Aussies seem to be having a hard time budgeting, so we just released an online budget tracker to help solve that problem. It’s called Money Simple, and just like Credit Simple, it’s online and free.

You can access Money Simple by logging in to your Credit Simple account or signing up with Credit Simple, and clicking on the Money Simple tab. It pulls in information from all the major banks, so you can see your spending information in real time.

Why Money Simple? Our research, which was answered by more than 5,160 people, investigated Kiwis’ budgeting habits, and revealed that only 28% are ‘hardcore’ budgeters, while 10% never budget at all. Meanwhile, 15% said they had tried budgeting in the past but stopped because it was too difficult to stick to, and 9% said they were ‘too lazy’ to bother trying.

“We get constant feedback from our members, who want online tools to help them better manage their money,” said Credit Simple CEO David Scognamiglio. “There’s a real gap there, for people who want quality tools for budgeting, so we decided to build our spend tracker and make it free for our members.

“We’ve built Money Simple to help Kiwis live their best financial life. Knowledge is power, and knowing where you’re spending your money is the first step to tweaking that spend and making it work harder for you. We think that this will help people save real money.

“We’ve incorporated flexible functionality into Money Simple – you’ll be able to see your spending habits from multiple banks and finance companies and across multiple accounts. We will even show you how you compare.”

Money Simple can be accessed from within the CreditSimple.co.nz dashboard for users who have signed up for a Credit Simple account and received their credit score.

“We really want to encourage people to start budgeting,” Mr Scognamiglio said. “Our survey showed that 49% of people have an emergency fund in case something goes wrong – such as a medical emergency – but there’s still a huge chunk of people who don’t have any financial backup. And a lot of people are scraping by from week to week, or pay cheque to pay cheque – 30% say they live like this and find it hard to build up reserves of money.

“Credit Simple and Money Simple gives Kiwis the opportunity to see their credit and their money in one place, in a way that’s streamlined, free, and easy to understand. We’re looking forward to seeing our members start using the service.”

You can get your credit score instantly, online and for free right here at Credit Simple, and access the Money Simple spend tracker once you’re signed in. Click here to get started.