Envelope Budgeting App
After nearly a month of use, I feel it worth sharing that the Envelope Budget app is, in my 27 years of envelope budgeting, one of the best apps I've ever used and feel it is worth sharing for those looking for a good solutions (because there aren't a lot of them).
Let me start by saying that I don't work for this company, am not an affiliate, haven't been asked to write this, and I personally pay to use their app.
Background Context/Experience
I've been envelope budgeting since 1999. For many years I ran it in a custom spreadsheet, which was easy enough when I was young and had no money.
Some time in 2007, I started using mvelopes.com, which was better than my spreadsheet, but back then they built it in Flash (if you know, you know). I had an on-again, off-again relationship with them until they finally dissolved in 2020-something.
During my on/off with Mvelopes, I tried several other programs (hoping to find something better) including Every Dollar, YNAB, Monarch, mint, and Good Budget. None of them were ever the perfect fit.
Every Dollar - I'll confess that I used it only when it initially launched. For me, it was too strictly tied to Dave's philosophy and didn't have enough flexibility for me to run my budget the way I wanted.
YNAB - I never made it out of the trial period. I have a long email back and forth with the support team trying to understand how YNAB was treating my CC payments that never ended up making sense. On top of that, it being pricier, I just gave up.
Monarch - Loved it... but really doesn't support envelope budgeting.
Mint - I was desperate. It was not envelope budgeting
Good Budget - This is where I landed after Mvelopes closed up shop. It is pretty good. I mean, the name isn't "great budget" but it is good. My biggest complaint is that nothing ever changed. I only ever remember 1 big release, and that was bank connections. There were so many small things that could have been improved, but never were. Simple things like assigning an envelope, they never put an option to type to search. Always annoying to scroll to find the envelope. Just little stuff like that always left me wanting more.
Finding EnvelopeBudget.com
Every ~6 months I go looking to see what else is out there for envelope budgeting apps. There's rarely anything new or good.
Last month I ran a query in Claude and it randomly mentioned "EnvelopeBudget.com" and I decided to check it out. Initial impression from the website was good enough for me to sign up for the free trial.
In the past 20 days I've become a convert, threw down my money, and am canceling my Good Budget subscription.
Here's what makes this app better than any other I've used in 27 years.
- Development! Hands down, they are the most responsive to user feedback and rolling out features and functionality people want. https://envelopebudget.com/changelog/ shows what I'm talking about.
- Ease of use: Simple to set up and start using. Everything functions the way you think it should. I got to the point where I dreaded going into Good Budget, especially if my transactions had backlogged. With this app, even if i have a lot of transacitons, it is super quick to get through them.
- Flexibility: I can carry negative balances, easily shift funds between envelopes, and generally run my budget how I want!
- Multiple "budgets": I can run my business as a separate budget and switch back and forth with my personal. No need for 2nd money app to run my business.
- Support: Super responsive to all my requests and emails.
- Amazon Description Sync - This has been a GAME CHANGER for me. They have a chrome extension that matches your bank transaction with your amazon purchases so the description tells you exactly what the purcahse was. This easily saves me 10 minutes (we order from amazon a lot) of searching to find what all the amazon charges are!
- Cost: Least expensive envelope budgeting app.
I will say, the one quirky thing is their bank connectivity. They use SimpleFin, which is like an extra $1.50 a month and only pull 1x a day. I'd probably prefer plaid to connect, but that's really one of the only "complaints" I have.
If you haven't been happy with your current envelope budget app, or are looking to give envelope budgeting a try, give this app a go.
Happy to answer any questions.