Best Mobile Budgeting Apps for Teens

Whether your teen is a freshman or a senior, now is the time to prepare them for adult financial responsibilities. Before your teen goes off to college or into the workforce, it’s important that they start learning how to manage the money they are responsible for.

Before their first job, many teens don’t truly understand the limitations of money. They may not even realize how much (or how little) they will actually be making.

So, before their next (or first) paycheck, talk with them about how to make a budget and how to stick with it.

What will your teen learn?

You may think they don’t really need to start doing this now. Or, they may tell you they don’t want to do this because it takes too much time, or they’ll forget to do it. But, encourage them to do it anyway. Here are some things they’ll learn during the process:

How to stay inside their set budget.
How to take responsibility for their purchases.
How to make sacrifices to save money.

Though everyone acquires debt at some point, hopefully these lessons will help them avoid making poor financial decisions down the road that could lead to unnecessary debt.

Create a paper budget first

Start with paper. They may think this is old school, but having them do the math themselves and write it all out, will help them gain a better understanding of exactly where their money will be spent. Talk with them about their short term and long-term goals as you create categories for their savings and spending. Do they want to buy a car? Do they want to go to college? Do they want to have money to go on a date? How much will they need to pay for gas if they are already driving themselves to work? How much will they need to pay for food while at work or out with friends?

Create a line item for all the areas they’re wanting their money to go toward. Here are some examples:

College
Car
Car Insurance
Entertainment
Gas
Food
Gifts
Technology/Phone

Input those numbers into a budgeting app

There are many budgeting mobile applications, but we sought out the simplest ones to use for your teen. They probably won’t want to keep up with a check register, but you know they’ll always have their phone on them. So, encourage them to use it to keep up with where they are spending and saving.

iALLOWANCE

If you have multiple kids or a pre-teen, this can be a great way to help them track their money. If you give an allowance, then you can set up chores and goals for your children within the app with money associated with completing each task. If you’re still trying to decide if an allowance would be a good fit for your family, here’s a great article to help you out.

TOSHL FINANCE

This is a full budgeting app that provides charts and graphs and is great for teens or adults. It also will tell you how much you have left to spend in the month.

Currently, this app does not sync with bank accounts, though they mention on the website that they are working on this capability*.

*Note: At First Kentucky, we do not recommend this, no matter what app you decide to use. Whether you’re using YNAB, Mint, Toshl or something else, keep your bank account separate.

LEFT TO SPEND

Not sure your teen is ready for a full-fledged budgeting app? Then this might be a better option for them.

Take the paper budget they made and after subtracting all their savings and any bills they might have, create a daily allowance. This app basically just gives them one number: how much they have left in their wallet.

You won’t get any charts with this app, but it will be a great first step in keeping track of exactly how much they’re spending. It’s simple and quick but will hopefully keep them from spending more than what’s in their bank account.

NOTE: First Kentucky Bank has no affiliation with these apps and you should read all of the fine print before downloading any application.

Teen budgeting apps are just one step in helping them understand finances. As they master one aspect of managing money, start teaching them about other aspects, too. Here are some great articles to help: