Level Money
Price: Free
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, Android
Overview:
Level Money is the budgeting app for those who like to take life day-by-day. The app starts with your income, bills, and desired savings, and then tells you how much money you can spend per day, per week, and per month. It’s an excellent app if your financial life isn’t complicated and you’re looking for something simple and straightforward, like how much you can spend on groceries, drinks at the bar, or in online casinos.
Like many other financial apps, Level Money connects directly to your accounts and has read-only access, so transactions and account balances are on display but nothing can be moved. You can also add a PIN to keep the app secure if you want, but it isn’t required.
The app starts by asking you to identify incoming money as either regular income or something else. Once it knows how much you earn, the app asks you about regular bills you pay, which you can enter in yourself or select from your transaction history. Level Money can also determine how often you pay a certain bill or receive a certain income, whether it’s once a month, once a year, or anything in between. You then choose how much money you want to save, and the app tells you how much you can spend every day, and how much you need to save. Easy stuff.
Level Money also features a comparison chart where you can track spending in certain categories and see how some areas compare to others. The app doesn’t provide a way to track or manage goals, but the Insights feature tracks specific types of spending like travel expenses, restaurants, and even gambling (if you add that category).
It also boasts specific alerts, so you can set Level Money to notify you when you’ve reached 25 or 50 percent of your budget during the week, along with low account balance, bank fees, and even transactions over $250. The app can also send you positive reinforcement notifications, like the Daily Rollover option. This notifies you when you’ve spent less than your budget for the prior day or month, and the extra money rolls over to the next. You can choose to either save it for your trip to Atlantic City or spend it on an extra round of online poker. Or use it for something else, if you want.
Bottom line:
Level Money is the app if you want to keep things easy and want only one budget instead of multiple. While you can’t set specific financial goals, Level Money can help you see where your money is going, keep your spending in check, and make your budgeting simple, one day at a time.
