Choosing personal finance applications or "apps" to use on your smart phone or tablet computer can be time consuming and at times confusing. To help you save time and money, I used my iPad and iPhone to compile a list of the best reviewed apps to help manage your finances. Other devices using the Android operating system may offer the same or similar apps.
Pageonce (Cost: Free for ad supported; 12.99 for Pro) Pageonce automatically organizes and tracks your money and bills. You can see your banks, credit cards, bills and investment accounts in one centralized place. This application also allows you to track other activity, such as your Amazon.com account, cell phone usage and real-time updates on flights. Pageonce is shielded by 256-bit encryption, and the company sends you an e-mail alert of suspicious activity if "you" spend above your usual levels.
Mint.com (Cost: Free) Similar to Pageonce, Mint's app allow you to manage your finances on the go allowing you to see all your accounts on one page. Mint automatically pulls in and categorizes your transactions daily. It will also create a budget based on your spending habits or you can customize your budget. Another nice feature is email or text alerts for payment due dates, low balances, and unusual activity. Mint is protected by a unique 4 digit PIN and your account can be deactivated if you lose your phone.
Loan Calculator Pro (Cost: $0.99) This is an easy to use financial calculator enabling you to calculate monthly payments for fixed rate loans such as home mortgages, car loans and credit cards. You can also see how additional payments will help you increase equity and save you money.
CNBC RT (Cost: Free) This has breaking news updates, interactive charts and real time quotes for stocks, indexes, and commodities. Navigation is simple and easy to understand between news, indexes and pre-market opening prices. You can also create a "My Stocks" list for funds or individual stocks you are tracking.
Amazon.com (Cost: Free) I tried Red Alert, a scanning application that allows you to take a picture of the bar code on a product which then looks up competitors prices giving you the best deal. It was hard to line up the bar code or keep the phone steady enough for Red Alert to work properly. Instead, I use Amazon.com to input the product and model number to look up prices. Amazon offers great prices, no sales tax (most of the time), and free shipping. Customer service is also very good.
Grocery IQ (Cost: Free) Either type or scan the barcodes for products you are running low on. You can create lists for multiple stores, add product details, and share your list. Because you need to enter only a few letters of any word, drawing up your list is incredibly quick. Even better, you can check off each item as you buy it — and if you tell Grocery IQ about the layout of your neighborhood market, it will sort the list according to aisle number.
