Most consumers could use a little financial handholding these days.
A slew of new free online tools and services have been created to help consumers save money and manage it wisely. Whether you're looking to track your credit score, find a better savings rate or finally balance that monthly budget, these nine sites can help:
BillShrink
BillShrink searches various cell phone plans to find you the best deal. Answer five simple questions about your usage (or just upload your latest bill), and this service searches plan and add-on service combinations at all providers. It even factors in call quality and the cost to switch.
Credit Karma
Credit Karma offers free daily access to your credit score from partner credit reporting bureau TransUnion. Although most lenders use a different formula, it's still an effective tool for keeping track of any score fluctuations.
FiLife
This site offers information on thousands of financial accounts, ranging from credit cards and checking accounts to 529 college savings plans. Search for the best balance transfer rates on credit cards or which CDs pay the most in interest, and find out about other consumers' experiences through the customer reviews and ratings.
Mint
Mint allows users to track their 401(k), and also lets them customize their budget for specific expenses, including groceries and gas.
MoneyAisle
Want to get the best rates on a CD, money market or high-yield savings account? MoneyAisle pits participating financial institutions (mostly small community banks and credit unions) against one another in a real-time auction to compete for your business.
Quicken Online
The web-based version of the popular desktop software is now free. Quicken users have access to an overview of all of their accounts, as well as a 10-day outlook that projects how upcoming expenses will impact account balances.
SmartHippo
This combination search engine-online community helps users dig up the best mortgage rates. Enter a zip code to find out what rates and other terms lenders in the area are offering.
Thrive
This new budgeting and money management site calculates your overall financial health. By looking at spending behaviors and other data, such as account balances, it determines how well equipped you are to meet certain financial goals like retirement or buying a home.
Wesabe
Like Quicken, Thrive and Mint, this site allows users to handle all of their accounts in one place and to set budget and savings goals. Users can also create their own categories for purchases and select statistics to display as a graphed comparison against those of other site users.