Last Updated on October 27, 2024

Please research each platform mentioned carefully to see if it is right for you. We do not use any affiliate links on this site or work with any of the services mentioned.

Tracking your finances properly is an essential part of every financial plan. For some this includes setting an iron clad budget to live within your means, pay off debt and begin saving and investing. Others may be looking for a broader picture of their income, expenses and net worth to monitor and track their financial progress more holistically. While there are hundreds if not thousands of budgeting and financial tracking tools out there, Olim often are looking for a tool that:

• Tracks spending and income in multiple countries and currencies
• Allows for budgeting in multiple currencies
• Syncs with financial institutions in Israel and abroad
• Has a good English language interface

In this article we will run through some of the best financial tracking tools available for Olim based on this criteria.

Google Sheets

Google sheets has plenty of free templates to create a budget and track your finances and many find it the easiest way to get started. You can use basic google finance functions to convert your numbers to different currencies based on the live market rate.

For example, to convert a number from dollars to shekels you can use a formula like =A1*GOOGLEFINANCE(“CURRENCY:USDILS”) or from shekels to dollars using =A1*GOOGLEFINANCE(“CURRENCY:ILSUSD”).

If you are starting from scratch and looking for resources on how to build a budget, check out: How to master your spending in Israel and put in your email below to quickly download our free budgeting template:

Apps for tracking Israeli accounts and credit cards only

If you are comfortable with Hebrew-based apps and are mostly looking to track your finances in Israel, these are two great options:

• Riseup – 45₪ per month
• MyFinanda – Free or 49₪ for 3 months for premium

Which one should you choose? Here are some key factors to consider:

• Riseup costs 45 NIS per month. Finanda has a free version that has most of what you need. Otherwise about 16 shekels per month.
• Riseup uses the new open banking system. More secure and reliable connections to your bank accounts
• We’ve noticed that Finanda has slightly more accurate categorization. It also makes it easier to manage detailed categories (Riseup is a bit more high level)
• Finanda doesn’t have a good desktop interface (and none at all with the free version). But it does have a proper mobile app.
• Riseup doesn’t have a great solution for planning seasonal expenses across a year. Finanda also isn’t as good as some American budgeting platforms, but it does have an annual budget view on the paid version.
• Riseup is more proactive, helping you manage your spending throughout the month. Finanda’s budgeting tools are fine, but you have to take the initiative.
• Finanda allows you to add manual transactions. This is important for those that sometimes spend in cash or on foreign cards. Riseup relies on you categorizing the ATM withdrawal for cash in Israel and has no support for foreign transactions.
• Riseup allows you to export to Excel. Finanda charges you each time for this.

For a 25% discount on our Master Your Spending with Finanda course, ping us on Whatsapp.

Global cash-flow tracking apps

2024 Update: Spendee, Toshl, and Wallet have announced that their banking aggregator has temporarily removed access to Israeli banks and cards. Therefore it is not worth testing out these following apps until the aggregator reconnects to Israeli banks under the new open banking API. We anticipate that this will take many months, if not years.

One of the best ways to to maximize your budget, take control of your spending, and optimize your financial plan is by really drilling down on the details – What are your highest expenses? How much income are you earning each month and where is it going? What categories might you be overspending in? What expenses are rising faster than others? How can you reduce your spending in order to be able to save more each month?

An automated app that tracks and analyzes your could flow can go a long way in helping you answer these questions.

These apps below connect to accounts both in Israel and overseas. Unfortunately, many find all of these options to be glitchy and unreliable. This has also been our experience. Nonetheless, these are the ones worth testing:

• Spendee – 7 day free trial and then $22.99 per year.
• Toshl – 30 day free trial then $39.99 a year.
• Wallet  – 14 day free trial and then costs $24.99 a year. (There is also low-cost lifetime access available.)

Other Popular Apps

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

YNAB is one of the most popular and robust budgeting tools in the world. While YNAB does support multi-currency budgets, including ILS based budgets, they don’t currently support Israeli bank connections requiring you to import these transactions manually. Many prefer to record their expenses manually to better hold themselves accountable for everything they spend and are happy to pay the annual fee for an app as useful as YNAB is. YNAB is free for 34 days then $98.99 per year.

Tiller

If you love the control and customization available with a spreadsheet but want to be able to import some data automatically, check out Tiller. Tiller is loaded with basic and advanced financial tracking spreadsheets and can pull your data from US banks and investment accounts automatically. It doesn’t currently support multi-currency tracking or most Israeli bank accounts. Olim who want to use this software will likely need to use the “manual accounts” feature to add Israeli accounts and use google finance currency formulas (mentioned above) to get a picture of their finances in shekels. Tiller is free for 30 days and then $79 per year.

Best practices when testing an app

Personally, I have found that it is common for these app-based solutions to be glitchy and this can definitely be frustrating. When choosing the app that will work best for you, we recommend:

• Making sure the app works well with the banks/cards you do most of your spending with. It doesn’t have to work with all your accounts  – these apps generally also provide the ability to add manual accounts if necessary. In order for them to really save you time and justify the subscription price, they should be effective at gathering the data from your primary accounts.
• Maximizing the full free-trial period by testing your bank connections before buying a monthly or annual subscription. Even if the monthly subscription is a bit more expensive than the annual one, after the free trial ends, the monthly subscription may be the best way to go until you are fully comfortable with the app and confident in its ability to help you budget.
• Being patient. Setting up one of these apps to track things properly requires a significant investment of time and effort to create and tweak new budgets while also ensuring your spending is being tracked and categorized properly. The time you spend working on the app will likely have the added benefit of giving you a deeper understanding of your spending habits.

Lastly, keep in mind that you may find tracking every transaction to be very important as you develop your first budget and get comfortable with your “financial diet”. Once you gain more confidence and control over your expenses and income, you may be better suited by one of the simpler solutions like a spreadsheet that you can manually update once a month to ensure you are staying on track.