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Best Envelope Budgeting Software

March 2, 2011 By 16 Comments

I’ve done some research to find what I think may be the best envelope budgeting software.   Of course, I haven’t used all these products, so I’ve relied on some online reviews and my friend Google to find them.

I’m a big fan of the envelope budgeting method and have referred to it quite a bit on the One Money Design blog.  It’s a very simple method to understand and you can manage it to whatever level of detail you’re most comfortable with.

Basically, you receive income and assign it to different budget categories (envelopes) and spend from your planned amounts.  This is good proactive money management in that you’re thinking about your spending before you spend!

Some of these are free envelope budgeting software and others have a one – time purchase option or monthly subscription.  Alright, let’s take a look at some of these products.

You Need a Budget – YNAB provides you the ability to create a budget and set up your financial institutions to track spending within budget categories that act as envelopes.  This software has become my new favorite and has gotten me so interested that I’m giving it a try right now for managing my own spending.  YNAB has a free trial and a one - time purchase option.

[box type="info"]Free YNAB 34 Day Trial[/box]

Mvelopes Envelope Budgeting SoftwareMvelopes - Mvelopes is a well known online electronic version of envelope budgeting made by Ficinity.  You can create a monthly spending plan, pay bills, automatically download transactions from your financial institutions, transfer money between envelopes and use the new iPhone app for mobile money management.  Mvelopes offers a free 30 day trial and a monthly subscription.

NeoBudget Envelope Budgeting SoftwareNeoBudget- NeoBudget provides the ability to see all your envelope balances at a glance.  You can import spending transactions, set up a funding plan and balance your bank statement with your envelopes.  NeoBudget has a free version and monthly subscription options.

BudgetFocus Envelope Budgeting SoftwareBudgetFocus - This product provides basic functionality to allow you to set up an envelope for each budget category, create a funding plan, enter spending transactions and see your balances from one page.  There is a small monthly subscription fee.

IntelliPenny Envelope Budgeting SoftwareIntelliPenny - IntelliPenny appears to be a feature rich product with all the basic envelope budgeting functionality and the ability to link to your financial institutions to download transactions.  You can also set up bill pay reminders and create a savings wish list.  IntelliPenny offers a free trial and one-time purchase option.

PearBudget Envelope Budgeting SoftwarePearBudget- Husband and wife decided to take their own personal spending tracking spreadsheet to the internet with this product.  The user guide will get you up and running in 10 minutes.  You can customize your own budget categories and it provides the flexibility to handle regular and irregular spending.  PearBudget has a free trial and a moderate monthly fee.

MySpendingPlan.com Envelope Budgeting SoftwareMySpendingPlan.com - With MySpendingPlan.com you can create your online envelopes, fund them with your paychecks each month and track spending by assigning transactions and reviewing envelope balances.  It has reporting capabilities, the ability to create financial tasks and track them, savings tips and the ability to set up and track savings goals.

MoneyWell Envelope Budgeting SoftwareMoneyWell - MoneyWell has a twist on envelope budgeting by using buckets to store your money and spending.  You can look in a bucket to see what you’ve spent, schedule recurring transactions, tracks credit card spending within your buckets, single click reconcile with your financial institution and an iPhone app.  MoneyWell has a free trial and a one – time purchase option.

CommonCents Envelope Budgeting SoftwareCommonCents – Along with envelope budgeting you can see a single screen view of your finances, manage all your financial accounts, reminders and notifications, goal setting and tracking and a lot more!  Free trial for 60 days and one – time purchase option.

Snowmint Envelope Budgeting SoftwareSnowmint - Along with envelope budgeting with virtual envelopes, Snowmint allows you to set up budget reminders, perform investment tracking, record transactions, create a funding plan for your paychecks, import transactions from your financial institution.  SnowMint has a free trial and one - time purchase option.

Do you use any of these envelope budgeting software products?  If so which products do you like best, or what are some other products you would suggest we review?

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About Jason Price

Jason Price is a husband, dad, personal finance blogger, project manager and budget coach passionate about helping people prove faithful (1 Cor 4:2) with their finances. You can him blogging at OneMoneyDesign.com, a Christian stewardship and personal finance blog, and FamilyLivingFinance.com, a lifestyle personal finance blog for families.

  • https://eebacanhelp.com Chi-Ming @ EEBA

    We’ve developed a handy little app + associated website service that is based on the envelope budgeting method. It’s called the Easy Envelope Budget Aid, EEBA for short.

    EEBA has a website, a mobile website and an Android app that makes it super-easy to check your envelope balances and record transactions at point of sale. Basically allows you to carry your virtual “envelopes” with you–so you don’t worry about carrying all that cash. It syncs everything automatically between multiple phones and the website and can be used with or without a cell signal.

