The Goodbudget app is based on using the envelope system, known as Kakeibo, which means “household account book” in Japanese. The envelope system is designed to let you know how much money is allocated to each expense, along with how much is saved each month.
The rise of cashless payments presents a new obstacle to the envelope system. Consumers carry less physical cash, and some businesses no longer accept cash. That doesn’t mean the old-school envelope system is unusable—to mimic the physical envelope filled with currency, Goodbudget came up with digital envelopes.
By using the envelope system, you can achieve financial milestones, such as paying off debt or saving up for a large expense—like a down payment on a home.
Goodbudget provides excellent reporting tools to show your income against your spending, and how it varies month to month. In the app, there are easy-to-read graphs that can help you understand your spending habits.
Security
Goodbudget is secured using 256-bit encryption, which is a similar encryption level to other financial institutions.
When shopping for a budgeting app, digital security measures are essential because of the sensitive financial information used within the app.
Pricing
Goodbudget offers two different plans: a free version and a paid subscription known as Goodbudget Plus.
You can use the app entirely for free, and be able to access nearly all of the same functions without paying for them. Paying for Goodbudget Plus provides expanded capabilities, compared to the free version. Here is a breakdown of the available features, and the differences between the free and paid versions:
| Goodbudget | Goodbudget Plus |
|---|
| |
| |
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1 year of transaction tracking | 7 years of transaction tracking |
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Goodbudget Plus has two payment options: $10 per month or $80 per year, plus tax. Using a budgeting app for free may suit your needs, but if you find that the extra capabilities will benefit you, the paid plan may be worth the investment. If you decide to purchase the app subscription and you aren’t satisfied, you can contact Goodbudget within 30 days for a full refund.
FAQs
Anyone currently using envelopes to organize their money and set spending and saving goals should find it easy to switch to the digitized version Goodbudget offers. 👪 Goodbudget's app allows for sharing and syncing budgets across multiple devices, perfect for families or couples who manage finances together.
What are the disadvantages of Goodbudget? ›
You must manually log expenses
Unlike competitor apps, Goodbudget doesn't provide automatic syncing for an up-to-date view of your bank accounts. You have to track every purchase manually. If you easily forget, your app may not accurately represent your financial situation.
Is Goodbudget trustworthy? ›
We recommend it for people whose primary focus is literally budgeting and saving money. It's not a good fit for people interested in credit, investing, and more nuanced financial tools.
Is the Buddy budget app safe? ›
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process.
How much does Goodbudget cost? ›
The premium version, Goodbudget Plus, costs $10 a month or $80 a year and includes unlimited envelopes and accounts, five devices and seven years of history.
Does Goodbudget link to my bank account? ›
With Goodbudget Premium, you're able to link your Goodbudget Accounts with your real-life ones so transactions are automatically imported. Here's how much transaction data you can expect to get when you link your bank account.
Why is Mint shutting down? ›
According to its parent company, Intuit, Mint wasn't making enough money, so Intuit began the app's closure in January. On March 23, Mint users will no longer be able to access their account data, which could include over a decade of their spending and financial history.
How many Envelopes do you get with Goodbudget? ›
With the Free version of Goodbudget you get: 10 Regular Envelopes. 10 Annual/Goal Envelopes.
Who owns Goodbudget? ›
Goodbudget started in 2009 as an experiment by Dayspring Technologies, a San Francisco web and mobile development firm.
Do you have to pay to use Goodbudget? ›
There are two Goodbudget plans: a free plan and a paid Plus plan that costs $8 per month or $70 per year. Here are the other main differences: Accounts. The free version allows only one financial account, and the Plus version allows unlimited accounts.
Budgeting apps and personal finance tools have become increasingly popular for helping people manage their money more effectively. However, many of these apps work by asking users to directly input their online banking credentials—a practice that, while convenient, raises significant security and liability risks.
Does using a budget have any disadvantages? ›
Disadvantages of budgeting
a budget could be inflexible, and not allow for unexpected circ*mstances. creating and monitoring a budget can be time consuming. budgeting could create competition and conflict between teams or departments. if targets are unrealistic, employees could become stressed and under pressure.
What are the disadvantages of the affordable method? ›
With the affordable method, you need to be very wary of the impact that can deliver on marketing. It often results in an uncertain annual budget because clearly what's affordable at the beginning of the year, is not necessarily what's affordable in the middle of the year.
What are the downsides of using a cash Envelope budget? ›
You may also feel unsafe carrying cash, as it's harder to track it when it's lost or stolen. It can be cumbersome to get started: Getting all the envelopes ready and allocating money into categories can take some time to set it all up, especially if you haven't created a budget before.
