June 08, 2009

It’s tougher than ever to plan your finances. But it’s also easier than ever to find help on the cheap.There are a host of Web sites that help you lay out a budget and track your spending and investments. Some let you set up a plan for a long-term goal, like college or retirement, and others offer advice about where to put your money. And many of these services are free of charge.

To help you wade through all the choices, we scoured the Web to find some of the best online tools and got recommendations from personal-finance pros.Here’s a look at some of the best sites we turned up, in a range of categories.These free sites offer tools to help you keep track of what you’re spending, how much you’re saving and how your investments are performing.