    We’ve got a free forever version as well as paid subscription versions for more features.

    Website at https://www.eebacanhelp.com. Give us a try!

  • LD

    We’ve been using PearBudget for 6 months and I’m pretty pleased. It’s a well made piece of software at a reasonable price. They are improving it all the time. I especially like the irregular spending categories and the way you enter your receipts/spending as you go.

    It’s worth the free trial to check it out.

  • Matt Annette Cohen

    I ‘m noob on blogging and have just created myown site and today I ‘m doing my best to study as much as I can about this kind of thing. I really like this blog template, can you tell me what layout is it? Is it customized template or is that paid one? But I can’t afford to have paid template nor got the skill to custom design myself. Sorry for this noobie question, thanks.

  • js

    weekly envelope is now available in Russian language only.

  • Jason

    Have you found any software or services that offer envelope budgeting AND direct bank downloads (auto-sync). I use Mvelopes currently, but I would like to find something cheaper than Mvelopes and there are a couple features that I think need to be improved.

    • http://www.onemoneydesign.com Jason Price

      Jason, Mint is another option, but not envelope budgeting like Mvelopes. I’m currently using YNAB and love it, but it doesn’t have the sync with your bank. I thought I would miss this feature, but I don’t and for some reason I’m always in balance with my bank (maybe because I’m doing it manually?). YNAB does offer you the ability to import transaction files from your bank but I haven’t used it often. Again, not direct sync as you’re looking for, but it works and doesn’t take much time. Mvelopes and YNAB are my top choices for envelope budgeting. Good luck in your search and let us know how it turns out.

  • momoftwo

    I wish this review was more detailed….A table of important features that people look for (such as syncing with a bank) and which sites have them and more importantly, a break down of how much each subscription etc. would cost. Reviews are meant to save you the time and effort going to each site to figure out information! Argh =(

  • Bash

    You should check out EEBA. In my opinion it has a definite leg up on Mvelopes and YNAB. Mvelopes’ online experience is nothing short of horrid, and YNAB doesn’t have cloud sync, making it highly inconvenient. In case this sounds like an ad, I have no affiliation with EEBA, just think they have the best product out at this moment. 

    • klip

      actually ynab does have cloud sync and it’s awesome! I used EEBA before ynab, it’s a good program for spending habits but I’ve found YNAB to be far better as a full banking and budgeting system

  • http://twitter.com/YodaTeach Steve Meadows

    Does anyone use a budget software with Manilla?  That seems to be the perfect combo, but I can’t find the right budget software to use with it?

  • Paul

    I have been a Neobudget user for a couple of years now and really like it. (paid subscription)

    It’s not as automated as some of the others but you can easily import a statement from your bank, and upload it into Neobudget.

    I prefer the “less automated” method because I like to keep an eye on what’s coming and going.

    That said, Neobudget nicely divides my income into the correct envelopes at every pay period, and that has worked brilliantly for our real estate taxes, insurance payments, etc. (A portion of my paycheck is sent to our savings account and Neobudget helps me keep track of how much is in each “envelope.” We just move the money to checking when it’s time to pay that bill. No surprises.)

    There is a limited free version but if you like to slice your money into a lot of envelopes you’ll want the full version.

  • http://www.makemoneyideeas.webatu.com/ Alexander G.

    I work with MoneyWell and I find it very useful.

  • jackie

    I have just spent 20 minutes trying to buy Snowmint. I kept getting an error message and finally I called the number listed. I told them I was trying to buy the software but they said they didn’t have that product. What can you say about a product that’s difficult even to buy except no

  • Jennifer

    I am here looking for alternatives for Mvelopes. I’m definitely hooked on managing my money this way and love Mvelopes ability to link to most of my accounts, but I am SOOO tired of spending hours on chat with Indian customer service reps to fix the constant bugs. If it were free, I’d live with it, but I sure hope a competitor’s has something better to provide.

    • http://twitter.com/inzolo Inzolo

      Jennifer,

      Give Inzolo a try. It’s similar. I have many former frustrated Mvelopes users using it Send me an email with any questions you have.

      Dustin

  • Show Low Jan

    I have been looking for Envelope Method Software. I need one that has good reports. Like being able to print out the Check Register, and a list of entries that been made to the different envelopes. EX: a list of medical payments made, so I have a report to use when I do my tax return, and can save it in case of an audit (I would then have a list of checks). I am an accountant, and I need reports, it is my nature. In your research have you come across any programs that would work for me?