Save some cash with the best budgeting apps for Android [2020]

Budgeting is seriously important, no matter where you are in life, how old you are, or what job you have. It can be tricky, though, but fortunately you've got a great tool for managing everything.

Yep, we're talking about your smartphone. If you haven't thought about tracking your finances on your phone, we'll break down some of the best apps available to make that job much easier. Read on and find out how to get better with your money with just a few downloads.

Best budgeting apps

These apps will cover a ton of different things, from saving money, managing your income and expenses, tracking subscriptions, and sometimes even making a little money. You might not need everything on the list, but generally downloading a couple from this guide is a good place to start. You can always add more services to your financial toolbox down the line, or trim some out if they're not particularly useful to you anymore.

Mint

If you're looking for something to simply give you an overview of all of your finances and budgets, Mint should be your first stop. The app can seem a little daunting at first, but once you get all of your accounts added it's almost completely automatic. And it's created by Intuit, the makers of TurboTax, so you know there's quite a bit of financial expertise behind the product.

You'll add in all of your bank accounts, credit cards, bills, and investments, and Mint shows you everything you need to know about your financial health. It'll show you recurring payments and debts, how much available money you have, when things are due, and some easy ways to save money in your daily routine. It's fairly powerful, and it even syncs with the desktop version of Mint so you can track things no matter what device you're on.

Play Store Download Link

Credit Karma

Part of your financial health is understanding your credit score, and Credit Karma is one of the best budgeting apps in that area. You can get your credit score from other apps and services, sure, but none of them focus on it quite like Credit Karma does.

Not only will the app show you all of your open accounts (including credit cards, mortgages, loans, student loans, and more) but it'll give you advice and recommendations on improving your score. Think you need a new credit card to consolidate some balances? Credit Karma has recommendations. Need to save money on your car loan? You've got options.

They've also recently added the option to file your taxes through Credit Karma, plus open a savings account to earn some extra money. Definitely worth keeping on your phone, if nothing else just to see where your general credit score is at.

Play Store Download Link

Digit

If you're looking for an almost seamless way to save some money, check out Digit. I've personally used it for quite some time, and it makes it very easy to save money without realizing what you're even doing, easily making our list of the best budgeting apps for your phone.

Digit's premise is pretty simple; it links to your bank account, monitors your transactions, and tries to stash away a little money when it can. It's nothing huge, either; by default you're probably looking at a few cents to dollars per day, but it's all based on the amount of money in your account.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but it does add up over time, and the point is that it's able to do that without interfering with your regular spending habits. Like I said, it's almost like accidentally saving money, making it an easy choice for one of the best budgeting apps to keep on your phone.

In the last few years Digit has added some extra features like goals and bills, so you can actually set predetermined things to save up for. This can be just something you want, like a new computer that costs $800, but it can also be a recurring bill like your car insurance or student loans. Digit will put some of its savings into those balances, and then re-deposit them in your account when it's time to pay the bill. Very handy, and completely automatic.

Play Store Download Link

Dave

If you're looking for something a little more inclusive, check out Dave. This is a fully featured banking app that tries to get your back in tough spots and help you make more money, making it feel like one of the best budgeting apps available in the digital age.

You can use Bank kind of like Mint if you want, and simply have it track your expenses, give you tips, and make budgeting easier. But with Dave banking, that goes a little further.

Use this app as your primary bank and you can help avoid overdraft fees and manage sudden expenses, since Dave will lend you up to $100 between paydays to cover things. That's an interest free advanced, too, and there's no credit check involved. Not a bad fallback to have if you find yourself with an unexpected flat tire or other charges.

There are a few other cool features, like Dave suggesting side gigs to get into right within the app. You can sign up for things like Uber and Doordash, which could help you bring in a little extra money. Again, definitely something that was built with the digital age of apps and services in mind.

Play Store Download Link

Wallet

Wallet is an incredibly polished option for managing your expenses, and is more than capable of handling all of your financial accounts, goals, and budgets. It'll track spending, plan budgets, and keep detailed notes on everything going on in a very seamless experience.

The biggest selling point here is the inclusion of being able to put receipts, documents, shopping lists, and more into the app. You can share accounts with family members, see all of your accounts and cards and loans in one place, and get easy-to-understand graphs and financial overviews of everything going on. It's much easier to break down your total expenses when you've got everything like this at your fingertips.

It's also probably one of the best interfaces on any of these apps, and that goes a long way with us at Talk Android in picking the best budgeting apps.

Play Store Download Link

Acorns

Saving is one thing, but investing is another. You obviously do want some extra money set aside for expenses, emergencies, and other day-to-day things that pop up, but at some point you want your money to make you more money. That's where Acorns comes in.

While it's a little different from the rest of the best budgeting apps on the list, Acorns is still really valuable. It'll help you save money, but it also invests that money, which should passively bring in a little extra cash each year. It rounds up your purchases, so if you spend $3.40 on a coffee, Acorns will round up to $4.00, grab $0.60, and toss it in your investment account.

This is an easy way to step into investing without having to deal with research and building out your own portfolio from scratch.

Play Store Download Link