We all know that sticking to a budget is important, but it’s not easy. HelloWallet’s online

personal financial management (PFM) is designed to help. Users can track long-term goals and spending through interactive graphs and personalized notifications. In addition, the startup’s philanthropic efforts make you feel even better about using the $8.95/mo advertising-free service. 

Washington, D.C.-based HelloWallet was founded in 2008 by former Brookings scholar Matt Fellows to provide financial guidance for Americans who lack access to professional advisors. The service originated with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation intended to help low-income Americans create a budget. 

(Note: The traffic below does not reflect users who access the service through their employer. The footnote* at end of the post reflects those numbers.)

(Retrieved June 22, 2011 from compete.com)

The company has expanded its horizons and now looks to help consumers at all income levels. In fact, HelloWallet is primarily distributed through Fortune 500 companies to their employees as a benefit.  

No matter where you are in your financial journey, HelloWallet has features to help you stick to your budget. 

It has five main sections:

1. Home features an overview of your accounts, a list of to-dos, and a feed of alerts.
2. Plan focuses on the long-term view of wealth, goals, and budget through a cash-flow graph. It also provides personalized recommendations on how to increase savings.
3. Budget displays account totals and income by day. It also shows budget totals by category.
4. Transactions are listed and graphed. The graph shows money earned compared to money spent on a daily timeline.
5. Profile facilitates personalized advice by asking about other personal situations, such as number of children and if you anticipate caring for elderly parents in the future.

A mobile version is scheduled for later this year.

Because HelloWallet believes in helping people at all income levels, it has pledged to give away one subscription to a low-income family for every five purchased. To help identify deserving families who qualify for a free subscription, it maintains community partnerships with the following non-profit organizations:

• The Center for Economic Progress: Assists hard working, low-income families reach financial stability.
• The Community Builders: Builds homes and communities for low-wage families and individuals.
• Community Renewal International: Restores communities through personal relationships. 
• EARN: Provides low-income working families with tools to help them achieve financial goals.

To see it in action, check out HelloWallet’s Finovate Spring 2011 demo. 

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*HelloWallet’s average employer partner workforce is 50k employees where the average take-up rate is about 20% after six months. It expects to serve 600,000 employees by the end of the year. Thus, since employees log in once a week on average, the actual web traffic varies substantially from the compete.com graph.