Whether you spend more time on your computer than maybe a tablet or phone, or you just prefer to have your budgeting and workspace consolidated on your computer. Whatever the case, you decided to click on this article so that I can show you the absolute best free computer software that will help you budget and keep track of your finances.
Also, none of these options are necessarily better than the other, they are all different and offer their own unique benefits. I will mention the one that I personally use, but again, try them out, and hopefully, I can help you out in choosing the right budgeting software that works best for your needs.
Every Dollar
Starting out, Every Dollar makes its way on this list because of the reputation behind the software. I’m sure most, if not everyone has heard about Dave Ramsey.
He and his team have released this software to help you budget and well ultimately the purpose of this software is to help you budget in order to pay off credit.
Now, unfortunately, the free version won’t automatically connect to your bank account so you’ll need to manually input your financial details, which I mean for some people that’s a big deal, and for others it may be something you can compromise on.
The UI is clean and easy to navigate. I mean with most software now you’ll be getting a clean and modern UI but it’s nice to see that this one has it too.
You’re able to customize your budget, you get pie charts of your income and budget allocations, as well as some options in setting up some budgeting for savings.
You know overall I think it’s a pretty solid software and it also comes with a mobile app to pair with it, if that interests you.
Link: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/ramseyplus/everydollar
GoodBudget
GoodBudget is another great choice that you should look into. Again, the UI is clean and easy to work with and the real benefit to GoodBudget is the ability to link it up with other members of your family to set a budget together.
This is best for you and your partner, well, if you both are on the same financial page or not and that’s obviously up to your specific relationship.
Anyway, this one is more of a mobile slash web application more than anything else but it works out great and I had no issues with it.
Their whole budgeting methodology is based on this envelope type system. Essentially it’s a visualization of where your budgeting is going by placing money in these virtual envelopes.
Which, I mean, I like it a lot and it kind of makes things simple and easy to track that way.
So I think this is a good option if you want to find something to help budget with multiple members or if the envelope thing sounds interesting to you then go ahead and check out GoodBudget.
Link: https://goodbudget.com/
Google Sheets
I don’t need any introduction to this one since most everyone knows about google sheets. Now, this one isn’t necessarily computer software but it’s most definitely the most powerful and customizable on this list.
Granted you’ll need some more experience and some idea of how to navigate google sheets but if you put a little time in, it definitely does pay off.
Now, I don’t use google sheets because even though I had an entire class dedicated to google sheets and excel in college, I ultimately don’t have much interest in using it.
I know it’s great and amazing but I’m more of the type to use an application or something to help me with stuff like that.
That’s me though, so if you aren’t like me, google sheets actually have some really great budgeting presets that you can use and start out with.
It’s completely free and again, if you have the interest in getting into the more advanced stuff, google sheets are definitely capable of that.
Mint
So one of the most popular and prevalent budgeting software to use is Mint. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of and or used the applications, TurboTax, Credit Karma, and QuickBooks. Well, the same group is behind Mint, so this should give you a pretty good idea of the quality and capabilities of Mint.
I know a lot of friends that use this and I’ve even used it myself in previous years. It’s honestly great and allows you to make separate sections and save allocations for various things.
Another benefit is that not only does this track your credit cards, checking, and saving accounts, but you can also track your investments too.
You can also track your subscriptions and it’ll help show what you spend on most.
The UI is just about as good as you can get and the ability to track your spending and make easy-to-navigate goals is a good reason to check out Mint.
Link: https://mint.intuit.com/
True Bill
The list isn’t in any particular order and one isn’t intrinsically better than the other, but True Bill is the option on this list that I personally use. This one just works out best for me and as of right now, I use this each and every day.
Straight away this app will help you cancel unwanted subscriptions for free. I actually had a recurring bill that I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. I ended up sending in a request through True Bill and their team went out and contacted whoever it was and canceled that bill.
This was huge to me because you just don’t see that anywhere else. The UI and capabilities of True Bill are just about in line with what Mint can do.
You can easily set some automatic savings to your goals but mostly I think True Bill is best for tracking your budget and setting up some parameters for yourself.
One other bonus that I think is helpful is that True Bill will automatically tell you what categories you are spending most in. Whether that be fast food, electronics, or whatever it may be.
True Bill is something that I definitely recommend trying out.