This is a second confession. My table is always in a mess and so are my finances – not that I am broke but because I have failed miserably to keep track of my money. As a result I never know where my money is coming from and where it vamooses quickly. In search of a solution I encountered some nice apps which have made my financial position a little less precarious.

Mint

Before I begin, there is a word of caution. Never try to do everything at the same time – you will land in a mess. First off you must get your finances in order. By this I mean you have to get your bank account details, credit card, savings, borrowing and investments in one single place. This exercise is necessary to know what’s coming in and what’s going out. To achieve this feat you must use Mint, which is a free software which works on the web, Android and iPhone. Incidentally it’s also the most popular personal finance application going around. Those of you who are reading this would thank me later for recommending Mint.

An important feature of Mint is that of setting your budget. All of us are guilty of overspending and this feature helps you curb your natural instinct – to go out and splurge. It’s also secure and safe. One more thing – Mint pulls out information from your bank, credit card account etc. If you are the ultra-sensitive kind who doesn’t want to give financial data away, you must steer clear of Mint.

Mycoupon App

Once you have your house in order, it’s time to look for some saving. Everyone knows about discount coupons and stuff. But how many of us make efficient use of these. Discount coupons can save you hundreds of dollars. You need not go for pay day loans unless you really have to meet an emergency. I chanced upon a nice little app for getting information on coupons – Mycoupons. This is an Android app which   comes in handy to discover coupons as and when they become available.

Investments

Once you have reined in your expenses (which can be a tough exercise) there is some scope for investment. Though I am not big on shares and stocks, I hear that many have made good money out of it. Keeping track of stocks is really important because timing is everything in this activity. You need a good app which you keep you updated on real time basis. There are two nice apps I have identified for this purpose.

CNBC Real-Time

This app works on iPhone and on Android devices. Not only can you get live updates of CNBC but also get real time quotes as well as after closing data. It’s free and therefore you have nothing to lose.

Bloomberg

This app works on iPhone and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store. You can read the latest news with this app while you are on the go. This app provides real time data on stock market. One word of caution – you can get so addicted to it that you may need to de-stress once in a while.

Conclusion

Another confession – though I could not entirely clear my desk of clutter, I managed to put some sense into my finances with these apps. Even you can.

Victor likes to share his experiences with others while he learns to make fast cash online. As an online marketer he is able to earn money while waiting for his own blog to take off. Meanwhile, he also promotes several online businesses like http://www.cash-fast.net/.