Top 3 Financial Planning Tools for Beginners in 2025

Laila, a 28-year-old marketing executive, earned ₹45,000 a month but struggled with savings. Her expenses – ₹18,000 rent, ₹8,000 food, ₹5,000 transport, and ₹7,000 shopping – left her with just ₹7,000, yet her credit card debt kept growing.

One day, she discovered financial planning tools. She started with Mint, linking her accounts to track spending. Within months, she cut unnecessary expenses by ₹3,500/month. Next, she used YNAB’s zero-based budgeting, allocating every rupee wisely, saving ₹10,000/month. Finally, Simplifi helped her set goals, and in a year, she saved ₹1,20,000 for her Europe trip while paying off ₹60,000 in debt.

Laila’s story proves that with the right tools, financial freedom isn’t a dream. How did she do it? Let’s explore the top 3 tools that transformed her life.

1. Mint: The Best Budgeting App for Beginners

In 2025, financial planning has become more important than ever, especially for beginners. There are many apps available in the market, but Mint is a tool that stands out because of its simplicity and wide features. Let’s understand in detail how Mint can make your financial journey easier.

Mint is a free financial planning and budgeting app developed by Intuit. This app connects all your bank accounts, credit cards, investments, and bills in one place to give you a complete financial picture.

Key Features of Mint:

• Budgeting and Expense Tracking: Mint automatically categorises your expenses so you can easily keep track of your spending.
   
• Setting Financial Goals: You can set goals like saving, investing, or paying off debt and track your progress.
  
  
• Credit Score Monitoring: Mint keeps an eye on your credit score and gives suggestions to improve it.
  
  
• Bill Reminders: The app sends reminders for your bill payments on time, helping you avoid late fees.
  
   
• Financial Advice: Mint analyses your spending and gives you personalised financial tips.

Example: Monthly Budget Planning

Below is a table showing how Mint divides your monthly expenses into categories:

This table shows where you are overspending and where you can save.

How to Use Mint:

1. Create an Account: Go to Mint's website or app and create a free account.
2. Link Your Accounts: Connect your bank, credit card, investment, and loan accounts to Mint.
3. Set a Budget: Based on your monthly income and expenses, set budget categories.
4. Set Goals: Define financial goals like saving, investing, or paying off debt.
5. Monitor: Regularly track your expenses and progress on goals.

Example: Financial Goal Tracking

Below is a table showing how Mint helps you track your progress toward your financial goals:

This table clearly shows the progress of your goals and helps you make adjustments if needed.

Advantages

Diadvantages

Mint is a powerful and user-friendly app that makes financial planning easier for beginners. With this app, you can control your expenses, move towards your financial goals, and improve your overall financial health. If you are starting your financial journey, Mint can be an excellent companion.

2. YNAB (You Need A Budget)

YNAB is a premium budgeting app that gives users full control over their money. With its zero-based budgeting method, it makes sure that every rupee you earn has a purpose.

Key Features of YNAB:

• Zero-Based Budgeting: Every rupee is assigned a job, so you always know where your money is going.
  
  
• Real-Time Syncing: Your data gets updated across all your devices, so you can check your budget from anywhere.
  
  
• Goal Setting and Tracking: You can set goals like saving, investing, or paying off debt and track your progress.
  
  
• Expense Categorisation: By dividing your expenses into categories, you can analyse your spending easily.
  
  
• Detailed Reporting: Through charts and graphs, you can clearly understand your financial performance.

Example: Monthly Budget Planning

Here is a table that shows how YNAB categorises your monthly expenses:

This table helps you understand where you’re overspending and where you’re saving money.

How to Use YNAB:

1. Create an Account: Go to YNAB’s website or app and create an account.
2. Link Your Accounts: Connect your bank, credit card, investment, and loan accounts to YNAB.
3. Set a Budget: Based on your monthly income and expenses, create budget categories.
4. Set Goals: Define financial goals like saving, investing, or paying off loans.
5. Monitor Progress: Regularly check your expenses and track your goals.

