The iPhone, iTouch, and iPad apps of today are amazing at helping people keep control of their cash. This is because of the ease of software and the fact that most of us have actually lost a hand and gained an iPhone. Here are some of the best iPhone budgeting apps currently available:

1. MoneyStrands:This is a powerful app, better than its main competitor mint.com (which I didn’t even include in this list). MoneyStrands allows you to create a simple budget and gives you a snapshot of your current finances. It is very basic and user-friendly. If you’re looking for something that can help you create multiple budgets, or create a long term spending plan, this might be too basic.

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Learning to budget is more than mentally allotting spending limits. Tracking monthly expenses and budgeting is a change in habit that takes discipline and dedication. Once you learn the habit of tracking your money, you will stop wondering “where did my money go?” and realize that you have more in your savings account than every before. While it takes time to be a good money manager, it is well worth the effort for your checkbook and for your financial freedom.

1. Know how much you bring in every month. Write down every dollar that you bring in per month from your paycheck, dividends, extra work, etc. Anything that you can count on should be written down.

2. Find out when your bills are due. This is one of the biggest problems I see with my financial counseling customers. They don’t know when their bills are due – whether the first or 15th of the month, and sometimes they schedule their payments when they have no money (like on the 28th of the month), or they schedule them all between the 1st and the 15th. With automatic bill pay, some people don’t know when their bills are due or when the money comes out. There is just that sudden surprise of a recently depleted bank account when someone thought they had more money than they really did. This is a mental disconnect from your money that is the root of budgeting problems. Get all of your bills, write down the due dates on a big calendar that you see everyday or set up recurring reminders, and try to balance out when they are due.

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We live in a low yield earning world right now, and any gain on your money is a smart move. High Yield Checking accounts are another way to  make your money earn interest over time. However, a high yield checking account can be very high maintenance, and it might require you to act like a seal and jump through some hoops to get the high rate of return that many promise.

According to the recent 2010 study on high yield checking accounts by bankrate.com, customers have to do some leg work to get their promised high returns. The most common rites of passage are 1) to make debit card purchases with the account, 2) direct deposit into it, 3) use bill pay with the account and 4) view the account monthly (yes, this is a requirement).

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Online banking and online banks make your money safer with few fall backs. With the elimination of paper, your statements are more secure. In addition, getting rid of paper reduces overhead costs, which is why online banks pay higher yields on checking and savings accounts.

Online banks are more secure than brick and mortar banks because they all work over the internet with state of the art security features. They are more secure than brick and mortar banks, according to a study by MSN.com. If you use online banking with your brick and mortar bank, lets say Chase or Bank of America, then an online bank will be an easy transition. Better yet, online banks are safer. Why? Because their livelihood depends on it. Online banks are small. Just one security breach is enough to break the online bank completely.

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In 2009, Americans were charged over $38.5 billion in overdraft and insufficient fund fees, according to USA TODAY research. So it isn’t a surprise that banks have caught on to the “service” of providing overdraft protection. Why make a mere $35 when they can make two to three times as much with overdraft protection charges from an overdraft line of credit.

If you are someone who continually overdrafts then you should see if your bank has overdraft protection programs. Overdraft fees generally run $25 or $35 PER OVERDRAFT. Here is how this can be dangerous. You write a check for $300, forget about it, go online and see you have $500 left over at the end of the month. You go shopping and spend $300. The check is released but now there is only $200 left in the bank. The check bounces and you are charged by your bank, and maybe even by the other persons bank that tried cashing the check. $35 down the drain. The other dangerous thing, which is probably worse is you continuously make purchases and overdraft more than 5 times in a month. $35 X 5 = $175 down the drain. You are being penalized for using your money. Money that you don’t have! It’s almost as ironic as being charged a fee to file bankruptcy papers.

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Getting the most out of your savings account is a must. It isn’t enough anymore to just have your money in a pot doing nothing. That money should work for you, even if its just a few extra dollars a month that you earn in interest.

Online banks have the highest rates, and for good reason. They want business. Its hard to envision having all of your money locked into an online bank and this trust issue is why online banks pay more. They want to buy your trust and use your money to make you and them more of it.

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People are ditching their big banks and taking their money to credit unions for good reasons. A Credit Union is owned by its members, not a handful of investors and owners. Unions provide members with consumer loans, mortgages, and other loans that are pooled from members’ savings. As a result of their growth, credit unions are offering  more and more services that rival big banks. They are quickly expanding their lending programs and many include mortgages, member business loans, student loans, and standard consumer loans.

Joining a credit union is limited to qualifying members that live in the area the credit union is in, or that belong to a group that the credit union wants to help. For instance, the Monterey Federal Credit Union is limited to residents of Monterey County. USAA Federal Credit Union is limited to members of the military, as is Navy Federal Credit Union. Credit unions also serve people that have a certain employer, like the USC Credit Union serving employees of the University of Southern California. To join, members must be eligible and purchase a share of the credit union. That share also counts as a vote in the credit union’s officer elections.

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Deciding whether to put your money into a big bank or a credit union can be difficult if you don’t understand the difference of the two.  A credit union is owned by its members and is a non-profit organization. Any money that a credit union makes goes back to its members, and fees are only charged to cover overhead fees. A big bank is owned by a few members and is a for profit institution which has a primary purpose of making money for its investors and and stock holders. Banks tend to offer more services, and are often more accessible and convenient to customers, especially those that travel a lot or don’t live close to their credit union. Here are some  things to consider when choosing a big bank or a credit union.

The very first thing you should know is that your money WILL be protected in case the bank goes under. With a big bank, look for the FDIC sign, which stands for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Credit union accounts have similar protection from the NCUA, which is the National Credit Union Administration.

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Mutual funds are great to add to any portfolio and understanding how fees and charges are applied will better your return on investment. Mutual funds generally have management fees, 12b-1 fees, and other expenses that such as account fees. Lets break down the various ways that you could be charged by a mutual fund.

These are straightforward. This fee pays for the person that is managing your mutual fund. This fee can be found in the prospectus and tends to be in percentage form, from 5-8%.

These fees are a little harder to understand, but it is a fee that is simply charged to fund the marketing and selling costs.

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There are many online personal finance tools available to keep your finances in order. Along with big banks trying to do their best to keep the faith of their clients by establishing such tools, there are personal sites, like mint.com, that provide the service for free.

This has to be the favorite of the moment because of how easy it is to use.  Mint.com consolidates all of your online accounts into one easy to view place. You simply open an account and allow mint.com access to your accounts, like your checking, savings, investment accounts, retirement accounts etc. It sounds scary to put all of your user names and passwords in the same place on an internet site, but mint.com does not store passwords and is encrypted so that nobody can get your password when you log in.  Mint.com will send you email or text alerts when your balances are low, when you are overly spending in a budget category – for instance if you set your grocery budget for $300 a month but you spent $500 – and when a check has cleared in your account.

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