EveryDollar: Personal Budget 4+

The Apple of Budgeting Apps - Keep it simple

I’ve been using EveryDollar since they first came out with it years ago. I’m a big fan. We used to manually enter every transaction in the free version, but since life has gotten crazier with three young kids and growing responsibilities my wife and I just opted for the premium version. I will say before we made this change I tried three other popular budgeting apps and almost switched, but came back to EveryDollar because of the simplicity. However features missing that I’ve seen on other apps that would take this one to the next level are: 1. In the sinking funds, it would be super helpful if you guys added the back end math so users can put in the needed amount, the date needed, and the app could spit out how much you need to save per month to get there. YNAB does this and it was super helpful for things like annual fitness app payment, or EveryDollar subscriptions, etc. I’m thankful you have the sinking funds. But adding this additional functionality would be super helpful. 2. A reoccurring expense calendar. Monarch has this and it really helps at the beginning of the month when your updating your budget categories to make sure you don’t miss something like a life insurance payment, car insurance, or subscription, etc. Thanks for listening and for a great budgeting app!

Good tool, some flaws

I do like this app and it has helped me keep track of my spending much better than I had been. It also shows me how much I am really spending on items that I can cut back on, like eating out. Before, I really didn't realize how much we were spending and now I can see it add up as the month goes on. I like being able to split transactions into different categories to track each cost. But the help section is lacking and there was no real tutorial that I saw so I kind of had to learn as I went. The one thing I still can not get an answer to is the income. I can put in a planned amount but sometimes our income is more or less. When I put the actual received amount in as a transaction, it doesn't change my overall monthly amount. So it doesn't account for the over/under. This may be user error, but I've tried everything to get it to work properly and it won't. So I just change the planned amount to what we get paid. Which is fine, although the next month's budget shows the wrong amounts as planned income and I have to change, and it is not at all what the help section says should happen. It seems like the plus version would do it for me, but I am not paying $120 a year for an app to help me budget and save money. And honestly, I think that is shady of Dave Ramsey to even do that considering he preaches about cutting out unnecessary expenses. I'd give this app 4 stars but the lacking help section and fee for everydollar plus makes it lose at least 1 star.

Developer Response ,

Sorry you've had so many issues with EveryDollar! We have a help center with over 130 articles and several tutorials, as well as a Customer Success team here to help walk people through their budgets. The income question you have is a very simple one to answer. Email help@everydollar.com so we can go into details on what you need to do and help with any other questions you have.

This app is by far the best budgeting tool out there.

This app and corresponding desktop interface is by far the best out there. It’s very customizable.
I’ve never been good at budgeting because I get paid bi-weekly and I have a variable income. I also travel unexpectedly for my job which throws off my budget by adding reimbursable expenses throughout the month. Through the help and suggestions of the everydollar support staff, I know now how to work this app as an effective tool with all those budgeting variables.

You work your current month budget with the paychecks from the previous month. Then I keep a “hill and vallley” account with just enough to cover any short months where my checks may not cover expenses. So far I haven’t had to use that account. For the travel expenses, I created an expense and income category of reimbursable expenses. I know how much I get per day for meals while traveling and I simply add that to the reimbursable lines as the month/travel has gone on. This has been a huge money saver for me. I’m controlling every aspect of my finances by budgeting. It’s the foundation for everything I’m doing with my money. And I highly recommend spending the $120 for financial peace university which as of now includes everydollar plus for a year. Worth. Every. Penny. (And no I don’t work for Dave Ramsey but it’s a great program for getting out of debt)