Master your money with cutting-edge personal finance technology.
Money Girl
240 MG 5 Best Web Tools for Money Management
In Colorado, our freedoms are everything. Gabe Evans would rip them away. Just like Lauren Boebert, he'd ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest, and overturn the right to marry for same-sex couples. Don't let him take our freedoms. Paid for by DCCC, www.dccc.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. You spent a over here. Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible traders. All on America's largest 5G network. [MUSIC] Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones will be at 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers, contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement to bill credits and if you pay off devices early, ctmobile.com. [MUSIC] Hi, friends. Thanks for downloading the Money Girl Podcast. I'm Laura Adams. [NOISE] Technology can make managing your money less time consuming, and a lot more fun. I rely on several personal finance tools and just the thought of living without them turns my stomach into knots. I'll share my favorites plus give you the scoop on a few more top rated applications that can help you and your family become masters at managing your money. Before we get started, I want to invite you to a free class that I'm teaching soon, called Five Things You Should Do With Your Money Now. It's a live webinar for anyone who's ready to get started investing, or for anyone who has experience but really wants a more simple way. You'll learn how to grow money without exposing it to too much risk, plus how to automate all the important stuff, so you don't have to be an investing genius to be successful. There are a limited number of participants that I can have, and the webinar is filling up quickly, so be sure to grab your free spot today at smartmoves2growrich.com. Now, here are five money management tools to check out. Tool number one, online bill pay. When someone asks me the number one way to make paying bills easy, my immediate response is online bill pay. I love it because it allows you to make payments to any company or person without having to write checks, buy stamps, or address envelopes ever again. That saves a huge amount of time and money when compared to paying bills the old-fashioned way. If your bank or credit union has online banking, they probably also offer free bill pay. Each week, I log on to my bank's bill pay center to send payments to companies or individuals. You can get e-bills, which are electronic versions of paper bills, delivered directly to your bill pay center. I enter the amount and date I want to pay each biller, then the bill pay service takes care of the rest. If the company I need to pay is set up to receive funds electronically, then my money gets wired to them. If not, the bill pay service cuts and mails a paper check. And plenty of time for it to arrive by the due date I want. And yes, that's free too. If you want more information, listen to a previous podcast called "How to Save Money Using Online Bill Pay," which is episode number 229. Tool number two, quick and financial software. My second favorite money management tool isn't a web tool technically, it's desktop software from Intuit. I started out with their personal finance program for individuals, which is called Quick-in. Later, I upgraded to QuickBooks, their small business program, and I use it for my personal and business accounts. When you need a robust solution for your finances that saved on your computer, desktop software is the way to go. Intuit products are connected to almost every US institution that offers online transactions, like banks, credit cards, and brokerage accounts. Each week, I import all my account transactions into QuickBooks, categorize them, and verify debit and credit card charges against my receipts. What used to take me hours now takes minutes. The software aggregates your online data, so you can see up-to-date balances for all your bank, credit card, and investment accounts in one place. Quick-in and QuickBooks also make it simple to create and track a personalized budget, and to build customized reports that come in really handy at tax time. Quick-in is loaded with features that make its entry-level price of $50 a bargain in my opinion. QuickBooks cost over $200, but it comes with advanced accounting features that let you easily manage business functions, like invoicing, payroll, and inventory. Tool number three, Mint.com. If you'd rather manage your money in the cloud without being dependent on desktop software, Mint.com is a great option. It's also owned by Intuit and is a free web-based financial service that allows you to track your bank, credit card, and investment accounts in one place. You can create and monitor a budget, get account alerts, and set up savings goals. Mint also has a popular free mobile app for your iPhone or Android. Tool number four, ClearCheckbook.com. If you like managing money online or using a mobile app, but you need more advanced features than what's offered by Mint.com, check out ClearCheckbook.com. It allows you to manage every aspect of your finances from a customizable account dashboard. You can add transactions, balance your checkbook, view reports, manage your budget, track your bills, and more. The basic version of ClearCheckbook.com is free, but the features you get with the premium version, like account running balances, importing transactions, creating custom reports, and having multiple users per account is what really makes the service worthwhile. The premium version of ClearCheckbook.com costs just $4 a month or $42 a year. Definitely a worthy investment. In Colorado, our freedoms are everything. Gabe Evans would rip them away. Just like Lauren Bobert, he'd ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest, and overturn the right to marry for same-sex couples. Don't let him take our freedoms. Paid for by DCCC, www.dccc.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credits, service, boarded 90-plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. I love learning, and anything that makes learning easier. If you're a parent and your child needs some homework help, then IXL is a right for your family. IXL is an online learning program for kids covering math, language arts, science and social studies. IXL has interactive practice problems for topics from pre-K to 12th grade, and everything is organized by grade and subject. As kids practice, they get positive feedback, awards, and explanations for wrong answers. IXL figures out what your kids need more help with and recommends more topics to practice. Their videos, lessons, sample problems, and learning games too. One subscription to IXL gets you all subjects and all grade levels. Membership started just $9.95 a month. It's no wonder IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. I think the positive feedback that IXL gives is really crucial when it comes to learning. So make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now, and money girl listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com/moneygirl. Visit ixl.com/moneygirl to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Tool number five, familymint.com. If you have kids between 6 and 16 years old, familymint.com is the perfect online tool for teaching them about money. It lets kids manage and budget their own finances while parents act as the bank. In case you're wondering, it's not affiliated with mint.com in any way. Let's say grandma gives Johnny $20 for his birthday. Johnny can log in to familymint.com and enter that amount as a deposit to his family mint checking account. He gives his dad the $20 to stash away for him or to deposit in a real bank account. Johnny can also create goals and family mint, like buying a bike that costs $100 and transfer all a portion of his $20 gift toward paying for that goal. It's a great training ground for kids because they learn by doing and parents can approve or deny their budgeting decisions. Familymint.com is totally safe because it isn't connected to a real bank account. It's simply an online tracking system that encourages hands-on financial literacy for kids. The free version of familymint.com has lots of functionality, but you can upgrade to a premium version for just $5 a month or $25 a year, which is almost a 60% discount when you prepay. The premium service gives you mobile access, automatic allowance payments, a savings plan that splits deposits into multiple accounts, and matching funds where parents set up extra deposits for kids when they reach certain financial goals. These are just a few of the many online tools that are available to help you manage money. If you use these tools or have other favorites that you can't live without, share them with everyone on the MoneyGirl Facebook page. And remember to grab your seat in my upcoming free webinar class, five things you should do with your money now. Get the details and register for this live event at smartmoves2growrich.com. And one more thing, Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad punctuation. She has a new book called Grammar Girl's Punctuation 911, where she tackles the most commonly asked questions regarding punctuation. From semicolons to asterisks, Mignon offers memory tricks that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome rules. Download it wherever books are sold. I'm glad you're listening. Chaching. That's all for now. Courtesy of MoneyGirl, your guide to our richer life. [music] In Colorado, our freedoms are everything. Gay to Evans would rip them away. Just like Lauren Boebert, he'd ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. And overturn the right to marry for same-sex couples. Don't let him take our freedoms. Paid for by DCCC, www.dccc.org, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Earning your degree online doesn't mean you have to go about it alone. At Capelli University, we're here to support you when you're ready. From enrollment counselors who get to know you and your goals, to academic coaches who can help you form a plan to stay on track. We care about your success and are dedicated to helping you pursue your goals. Going back to school is a big step, but having support at every step of your academic journey can make a big difference. Imagine your future differently, at cappella.edu. [BLANK_AUDIO]