Example: Financial Goal Tracking

Here is a table showing how YNAB helps you track the progress of your financial goals:

This table gives you a clear view of your goal progress and helps you adjust as needed.

Adavnatages

Diadvanatages

YNAB is a powerful and beginner-friendly app that makes financial planning easy. With this app, you can take control of your spending, move towards your financial goals, and improve your overall financial health. If you are starting your financial journey, YNAB can be a great companion.

3. Simplifi

If you're starting your financial journey in 2025, then Quicken’s Simplifi app can be a very useful and beginner-friendly tool. This app gives you a centralised dashboard of your income, expenses, savings, and investments so you can easily track your financial goals.

Key Features of Simplifi

• Spending Plan: Simplifi’s unique Spending Plan feature creates a dynamic budget based on your monthly income and expenses. It considers your bills, subscriptions, and savings to show how much money you have left for extra (discretionary) spending each month.
  
  
• Spending Watchlists: You can create watchlists for specific categories like dining out or shopping. These help you avoid overspending by setting limits.
  
  
• Goal Setting & Tracking: Whether you are saving for a vacation or building an emergency fund, Simplifi helps you set goals and track your progress over time.
   
• Real-Time Alerts: The app sends timely alerts for upcoming bills, unusual spending, and subscriptions, so you never miss a payment.
  
  
• Investment Tracking: Simplifi tracks the performance of your investments, gives real-time stock quotes, and shows a complete view of your portfolio.

Core Features of Simplifi

Pricing & Affordability:

Simplifi follows a subscription model.

• Monthly cost: $5.99 (₹512.32)
• Annual plan: $2.99/month (₹257.89) (billed annually)
• It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it without any risk.

Simplifi vs. Other Budgeting Tools

Security & Accessibility:

Simplifi uses bank-level 256-bit encryption to keep your financial data safe. The app is available on iOS, Android, and web platforms, so you can manage your money from anywhere.

Advanatages

Disadvantages

Simplifi is a comprehensive financial planning tool that is easy and effective, even for beginners. With its intuitive interface, dynamic budgeting, and powerful features, this app can help you achieve your financial goals.

If you are looking to organise and streamline your finances, then Simplifi is an excellent choice.

Conclusion

Starting financial planning in 2025 has become more important than ever, and for beginners, choosing the right tools matters. Apps like Mint, YNAB, and Simplifi make your financial journey easier.

Mint is a free and simple app that offers features like budgeting, expense tracking, and credit score monitoring, but ads and syncing issues can be a bit annoying.

YNAB is a premium app that tracks every rupee using zero-based budgeting, but its subscription cost can be a bit high.

Simplifi comes with dynamic budgeting and real-time alerts, and even though it's paid, it offers an ad-free experience.

Each tool has its pros and cons, but all of them help beginners learn financial discipline. You can choose any one based on your needs—the most important thing is to just get started! Start financial planning today, and feel secure tomorrow.

FAQs

1. Is Mint free to use?

Yes, Mint is completely free and offers budgeting, expense tracking, and credit score monitoring without any subscription fees. However, it shows ads to support its free model.

2. How is YNAB different from other budgeting apps?

YNAB follows a zero-based budgeting method, meaning every rupee is assigned a purpose, unlike traditional budgeting apps. It focuses on proactive money management rather than just tracking expenses.

3. Can Simplifi track investments along with expenses?

Yes, Simplifi provides basic investment tracking, including portfolio performance and real-time stock updates. However, it lacks advanced investment features for detailed analysis.

4. Are these financial apps safe to use?

All three apps (Mint, YNAB, and Simplifi) use bank-level encryption to protect user data. However, since they sync with your bank accounts, always enable two-factor authentication for extra security.

5. Which app is best for complete beginners?

Mint is the best for beginners due to its free access and simple interface. YNAB and Simplifi are great, too, but may require a slight learning curve or a paid subscription.

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LoansJagat Team

We are a team of writers, editors, and proofreaders with 15+ years of experience in the finance field. We are your personal finance gurus! But, we will explain everything in simplified language. Our aim is to make personal and business finance easier for you. While we help you upgrade your financial knowledge, why don't you read some of our blogs?