Can someone please recommend me a good budgeting app? (for IOS)
I’ve been looking for a budgeting app that actually fits the way I manage my money, and I’m starting to feel like I’m asking for something unreasonable 😂
I’ve tried quite a few apps, but I keep running into the same problems. A lot of them are either:
Way too complicated. They give you 500 different charts, reports, accounts, investment tracking, net worth calculations, etc. when I mainly want to know where my money is going and how much I can safely spend.😩
Too focused on tracking expenses after I’ve spent the money instead of helping me plan what to do with my money beforehand.
Built around a budgeting method that feels unnecessarily rigid. I don’t necessarily want every dollar to have a job and have to constantly move money between categories.
Extremely dependent on bank syncing. This is a big problem for me because I don’t necessarily have access to the kind of bank integrations these apps expect, so I need something that works well with manual entry too.
Full of useful features that are locked behind a subscription. I’m fine paying for a genuinely good app, but I’m not interested in paying $100+ a year just to get basic budgeting functionality.
What I’m really looking for is something relatively simple and visual.
Ideally, I want to be able to:
Set up my own categories (food, transportation, entertainment, savings, etc.)
Set a budget for each category
Easily record expenses manually
See how much I’ve spent and how much I have left
Track savings goals
Handle recurring expenses/bills
See upcoming expenses
Have a clean, modern iOS interface
Ideally have some kind of calendar or timeline view
Not require me to connect my bank account
Not overwhelm me with a million financial features I don’t need
Basically, I want an app that helps me make decisions about my money, not just a prettier version of my bank statement.
For people who have tried several budgeting apps: what would you recommend for this kind of use case, and what do you dislike about the app you use?
I’m especially interested in hearing about smaller/lesser-known iOS apps too. I’m not necessarily looking for the most popular one, just one that actually works well, and that’s looks pretty .🙌🏼