In decades past, moms were forced to make a difficult decision: stay at home with their growing brood or return to the workforce. These days, modern women are embracing a third option and becoming part of the growing population of work-at-home moms. Of course, this comes with its own challenges. Maintaining a good work-life balance isn’t easy, but these clever apps can make the life of a work-at-home mom run much smoother.

Mint.com Personal Finance: Manage Your Money Better

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Image via Flickr by 401(K) 2013

When it comes to household finances, women are the big spenders. Nearly three-quarters identify themselves as the primary shoppers, and 72.8 percent of American women say they control their household spending. So it’s important for work-at-home moms to know what’s going in, and what’s going out.

Mint.com Personal Finance shows you all your accounts, and it automatically categorizes your transactions so you can see where your money goes. It can help you to create household budgets or just keep an eye on your weekly expenditures.

Grocery Gadget Shopping List: Supermarket Runs Made Easy

The Grocery Gadget Shopping List app is a great household manager. It lets you create different shopping lists so you can organize your household and business expenses. The app also lets you compare the prices of items in various groceries stores and match coupons to shopping items so you can secure the best deal.

Of course a work-at-home mom isn’t always the default shopper. Happily the Grocery Gadget Shopping List runs from a single cloud-based platform; it’s a custom design by a company similar to Simplikate Systems. This means that it’s designed to offer business service solutions to a huge array of customers.

Dictamus: Compose Correspondence on the Go

Work-at-home moms often have to work while bouncing a baby and spooning food into a toddler’s mouth. Dictamus is perfect for these situations, as it allows you to work hands-free. It uses voice-recognition to compose emails and documents. Rewind and re-record your file as many times as you like to get it just right. Once your message is complete, you can share it with clients and colleagues via Dropbox, MobileMe, or Box.net. It’s like having your own personal assistant on hand at all times!

At $14.99, it’s more expensive than many dictation apps on the market, but it’s also much more reliable. There’s a free model that will give you a limited taste of its features, so you can decide for yourself whether Dictamus works for you.

Wunderlist: Stay Organized

When you’re keeping many balls in the air, you need a little help to keep them straight. Even if you’ve never been a fan of to-do lists, Wunderlist is likely to convert you. The app allows you to create to-do lists and reminders which you can share with your professional and personal contacts. Use it to keep track of multiple projects, your kids’ commitments, and your social life!

With the launch of Wunderlist 2 late last year, Christian Reber, the CEO of parent company 6Wunderkinder insists Wunderlist “goes beyond a simple to-do list and establishes itself as a trusted daily companion.”

These apps won’t change diapers, conduct client research, or put dinner on the table at the end of the day. However, they can help work-at-home moms work efficiently enough to do it all.

Guest Contributor Amanda Brown is a freelance writer whom enjoys playing and coaching volleyball. She loves her friends and family including her dog, Charlie; as well as traveling all around the world.