For College Students

Best Money Management Tools for College Students

Here are our favorite money management tools to keep you organized and build smart money habits in college.

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As a college student, you know that managing your money is essential. You need to be able to afford food, textbooks, and rent. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to lose sight of your financial goals when you’re busy with life. It’s crucial to maintain perspective on expenditures by restricting consumption and creating a budget. When it comes to college students and money management tools, a budget is vital!

College students often have to make difficult choices regarding their money. Hanging out with friends or getting ready for study sessions, at first glance, you might think it’s no big deal to grab a few cups of coffee. But, hey, while you’re at it, maybe you’ll buy your friends a cup of coffee too. If you are like the average coffee drinker who consumes 3.1 cups a day and decides to purchase Starbucks every day (at $3.00 a cup), that’s $9.3/day, $65/week, or $1953/month. That could quickly go towards your books, rent, or other college expenses for the semester.

That’s why we’ve put together a list of the ten best money management tools for college students! These apps and websites can help you stay organized, accountable, and on track with your financial goals.

There are several excellent money management tools out there, but which one is right for you? This article will discuss the best money management tools for college students. We will talk about budgeting, tracking, and spending analysis apps. We will also provide tips on choosing the right tool for you! Check out our guide on money management for college students for more on this topic.

Budgeting Apps for College Students

Budgeting early on helps to develop good financial habits for the future. Have you heard of the 50/30/20 rule? A popular budgeting strategy that college students can use to stay on track. The idea behind this rule is that you should spend 50% of your income on necessary expenses, 30% on discretionary expenses, and 20% on savings or debt repayment. Of course, you can always adjust these percentages based on your financial situation.

Budgeting applications are fantastic for monitoring your spending and ensuring that you stay within your budget. With so many to choose from, which one is right for you? We’ve compiled a list of the best budgeting apps for college students!

Here are our top three budgeting application picks.

Intuit Mint Budgeting Application

Mint (formerly Mint.com, now Intuit Mint) is a free online budgeting tool that allows you to track your spending and create budgets. Mint is the parent company to intuit, which integrates tax tools to Turbo tax, bookkeeping tasks for QuickBooks, access to your free credit score through Credit Karma, and more. It has many features to personalize the application with unlimited “Sub-budget” categories. College students who work, have side gigs, or freelance may also find this application helpful.

You can also keep track of all your “Bills and Subscriptions” features with a dashboard that shows you a summary of all your accounts in one place. This application is intuitive, with more beta features released every month.

Mint’s budgeting tool has an easy download to your phone with its app available for Android and iOS devices. Where ever you go, you won’t miss out on your budget!

Mint is free to use and offers tools for improving your finance skills as you advance.

Check out our complete Mint review for college students for more details.

You Need a Budget (YNAB) Budgeting Tool

YNAB is another excellent budgeting tool for college students because it focuses on helping them change their spending habits. It does this by giving you “rules” to live by, such as the rule that you should only spend money that you have already earned.

It also has a feature that allows you to connect your bank account to the app and track your spending. Another great feature is called “Goal Tracker,” which helps you achieve specific financial goals. However, what is most impressive about this application is the “Smart Categorization” feature; it learns over time, which puts you directly in charge of your budget and gives you a firmer understanding of your spending.

YNAB is a paid budgeting app that helps you break down your spending into categories and save money.

EveryDollar Budgeting Application

EveryDollar is a budgeting tool that helps you create and stick to a budget. Some features allow you to assign all income to specific categories. For example, with categories of “planned,” “spent,” and “Remaining” features, college students can easily see where their money is going each month.

EveryDollar’s application primarily focuses on budgeting with a detailed breakdown of all transactions. This app also has a “Debt Tracking” feature which college students may find helpful in keeping track of debt, interest, and payments. In addition, EveryDollar has a dashboard that allows you to see all of your accounts in one place. This application is also available for download on Android and iOS devices.

We like this app because it is simple and easy to use. College students who freelance or have multiple jobs may also find this application helpful due to its customizability. It also has a feature called “Bill Pay,” which allows you to pay your bills online.

EveryDollar has a free trial then goes to paid options. It’s one of the most user-friendly applications for budgeting.

Tracking Apps for College Students

Many college students look at their bank accounts and wonder where their funds went. With a tracking application, you can see where your money is going each month. A tracking application will also help you identify areas to cut back on spending.

If you want to track your spending, there are a lot of great tracking apps out there.

Here are our top three Tracking Application picks.

Personal Capital Tracking Application

Personal Capital is a free online and mobile tracking tool that tracks your net worth, asset allocation, and portfolio performance. It also offers a “Socially Responsible Personal Strategy (SRI)” to help you support and invest in ESG.

Personal Capital is great for college students because it helps you keep track of all your finances in one place.

Clarity Money (Marcus) Tracking Application

Clarity Money is a free app that allows you to track your spending, income, and debt. It also has a feature called “Bill Pay,” which will enable you to pay your bills online. It’s also available online and through mobile downloads.

Goodbudget Tracking Application

Goodbudget is a free app with premium features you can upgrade to. It helps you track your spending and income. A nostalgic method with a modern approach with the “envelope system” feature that uses virtual envelopes. It also has a feature called “Budget Reports,” which allows you to see how well you are doing financially.

Spending Analysis Apps for College Students

Analyzing your spending habits puts you in control of your finances. By understanding where you are spending your money, you can decide how to save more money.

If you want to track your spending and see where you can cut back, there are a lot of excellent spending analysis apps out there.

Here are our top three Spending Analysis picks.

Money Lover Expense Manager Spending Analysis Application

Money Lover Expense Manager is a free app that helps you track your expenses, income, and debt. It also has a feature that allows you to compare your current month’s budget with the previous The app offers a daily reminder you can schedule to help you stay on track with your budget. You can only download it on the iPhone or iPad.

Wally Spending Analysis Application

Wally is a free app that allows you to track your spending and income. It also has a feature called “Reports,” which helps you see how well you are doing financially. You gain access through the IOS application.

Monarch Spending Analysis Application

Monarch is started with a free trial then plan options that allow you to track your spending, income, and debt. It also has a feature called “Collaborators” which enables you to collaborate with a partner or household members.

How to Choose the Right Money Management Tool for You

When choosing a money management tool, it is important to consider your needs and preferences. Here are some tips on how to choose the right tool for you.

Budgeting Apps

Budgeting apps are great for people who want to track their spending and create budgets. They are generally easy to use and have a lot of features. More features give you more control over your finances.

Tracking Apps

Tracking apps are great for people who want to track their spending and see where they can cut back. They usually have detailed reports showing how much you have spent in each category.

Spending Analysis Apps

Spending analysis apps are great for people who want to track their spending and see where they can save money. They usually have detailed reports that show you how much you have spent in each category over a period of time.

Choosing the right money management tool is essential! But, make sure to consider your needs and preferences before deciding. Managing your money can be exciting when using the right tools. Best of all, most of the applications have some really great dashboards that make it fun to track your progress!

What is your favorite money management tool? Let us know!

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About the Author

Simone Feagen

Simone is a career coach whose clients have included Fortune 500 companies, healthcare industry professionals, and many more. She is a mother and has Six Sigma Lean Black Belt Professional (LBBP) and Six Sigma Champion Certified (SSCC) certifications from the Management and Strategy Institute.

Last updated on: January 6, 2023