Best budgeting apps for Android?

Focusing on budgeting and setting solid saving goals is a great financial strategy. There are several budgeting apps available that can help you track your spending and manage your finances more effectively. Here are a few popular options that are compatible with Android devices, along with their pros and cons:

1. Mint: This app is widely used for budgeting and tracking expenses. It automatically categorizes your transactions from linked credit and debit cards.

   • Pros: User-friendly interface, free to use, and offers features like credit score monitoring.
     
   • Cons: Some users report issues with bank synchronization. It also features ads which can be intrusive.
     

2. YNAB (You Need A Budget): YNAB focuses on giving every dollar a job, encouraging you to plan for every dollar you earn.

   • Pros: Promotes a proactive approach to budgeting, offers detailed reports, and has a strong educational component.
     
   • Cons: It comes with a monthly fee after an initial trial period, which might be a downside for budget-conscious users.
     

3. PocketGuard: This app helps to simplify your budgeting process by showing how much disposable income you have after accounting for bills, goals, and necessities.

   • Pros: Easy to set up and use, helps prevent overspending.
     
   • Cons: Less customizable than some other apps, and the free version is somewhat limited in features.
     

4. Goodbudget: Based on the envelope budgeting system, this app allows you to allocate your income to various spending categories.

   • Pros: Great for couples as it allows for shared budgets across multiple devices.
     
   • Cons: Requires manual entry of transactions, which can be time-consuming.<

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We used to use pocketbook but then it shut down or became paid or something, and since then the only budgeting we do is retrospective (which might not even be budgeting, really). I just download all our bank transactions for a period (e.g., half yearly) as a csv into google sheets, then sort the transactions by name, then for each transaction give it a category, then you can sum for each category using a pivot table (or a sumif function or something else). So it’s a bit fiddly, but let’s you get more of an idea what you’re spending money on. I think it takes me about an hour to categorise half a year. We don’t spend much with cash at all, so this might only work if you use your card for nearly everything.