In this article, I explain some of the Best Budgeting Tools for Expats Living Abroad – important apps that manage finances while living in another country.
Expenses, budgets, budgets in different currencies, shared costs, and expenses completely simplify the money workflow for someone living in a new casual and financial environment.
Key Points & Best Budgeting Tools For Expats Living Abroad
| Budgeting Tool | Key Point |
|---|---|
| Mint | Tracks expenses automatically and supports multiple currencies |
| YNAB (You Need A Budget) | Focuses on proactive budgeting and goal setting |
| PocketGuard | Shows how much disposable income you have after bills |
| Expensify | Best for tracking receipts and reimbursements abroad |
| GoodBudget | Envelope-style budgeting with easy sharing for families |
| Revolut | Multi-currency accounts with built-in budgeting tools |
| Monese | Mobile banking app designed for expats and travelers |
| Splitwise | Great for managing shared expenses with roommates or friends |
| Wally | Detailed expense tracking with currency conversion |
| Spendee | Visual budget insights and multi-wallet support |
10 Best Budgeting Tools For Expats Living Abroad
1. Mint
Although Mint is inactive, expats still have access to powerful budgeting alternatives for managing global finances.
YouNeedABudget (YNAB) is versatile, with real-time syncing in over 100 currencies for managing inter-country costs.
Revolut is even more helpful with built-in budgeting, spending analysis, and currency exchange for international salary transfers with no added fees, but a monthly exchange limit.
PocketGuard helps users avoid overspending with automatic bill tracking, and personalized “In My Pocket” calculations.
Monese makes expat banking simple with multi-country banking and automatic transaction categorization to easily control spending movement across different countries.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatic expense tracking | Syncs with bank accounts and cards to categorize spending. |
| Budget creation | Helps set monthly budgets with alerts. |
| Bill tracking | Reminds users of upcoming bills. |
| Multi-currency support | Useful for expats managing accounts abroad. |
| Credit score monitoring | Provides free credit |
2. YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is great if you need to budget multiple currencies: you can keep separate budgets for currencies like USD, EUR, INR, etc which is useful if you earn from one country and spend in another.
It works on a zero-based budgeting system which means every dollar (or rupee, euro, etc.) gets a job, getting you to purposely assign your income to expenses
Savings, and/or goals. You can either link your bank account for automatic transaction imports (good for unsupported automatic syncing) or import transactions manually.
Other notable features include setting goals, sharing budgets with others, spending reports and sharing budgets with others which is useful for long-term budgeting.
It’s also reported that many gain a sense of calm when they start using YNAB. YNAB reports that 92% of its users gain a sense of control over their finances in when they start using the application.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Proactive budgeting | Focuses on giving every dollar a job. |
| Goal tracking | Helps plan for savings and debt payoff. |
| Workshops & education | Offers training for better financial habits. |
| Cross-device sync | Works seamlessly across devices. |
| Community support | Active forums for expats and users worldwide. |
3. PocketGuard
Expats or frequent movers can benefit from PocketGuard’s capabilities including the ability to track expenses, assess how much is available to spend safely, and determine how much can be spent on discretionary items after essential expenses are known.
The platform syncs to a card to import expenses automatically, detects and outlines fixed expenses, and provides the disposable income after expenses are subtracted.
Below certain limits, older bills can be highlighted, and customizable budgets can be set per tracked category.
The platform allows the user to track progress towards savings goals as well as spend down a certain amount over time.
PocketGuard employs sophisticated security features including highly regarded bank-level encryption and biometric login access.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Disposable income insights | Shows how much money is left after bills. |
| Bill tracking | Monitors recurring expenses. |
| Bank sync | Connects with multiple accounts. |
| Spending limits | Helps avoid overspending. |
| Simple interface | Easy for expats new to budgeting apps. |
4. Expensify
Expensify makes it easy to keep track of expenses in different countries because of the 159+ currencies supported within the app, as well as the app’s ability to automatically convert transactions to your home currency.
Because of the app’s smart-scan features, all receipts can be scanned, logged, tagged, and categorized automatically, so there is no need to resort to manual data entry.
Bank cards, credit cards, cash receipts, and even distance traveled in kilometers can be logged within the app.
This is especially useful for those working or traveling overseas. Maintaining and organizing expense reports is easy in the app, and additional features to sync the data with other financial management and accounting software are available.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Receipt scanning | Snap photos of receipts for instant logging. |
| Expense reports | Generates detailed reports for reimbursements. |
| Multi-currency support | Converts expenses automatically. |
| Corporate integration | Works well for expats on business assignments. |
| Mobile-friendly | Designed for travelers and remote workers. |
5. GoodBudget
Goodbudget works with a digital “envelope system\”; budget your income by creating virtual envelopes (for your rent, groceries, savings, etc.) so every rupee/dollar has a purpose before you spend it
Available on web, Android, and iOS, and a bit easier than a partner or family member living in a different country, It even lets you define numerous envelopes, track a year of history and manually log expenses even if bank-sync automation is unavailable
Providing you with a clear report or graph of your income and spending, defining income-expense gaps while enabling you to make adjustments when cost of living changes, i,e, when you change countries.
