MONEY TOOLS

With years of testing, here are my favorite products and tools for budgeting.

These are my favorite resources. I only share what I have personally used and recommend. Some {but not all} of these links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase {at no cost to you}. This helps me to continue to provide as much free content as possible!

FREEBIES

BUDGETING APPS

EMPOWER
Completely free. This is great for tracking your wealth. You can link to your bank, credit card, and investment accounts. It will track your transactions and categorize them for you. You can see where your money is going and compare to previous months' spending, bug it is NOT good for traditional budgeting. It is great for seeing your wealth in one spot.

HIGH YIELD SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

ALLY SAVINGS
Offers competitive interest rates. Lets you set up buckets to visually separate your money within your account. Has lots of automatic transfer features. Money transferred out arrives faster than most other accounts. Great customer service via phone, chat, or email.

SOFI CHECKING AND SAVINGS
Extremely high interest rates if you set up direct deposit. You can create vaults to visually separate the money in your savings. There are some automatic transfer options for money into your vaults. Comes with a checking account in addition to the savings account.

WEALTHFRONT
Some of the highest interest rates available. You can create multiple categories to visually separate your money. There are no automatic transfers into categories. Money transfers out very fast. Individual accounts have some checking options.

MARCUS BY GOLDMAN SACHS
Competitive interest rates. A very simple savings account with no extra bells and whistles. Great for money you want to set aside and don't plan to access very often. Usually offers a higher interest rate as a sign on bonus. Takes a few days to access money you transfer out.

ONLINE BANKS

SOFI
Offers a lot of products without being overwhelming. I'm a fan of their checking, savings, credit card and investing options. They also offer SoFi Relay which will track your net worth and spending.

CHIME
Great for getting started. Lets you deposit cash for free. Has more free ATM's than most banks. Offers a secure credit card if you want to build your credit. Must set up direct deposit for some of the features.

CAPITAL ONE
So many great products in one spot. It's very easy to use and transfer money between your accounts. I've personally used their online checking, savings, teen money account, as well as credit card.

ALLY
Great customer service. Very easy to use. I love their checking and savings accounts, but they offer a lot of additional products, including investing. It's easy to transfer money between accounts.

INVESTING APPS

FIDELITY
Do your own investing at a low-cost. They have a ton of options, but you can also set up automated investments and forget about them.
This is one of the most user friendly on line investing brokerages.

SOFI
Offers both active and automatic investing. Very easy to use (especially if you already have a SoFi account). You can invest money automatically via recurring deposits, one-time transfers, or transfer points you have earned to investments. $1 to get started.

WEALTHFRONT
Offers automated investing with tax loss harvesting. Investing fee of .25%. You can invest for retirement, college, and everything else. There is a minimum requirement of $500 to get started investing.

MONEY SAVING APPS

RAKUTEN
Great for earning cash back for online shopping. Shop through their app on your phone or with 1 click using the browser extension. Always offers a great sign on bonus to new users.

IBOTTA
Great for cash back on groceries. Also works with online shopping {but I prefer Rakuten for that}. You can also link to loyalty accounts so you don't have to upload receipts.

FETCH
Easiest cash back ever. Simply snap a photo of your receipt after you shop and earn points. You can also link your Amazon/Email for receipts. The earnings are slow, but so easy.

CREDIT CARDS

ACTIVE CASH
Great for cash back. They offer a flat rate of 2% cash back with lots of ways to redeem that cash.

CHIME
Great for building your credit. It is a secured credit card. You transfer money onto the card and can then use it for shopping. It reports to credit bureaus so it can help you build your credit.

CHASE INK BUSINESS
Great for building your credit. It is a secured credit card. You transfer money onto the card and can then use it for shopping. It reports to credit bureaus so it can help you build your credit.

HOUSEHOLD STUFF

TRUST & WILL
You can create your customized will (or trust) for a flat rate. You can pay extra to get help from a lawyer for your trust. So much more affordable than hiring a local attorney.

ZANDER INSURANCE
Great for life insurance. You enter in your info and they shop around to find the best insurance provider for you. We've used this two different times. Endorsed by Dave Ramsey.

1PASSWORD
Helps you securely store and manage passwords, personal info, and sensitive data in one place across multiple devices.
I love it for passwords and important documents (like wills, certificates, etc...

AIRBNB
Whenever we take a family trip we save so much money staying with AIRBNB rather than in hotels. We save so much by being able to cook our own food and wash our clothes.

MINT MOBILE
Save lots of money on your cell phone bill. You pre-pay for your phone plan and get huge discounts by doing so. You can bring your own phone or buy theirs.

They use the T-Mobile network.