Is starting a budget one of your 2012 new year’s resolutions? Whether you’re drowning in debt or trying to save up for a major purchase (or just something special), learning how to manage your money is critical to track where your income is both coming from and going toward. I like to think of my resolutions as “goals,” and in 2012 this includes getting rid of my consumer debt. (Let’s not start talking about those student loans quite yet.) Over the last few years I relied on credit cards for some major medical emergencies, and am still regretting a few purchases I made during college. If you’re in my boat, or perhaps ready to rid of debt altogether, you’ll need a little help. While you can try to use self-discipline, we both know that we’re in this place because it’s just not that easy. Luckily, there are several great apps that can help you make a budget and stick with it to help you with your financial goals.

Mint.com

The best tried and true online budget management app is the consumer favorite, Mint.com. Mint is an extremely powerful (and free!) Web-based tool that allows you to connect to each and every one of your financial accounts to see your balance and/or amounts owed in real time. Mint is what I like to call a “smart” financial app and will also simultaneously pull in the due date for each bill owed when it connects to your financial institution. This setup process can take some time, especially if you have several credit cards and loans spread across many different lenders or banks. However, once you are connected with each of your lenders and banks, Mint will automatically update should you sign up for a new card or change a service with your existing bank (such as cancel your renter’s insurance or add a new credit card).

Mint has dozens of features that make setting up a budget easy, and following that budget next-to painless. You can set specific budgets for food, car maintenance, clothes, home maintenance, coffee, music, and much more. You can even set goals, such as “pay off debt” or “save for an emergency.” Again, setting this up takes time, and you may have to categorize recent transactions yourself; Mint is smart, but it doesn’t always catch that certain retailers are related to specific categories if it is not clear in their names or if they are very small businesses. However, the time spent getting everything in proper alignment is well worth it. If you’re trying to save money to pay your taxes, move into your own apartment, or buy a new car, yet you quickly surpass your monthly budget for mocha, Mint can alert you immediately. The choice is then yours as to how to spend your money for the remainder of the month — but Mint will always remind you of your big dreams and your financial goals. Mint’s interface is simple, intuitive, and also available as an app on most mobile devices, so you can decide if you can really afford to go shopping at the mall on a whim and still meet your goals — and of course, stick to your budget.

Yodlee MoneyCenter

While Mint is my personal favorite, many other budget-conscious consumers favor Yodlee Money Center, a consumer-centric solution similar to Mint that helps you manage your finances. Like Mint, Yodlee allows you to use tools to track your spending, link all your financial accounts, pay your bills from one place, and transfer funds securely. Yodlee offers almost the exact same features as Mint, though Yodlee’s interface is not as intuitive as Mint. Mint is much more graphically oriented than Yodlee, and users of Mint may find that Yodlee is actually slightly slow and clunky. However, for consumers who appreciate cold, hard numbers, Yodlee may be a more effective method than Mint for creating and keeping with a budget. Yodlee, like Mint, is a free service on the Web, and is also available as an app for iPhone users for $3.99 to help track accounts, transactions, and basic budget on the go. For users who need a comprehensive iOS app, Mint is notably far superior for managing a mobile budget.

Quicken

While Mint.com and Yodlee are two of the best Web-based budget management tools, nothing is more powerful for managing a budget than Quicken. A favorite of both individuals and small businesses alike, Quicken makes it easy to manage your budget offline while boasting many of the same features as Yodlee and Mint — since Quicken is made by Intuit, which also own Mint.com. The benefit of using this paid software is the set of additional features, including the ability to manage investments or choose the option to also manage business finances. Quicken also features customer support and can help you prepare for tax season (which, by the way, is quickly approaching). If you don’t happen to have complicated finances, you may prefer to stick with Mint.com (or Yodlee). However, if you manage an investment portfolio, property, or a small business, Quicken is your best choice. And for those of you with an iPhone, don’t worry. There is a free iPhone app for Quicken users, too.

There are, of course, dozens of other financial tools and apps that can help you manage a budget as well. If you’re in college and have yet to worry about your student loans (if you even have any) and are primarily concerned about budgeting for text books, beer money, and rent, a more lightweight online budgeting app like Buxfer may be a better choice. Buxfer is free and has a simple yet intuitive UI that allows users to securely connect their financial accounts and still set budgets and goals. Buxfer is not ideal for those with complicated finances and dozens of loans, credit cards, and bills to worry about, but for those with only a few bills and a fairly simple budget, Buxfer works extremely well. And if you own an iPhone and have a tendency to shop impulsively despite a set budget, you may want to consider a fun new app called Urge. With Urge, you can decide whether your impulsive decision to buy a $5 latte is really worth it in light of your goals to save money. If not, you automatically transfer that $5 to your savings account. The app is free, but if you want the functionality to automatically transfer that $5 for a latte into your savings account instead, you’ll have to pay $1.99 for banking integration.

Is setting and sticking to a budget part of your 2012 new year’s resolutions? If so, what is your app or software of choice? Share your favorites in the comments.