Many people live from paycheck to paycheck and they’ll be looking forward to earning more Money so that they won’t have to worry about unpaid bills ever again. However, more money is not always the solution to money problems. The key to solving money problems is knowing where your money goes so that you can know if your expenses are rising faster than your income. Irrespective of how much money you make, knowing how to manage your money could ease your financial stress.

Unfortunately, many people don’t really bother about balancing their checkbooks, all they are concerned about knowing is whether they have enough money in the checking account to cover the next bill due. However, not having a clear picture of where your money is going will place you at a slight disadvantage financially because a simple unexpected financial need could force you to borrow money and trigger a vicious circle of debt. This piece looks at 3 awesome tools to that can help you keep track of your spending.

Mint

Mint, which is available on iOS and Android one of the most popular fintech tools that can help you manage your money. Mint is designed to provide you with insights into your spending habits.  All you need to do is to enter the credentials of your bank accounts and Mint will do the heavy lifting of populating a comprehensive overview of your finances. Mint can help you manage your pending bills, recent transactions, and a breakdown of how you spend money each month. You’ll also get offers on insurance, Credit cards, and other financial services.

Mint is not perfect.  The company makes money by selling ads and some of those ads could come out as pushy or aggressive. More so, some mint.com reviews by bloggers suggest you might be overwhelmed by the redundancy of some its tabs.

YNAB

YNAB, You Need A Budget is a great tool that can help you control where you money goes. Tracking your expenses will show you where your money goes but knowing how you spend money doesn’t make much difference unless you act on the information. YNAB helps you connect all your bank accounts, access your financial info in real time, and track your progress as you become disciplined in budgeting and spending.

Many YNAB app reviews point out the fact that the app is not free since it costs $4.17 per month or $50 per year, However, you’ll get 34-day free trial to know if you are about to get value for money when you sign up. If you are still in school, you can use YNAB for free for 12-months in addition to the 34-day free trial.

Credit Karma

The first two apps, Mint and YNAB will help you know where your money is going and how to spread out your income on your expenses. Credit Karma is another great tool that can help you take charge of your finances by helping you through some of life’s biggest expenses.  A good credit score can make a difference when you want to buy a house or a car.  In fact, a good credit score is essential for getting some jobs. The three traditional credit bureaus will give you a credit report free but the fine print says you are signing yourself up for their credit monitoring services.

Credit Karma helps you stay on top of your credit score, credit history, and credit report for free. The firm in turn makes it money might showing you credit card ads that might meet your needs – ads that you are free to ignore. I particularly love Credit Karma because it provides practical insights on how you can improve your credit score. Going forward, Credit Karma will help you file your taxes and help you check for tax refunds.