Free Financial Management Tools
Financial management tools help people and businesses create and track a budget, generate reports about where money is being spent each month, list current available balances in various accounts and help save and plan for retirement. Many tools and services are available, but most cost you money, which might be hard to justify if you do not have much money to spend. However, there are free online money management tools.
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Mint
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Mint is one of the most popular free money management tools, with over 1 million new users signing up between 2008 and 2009, according to the Cash Money Life website. When you create your Mint account, you enter the account information for all your bank, credit card, loan, investment and other financial accounts. Mint tracks them all for you in one place. It lets you know the current balance, payment history and upcoming payment information. Mint also analyzes your spending and saving habits, and makes suggestions as to how you can improve your overall financial management. The service also suggests alternative products and services to those you already use, like lower interest credit cards, athough the recommendations are all supplied by third parties and not by Mint.
BudgetPulse
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BudgetPulse tracks your budget and financial habits with a simple interface. According to the Ms. Career Girl and Cash Money Life websites, the service is good for creating budgets and tracking spending. BudgetPulse provides a high level of security; you do not enter any of your banking or account information in your BudgetPulse account. Also, it tracks your finances in many different currencies, which is an attractive feature for people who do international business or who often travel to other countries .
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Yodlee
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Yodlee is one of the oldest free money management tools, according to the Ms. Career Girl and Cash Money Life websites. Unlike other tools, the emphasis is not on budgeting, but rather on giving a high-level overview and analysis of your overall financial health. You can track your overall net worth, as well as monitor all investments, mortgages, 401(k) accounts and personal money accounts. You can pay bills directly through the service, and you can share information with others, such as a business partner, spouse or financial advisor. Yodlee does provide the option of creating and tracking budgets.
Buxfer
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Buxfer is an online and desktop application that automatically downloads account information but keeps the information offline, safely stored on your desktop rather than an online third-party server. You can manually input your transaction information, or connect it to your accounts to get the information. It also has messaging capability and forums to create more of a community environment. The basic service is free, but there are two additional versions that cost a few dollars a month. Additional features include unlimited account setup and bill-pay reminders.
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