a complete online money management tool. It is pretty simple to login in, enter your information, and track your money and tools. You can use the app on your computer, mobile phone, or iPad. Flexibility and reliability are the more important tools are you get started for free. Reviewed and tested by Kiplinger.com magazine, Budget tracker stands up to professional scrutiny while offering tracking of expenditures and spending as well as scheduled incomes from paychecks, dividends, rentals, and other payments. If you are a person with multiple rentals or online business, then budget tracker will help you monitor where your money is and where it is going.
Yodlee MoneyCenter
At Yodlee, you are going to find the guts of the online money management world. They offer you hundreds of tools that will streamline your banking and financial services and if you are already using Thrive or Mint, you are going to recognized some rebranded Yodlee services. You really cannot go wrong with Yodlee. The graphics and flashiness is scaled back, but the functionality, organization, and transactions are top notch. You will find you have more control with the variety of options to tweak and monitor. Your financial decisions are quite literally always at your fingertips on Yodlee.
