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This is a guest post from Ebeth Fielder, the Spokester for Young & Free Michigan.
Hi, I’m Ebeth! I’m 23 years old and I’m considered a financial guru. As the Spokester for Young & Free Michigan powered by Michigan First Credit Union, I write a blog, make YouTube videos and give presentations to help young adults become better managers of their personal finances. I’ve found the best way to start being a good manager of your finances is keeping track of them. In other words, you must know how much money is coming in and how much is going out.
Mobile tech and online banking are fantastic resources I believe everyone should take full advantage of. I never have to worry about guessing how much money I have in my account, or wait in the teller line to get my account information—I have it all at my fingertips! And if I want to make sure my bills are paid on time, I can do that with the click of a button.
A few useful budgeting apps and websites that can help Millennials (or anyone, really) manage their money are:
- Mint: This app helps you stay on track, pay bills on time and watches your credit score. It offers a variety of tools to sort incoming expenses in your account to ensure you stick to your budget.
- BudgetSimple: Focused on helping users get out of debt, this is a great way to set and stick to a simple budget. Starting with a straightforward, spreadsheet-style approach, BudgetSimple provides the tips, tools and advice to make the process less daunting. It offers both free and paid services.
- LearnVest: For those interested in a more hands-on approach, LearnVest is the most well known and successful of a number of tools that connect you directly with financial advisors to give you expert, individualized advice. It’s useful but not free. It costs several hundred dollars to set up and also includes an ongoing “support” cost.
- Mobile Banking: Most financial institutions provide mobile banking options to help their customers track accounts, pay bills and transfer funds. Other perks of mobile banking include the ability to deposit checks remotely, set up account reminders and alerts and the peace of mind that comes with staying on top of your finances.
Let’s be realistic, we expect almost everything these days to be as easy as clicking a button—making changes to our finances is no different. That said, my smartphone is not just my phone, it’s my camera, my personal assistant, my map, my notebook, my social interaction and my financial institution.
My mobile tech is helping me reach my financial goals. And as a Verizon customer, I can literally manage my budget from anywhere. Whether I’m at the mall and need to check my account balance or want to deposit a check digitally, I can count on the Verizon 4G LTE network to keep me connected to my financial accounts anywhere I go.
I’m glad I’m part of a generation who has been exposed to so much awesome technology, because we can really use these tools to reach our goals faster. If I need to set a budget, I don’t need to grab a pen and paper, collect all of my receipts and grab my calculator—a budgeting app can do it for me!
Do you have any questions about becoming a good manager of your finances? Hit me up on my website, YoungFreeMichigan.com! You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Keep it Fresh, Young & Free!
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