I'm a financial planner and I use 3 free tools to manage my savings, spending, and net worth (2024)

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• My philosophy when it comes to managing money is keep it simple.
• As a long-term investor, I don't check my balances every day. Instead, I'm focused on my savings progress and spending behavior.
• My favorite financial tools are easy to use and free: Ally's savings buckets, Google spreadsheets, and Empower's net worth tracker.

A lot of people see managing money as a chore. For me, it's more like a hobby.

As a certified financial planner and personal-finance writer, I think about money all the time. I'm constantly looking for better ways to manage my own finances, yet keep it simple (and affordable). I'm a big fan of automation.

As a long-term investor, I don't pay attention to market updates or day-to-day changes in my balances. Instead, I like to focus on my savings progress, spending, and net worth. Here are three of my go-to financial tools that help me do that.

1. Savings buckets

I discovered early into adulthood that in order to build a proper emergency fund — a savings account that I wouldn't just dip into if I wanted extra "walking around money," as my grandparents would say — then I had to keep it separate from my checking account. Out of sight, out of mind.

After hearing colleagues rave about Ally Bank, I opened a high-yield savings account there in 2017. At the time, the annual percentage yield (APY) was around 1%, which meant my money would earn at least 10 times more than in a regular savings account. The rate steadily rose from there, to a high of about 2.20% in 2019, before dropping back down today.

A high interest rate is nice, but it's not the most important thing. Ally makes it really easy to save for different financial goals. Initially I opened multiple accounts (a task completed in less than a minute) and set up automatic transfers from my paycheck and checking account. Then Ally debuted "buckets," which enables savers to open sub-accounts and nickname them for specific goals.

With buckets, my savings is separated into emergencies, vacations, and more, and accessible from the same, easy-to-use dashboard. I've set percentages that dictate how I want any deposits to be allocated between my buckets, and prioritized which accounts to pull from when I make withdrawals or transfers. Ally also displays my progress over time in charts. It doesn't get more organized than that.

2. Spreadsheets

I'm old school when it comes to tracking my money and making a budget. Google spreadsheets are easy to use, customize, and share with others. I created two spreadsheets that I use regularly: one for my overall cash flow and one for my rewards credit card.

My cash flow spreadsheet is a guideline for my spending. It lists my monthly post-tax income, minus my average fixed expenses (e.g. rent and internet) and average variable expenses (e.g. food and shopping) based on past months. Some things are charged on an annual basis, like my car registration and various subscriptions — that's where the spreadsheet comes in handy. Instead of pulling out a calculator, I can divide those charges by 12 right in the cell to calculate my costs on a monthly basis.

I find that by entering and tinkering with the numbers myself, rather than using an app that pulls the numbers in for me, I'm more mindful of what's coming in and going out.

The second spreadsheet is shared with my partner and tracks our monthly credit-card bill. The bulk of the purchases are household items, but sometimes we'll charge personal items to that card if we'll get better rewards. At the top of the spreadsheet I put the total bill and down below I list any individual purchases we made. Then I tap the spreadsheet mathematician to figure out how much each of us owes for the month.

3. Net worth tracker

Net worth is one good measurement of overall financial health. It's just the difference between what you own (your assets) and what you owe (your debts), but there can be a lot of moving parts. To track my net worth, I use Empower.

Empoweris an online financial advisor that offers wealth management, banking, budgeting, and financial planning services. It's free to open an account and use most of the tools, including the advanced savings planner and retirement planner.

My account is linked to my credit cards, cash, investment, and retirement accounts. All that information is used to calculate my real-time net worth, which is shown on the main dashboard as a chart and as a detailed list. I can toggle through different time periods (this month, last month, 90 days, this year, etc.) or enter a specific date range to see my net worth on a specific date or over time.

Whenever I'm worried about a dip in the stock market or a tight cash month, I find that looking at an extended time period on my net worth chart puts me at ease. There are peaks and valleys, but the chart helps me see in clear view how consistent saving and investing keeps me moving in a positive direction.