Managing your finances efficiently is one of the most important things you can do in order to maintain a cost-effective lifestyle. Setting financial goals and sticking to them isn’t always easy as sometimes we find it hard to track where our money is going. It is all very well keeping transaction slips in a box but if you’re not actually tracking your spend, how do you know where it is going and it is especially difficult to keep track when you have more than one bank account because our money is going to different places through different sources. That’s where online money management tools come in. Here are our top 3 free tools that will help make your life easier:

22seven

https://www.22seven.com

22seven is an app developed by Old Mutual as a way for people to start seeing their money differently and learn how to budget and invest without the need of a financial advisor. 22seven can also be accessed from your PC, as long as you have an internet connection.  Some of the features of 22seven include:

  • A central point where you can access all your bank accounts: even if you have numerous accounts at different banks. This allows you an easy way to see what money you have, how much you may owe and what you can borrow.
  • An automatic budget: the app will automatically generate a budget for you according to what you spend.
  • An online home for your bank transactions: whether it is from 3 month or 3 years ago, all your transactions are loaded onto the app making them easily accessible. This will also make preparing for your tax return much easier.
  • An easy way to invest: you no longer need to rely on a financial advisor to invest your money for you, with just the swipe of a finger, you can invest as much or as little as you want all by yourself.

My Money

https://www.pastelmymoney.co.za

My Money is a free online personal finance management tool from Sage Pastel that allows users to track and manage their money 24/7 from wherever they are. It can be accessed online from your PC or through the My Money app.  Some of the features of My Money include:

  • Tracking your money: My Money has pre-created expense groups where you can load your expenses onto, or you can create your own. This allows the tool to analyse your expenses according to category making it easier for you to track how much you are spending on what.
  • Budget control: You can create a budget according to what you have previously spent giving you a baseline with which to compare your current spending. This way you can see how much money you still have left to spend.
  • Centralisation of bank accounts: All your bank accounts can live in one area making it easier to check all your bank balances and identify how much money you have left for the month.

MyfinancialLife

https://myfinanciallife.nedsecure.co.za

Much like the previous two management tools, MyfinancialLife from Nedbank is an online tool that was created in order to make budgeting easier.  You don’t need to bank with Nedbank in order to use the tool. Some of the features include:

  • Monitoring your spending: MyfinancialLife will analyse your spending lifestyle according to what you have entered into the tool and then create a report that is aimed at helping you control your spending behaviour.
  • Budget: The tool will help you create a budget quickly and efficiently so that you can track your spending and manage where your money is going.
  • Keep track of your money: Again, like the other tools, you will be able to load and track all your bank accounts from one central point.
  • Understand your spending patterns: MyfinancialLife tracks your spending patterns and creates a graph for you so that you can easily understand where your money is going.

There are many other online money management tools out there, it is all about finding the one that works for you.