I’ve been using Pennies for several months now and the thing I love about it is its simplicity. I’ve used other apps like Mint, but I always found myself losing steam because it was so complex - all of the automation made the app less useful, not more (and I didn’t like giving them access to so much data about me). Pennies is the complete opposite - the simple UX makes it so easy to stick to.I rated 4/5 because one area where it could use some work is the Notes system - it would be super useful to be able to modify the default/persistent Notes. I have a number of recurring expenses that don’t fit neatly into the defaults. Of course I can type in a custom note, but once it rolls off of the most recent notes, I have to add it again, and sometimes I forget how I categorized things and will use a different note later on. This makes it hard to consistently track a category over time.

I recommend this app all the time to people for multiple years now. This has transformed how I budget. I find it such a simple way to track your variable costs (like groceries, fun spending, etc). I always update it right after I make an expense (like I have the receipt in my hand from the grocery store). You have your “running total” for each category, right in your pocket, to check so easily on the go (vs updating a spreadsheet at the end of the month - which is retroactive vs proactive). It has helped me be intentional for the last few years and save effectively!

I really like using this app for one off budgets and really enjoy that there are Apple Watch widgets to see the total you have left on a budget. My biggest gripe is that if you have more than one budget, you can only use the budget that first on your list. I wish you could choose which budget you want to view on your watch. Would be a game changer!

This is an amazing app because of its usefulness and simplicity as an expense tracker, but also as an expense planner. The "one-off budget" feature is useful for me because I can pick the start and end dates of my budget. Once I enter the total funds available, I can enter my fixed expenses by using the "spend past" feature, so that it doesn't mess with the daily spending monitor. At that time, I also enter my desired spending amount for that period as a "spend past" expense, along with all my other fixed expenses. Then, once I tailor all my expenses to fit within my total funds available, I simply delete my spending expense entry, to free it up for the app's daily spending monitor. I don't miss any link to my bank account because I need to plan all of my spending BEFORE I start swiping my bank card. Perhaps if I had a trust fund (or mommy and daddy fund) it would be amusing to spend at will, then look at some generated pie chart to see what just happened, lol. Unless I'm missing something, it could also be useful to be able to save some of the custom expense names I create to the default list that appears when I am typing...just for quicker selection. Thanks for a great app!!!

I've been looking for a budgeting app since my old one took a dump on me. It's a shame this one is kind of buried in the App Store, probably due to the name, but it's the best one I've come across ever.It's easy to use and easy to see what you've spent and how much is left. The designer tells you how it can also be used for savings if you want and it works! By transferring the rounded up change from purchases to my "savings" account I do the same thing bigger apps like acorn do, except I don't have to give anyone my bank info, my money is instantly available and I get to keep the interest.I initially thought the changing colors showing you how good or bad you are for the week was dumb, but I have to admit psychologically they really work! I hate to see the screen turn red so I don't make frivolous purchases I would normally.Some people might say it needs more bells and whistles and I suppose that would be nice but for me this is a must have app!

Initially I was trying to use pennies to track everything we/I spend. Sheesh. We’re a family of 6 and it was just loony. Stupid too- I know already what our mortgage is each month- why track that? Realized that’s really not the app’s purpose (which I believe the dev. says in the faqs). It excels at providing a place and a means to manage and track the variable expenses, the ones I can control. So if I reduce expenditure in one area I can choose to save it, stockpile it for another month, use it in a different area, etc. What’s great is that as I enter my expenses (in the areas I track) I am forced to think about how that fits with my master plan. Which I honestly need- in the moment I can convince myself to purchase something, eg, that frankly blows my budget and really isn’t needed. Great accountability. So now- I track the variables I can control and manipulate monthly and it is terrific. Easy. Fast to enter. Intuitive. Adaptable to me. Really like it. Brilliant.