Tenner Week June 2014: Day 2: Free budgeting tech

It’s Day 2 of Tenner Week – how are you doing today? Spent all your money yet? Hope not!

Today we’re looking at some free tools that will help you plan and keep track of your weekly budgets. This isn’t an exhaustive list so please add your own finds in the comments section if you’ve found anything amazing recently.

Budgeting can be daunting if you aren’t quite experienced at it, and anything that improves your confidence and planning skills is a bonus. Even if you are brilliant at budgeting, leading a busy life can make it difficult to keep tabs on your money as you go along, so the newer monitoring and alerts resources may well still be of use to you.

Here are six bits of free budgeting technology you might like:

1. OnTrees: A website and app with bank-level security that lets you link up your online accounts, set budgets and monitor your spending. The graphics and lists show you exactly where the money goes each month, helping you find areas you could cut back. There’s also an alerts function that lets you know you’re sailing close to the wind with your spending, or that it’s payday and your wages have fully cleared in your account (works for freelancers too).

2. MoneyHub from YourWealth: Another secure website and app that allows you to plan your spending, and monitor your banking, saving, investments etc. There’s the basic free version which is pretty good, or a premium version with a few extra whistles and bells. Choose how you’d like you information displayed, and keep tabs on everything via your computer, tablet or phone.

3. MoneyTrack from Lovemoney: Similar to the two services above, although slightly simpler – a secure site that tracks your expenditure through your bank details, with the ability to send you alerts if something’s going off-course with your spending.

The three services above are ‘non-transactional’ in that they don’t allow you to move money around in your accounts, they’re just for planning and monitoring your spending. This adds an extra level of safety.

4. Home Budget Calculator: Free app (with some pop-up ads) to help you track household expenditure, set budgets, and spot areas of overspending where you could start to cut back.

5. Spendometer app from The Money Charity: Set your budget, then use the app as a spending diary for a week or a month – it’ll tell you when you’re burning through your cash too quickly in any given area. Nice and simple, and good for beginners.

6. Budget Builder from the Money Charity: Free website-based budget planning software. This interactive budgeting tool can be used to create weekly or monthly budgets, and allows you to print off or download your budget. There are options that allow you to personalise your plans too, as things aren’t always 100% straightforward in real life.

Do you have any favourites of your own to add to the list? Please share them! How’s your budget for the week going?