Goodbudget also works with shared household budgeting which is great for expat couples or families wanting to manage their expenses while keeping a close eye on their income across different countries.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Envelope system | Digital version of cash-envelope budgeting. |
| Shared budgets | Families can share and sync budgets. |
| Goal tracking | Helps plan for savings. |
| Cross-platform | Works on iOS, Android, and web. |
| Simple design | Easy to use for beginners. |
6. Revolut
The service provided by Revolut is unparalleled as it is customizable and it allows its users to retrieve their money, send and spend money instantly and it is accepted worldwide, particularly in places like Europe.
Clients can spend money in over 30 currencies and unlike their rivals, Revolut allows their. Users to exchange money at interbank, real-time exchange rates.
Revolut also provides its users with instant statistics and budgetations, so it is virtually impossible to overspend.
Other features like Savings vaults, cryptocurrency vaults, International travel insurance, and accounts in any currency and crypto.
Other features like savings vaults and cryptocurrency vaults help their users reach their financial and travel goals. Expats do numerous at no charge and also at a reasonable price.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Multi-currency accounts | Hold and spend in 30+ currencies. |
| Interbank exchange rates | Save money on currency conversion. |
| Budget insights | Real-time spending analytics. |
| Savings vaults | Round-up savings and set goals. |
| Travel perks | Insurance, lounge access, and global transfers. |
7. Monese
Monese permits you to establish a borderless account without the need for credit score evaluations or verification of a local address; perfect for when you have just moved.
You are able to maintain multiple currency balances and spend or receive your salaries overseas and in that same app, exchange currencies like GBP and EUR (and others).
It allows you to track your spending, budget, automate your bills, and save towards a goal; features that are very useful to expats.
Monese has a very simple setup and a mobile app designed for smartphones, making it the perfect choice for those who travel a lot or are moving to a new country.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Instant account setup | Open accounts without local proof of address. |
| Multi-currency support | GBP, EUR, and more for expats. |
| Budgeting tools | Track spending and set limits. |
| International transfers | Send money abroad easily. |
| Mobile-first design | Tailored for expats and travelers. |
8. Splitwise
Splitwise allows support for over a hundred currencies. They allow you to document your transactions in the currency of the country you are in while also providing a total in your home currency.
This feature comes in very handy for people who earn in one country and spend in another. It also allows you to share expenses with friends and travel companions.
You can customize expense splits in different ways by indicating percentage share amounts or custom amounts.
You also get expense totals for multiple trips and can track who owes what to whom. Optionally you can obtain a pro subscription to allow for receipt documentation.
They provide real time balance updates with syncing to the cloud so you can get your expenses organized even while on the move.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Shared expenses | Splits bills among friends or roommates. |
| Multi-currency support | Handles expenses in different currencies. |
| Debt tracking | Keeps balances clear between groups. |
| Integration with PayPal/Venmo | Easy settlement of debts. |
| Travel-friendly | Perfect for group trips abroad. |
9. Wally
Wally works in over 70 countries, and users can track expenses across 200+ supported currencies. Expats can conveniently track expenses in local and home currencies instantaneously.
Users can monitor multiple accounts, such as checking, saving, cash, and digital wallets. Even if you have accounts across multiple countries, you can obtain a holistic view of your finances.
Users can log expenses manually, sync supported bank accounts, and track expenses by category. Users can set budgets for categories like travel, rent, and groceries.
Users can also upload documents and set reminders for payments and bills. Users can receive overviews of their finances for a specific time period and track future expenses.
These features make Wally great for users who live abroad and want to enhance their future financial planning.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Expense tracking | Logs spending with detailed categories. |
| Currency conversion | Supports multiple currencies for expats. |
| Budget creation | Helps set monthly limits. |
| Financial insights | Provides spending analytics. |
| Customizable goals | Tailor savings targets. |
10. Spendee
You can see expenses in different currencies with Spendee because it supports multiple currencies and wallets and its converted all expenses to your main currency of choice.
It creates shared wallets for couples, family, or friends abroad to conveniently manage joint expenses like rent, grocery, and travel.
Users can link their bank accounts, crypto wallets, and e-wallets to automatically import and categorize transactions, when syncs aren’t supported, spenders can manually enter transactions.
Allotting unlimited budgets is one of Spendee’s specializations, along with budgets by category or for events, visual reports, and spending trend reports. These tools come in handy when living expenses, and spending behaviors depends on the country.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Multi-wallets | Manage personal, family, or travel budgets separately. |
| Visual insights | Colorful charts and graphs for spending. |
| Bank sync | Connects with accounts worldwide. |
| Shared wallets | Collaborate with family or friends. |
| Expense categorization | Helps identify spending patterns. |
Conclusion
To sum up, people who live outside their home countries have many options to help them manage their finances.
YNAB, Mint, PocketGuard, and GoodBudget assist with goal setting and tracking spending, whereas Revolut, Monese, and Spendee support multiple currencies and provide real-time data.
For Expenses that need to be divided, Splitwise works great. Depending on whether you need to manage multiple currencies at once, do joint budgeting, or have expense tracking automated will determine which is the best app for you.
FAQ
YNAB and Revolut are top choices for multi-currency management and goal tracking.
Yes, apps like Revolut, Monese, Spendee, and Splitwise support multi-currency accounts.
Mint, GoodBudget, PocketGuard, and Wally offer free versions with basic features.
Splitwise and Spendee allow group budgeting for roommates, families, or travel companions.
Most, including Mint, PocketGuard, YNAB, and Revolut, support bank syncing.
