Technology now makes everybody’s life easier — from navigation to voice assistants to smart home appliances — but you may not know that there are apps designed to improve your financial health. It takes a lot of data to make a good financial plan, from counting each expense to tracking monthly income. The work can feel overwhelming; these apps make it as easy as pushing a button.

Many of these tools connect directly to your bank to save you the time of logging every dollar spent. Others provide reminders for bills or dispense daily wisdom and financial education. Whether you need help budgeting, managing money or setting goals, these apps will save you a little sweat.

Whether you need help budgeting, managing money or setting goals, these apps will save you a little sweat.

• Albert

While many financial apps are great tools, they often do not provide any actual financial education resources. In other words, people get a snapshot of their financial health without the information to change their behavior. Albert balances the scales: not only does this app track your expenses and income, but it allows you to text a human financial advisor when you need help with things like choosing a loan or saving for long-term goals.

• Mint

Perhaps the most popular of the personal finance apps, Mint is known as a one-stop app for tracking spending, budgeting, and seeing the big picture of your financial situation. One of Mint’s most helpful features lets you set deadlines for upcoming bills, reminding you of what you owe and the funds available to pay them.

• Wally

Here’s a robust app for expense tracking: connect your credit cards and bank accounts to Wally and it will compile a list of all your spending and include the receipts of each purchase. It even files your purchases into categories like “Dining Out,” “Clothing” and “Entertainment. Just snap a picture of your receipts and it will log them all, saving you time spent typing in the data and giving you the financial control you need.

• 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy

This simple tool is great if you want to know what actions to take at this very moment. Set a goal, like going on a big vacation or saving for college, then check the boxes on the 360 Degrees site and it will provide a list of actions you can take over the year that will move you toward that goal and offer some financial education in the process.

Personal finance apps have helped many people who may not have had a financial education build a foundation for themselves and improve their financial health. With technology on your side and a little bit of financial knowledge, anyone can start down the road that ends in financial security.

Personal finance apps have helped many people who may not have had a financial education build a foundation for themselves and improve their financial health.

Read our articles about protecting yourself from global crisis and educational financial resources in our Financial Literacy Month series.

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