Qube Money: Envelope Budgeting 4+

I have to give 5 stars here because this app changed the way my wife and I view money and has drastically improved our financial health. We have used Qube for about 2 and a half years now on a lifetime family membership. Before Qube we had very little sense of how much money we were spending and where, and would always overdraft because charges we would forget about would come out after we spent the money that was needed to cover them on something else. We had a budget, but no real way of knowing if we were actually sticking to it. With Qube we are able to see exactly how much money we are spending and on what because we can assign each dollar to specific categories. If one category runs out of funds we can easily shift money around from a different category as well without having to guess. We are also never late on any bills anymore because we fund the Qubes for those first and then never touch those Qubes and don’t have to worry about accidentally spending the money set aside for those expenses. The virtual card and account numbers for bill Qubes also makes it really easy for funds to automatically be withdrawn for bills. I would and have recommended Qube Money to everyone I know! The only caveat I would say is that they are still growing and refining the app so there can be some growing pains, but we have never had any major issues.

My husband and I have tried to budget many times in our 20 years of marriage and we end up quitting every time because we don’t have the time. The systems we have tried were a lot of work. We would always fall behind with tracking transactions. Covid 19 has been tough, so we were looking for a budgeting tool. Digital cash envelope banking caught our attention, so we signed up to be beta users. We were lucky to be one of the first groups to join beta. What makes Qube Money work so well is Qube is both our bank and our budget, so we literally spend money from our budget. We see in real-time how our spending choices aligns with our plan. We are seriously winning with our money. In less than 5 minutes per month, we feel organized and in control of our money. The automatic tracking is unbelievable! We are making progress to our goals much quicker than we have in the past. We can’t wait for companion cards. In the mean time we are both logging into Qube with the same credentials and using ApplePay. Qube Money is developing the banking system we have always wanted. When you download the app make sure you join the Facebook group. The Qube team is awesome. They listen. They are adding new features and improving the interface. I have heard that they have plans to add high yield savings, teen/kid cards, automatic debt elimination... Sorry, I am rambling. I am just so excited about this!

The one draw back of this app is you have to open the app in order to spend money, but that’s also the biggest perk too. It makes you think about how much money you have before you buy something. It’s super easy to move money around which has been helpful. It does take a long time for money to transfer from our Bank of America account to Qube but we switched to having money directly deposit and that was a game changer! We get the money a day or two before the money we have directly deposited into BoA.

Going back ti having to open the app to spend money. Most of the time this isn’t that big of a deal. You can technically load the money on your card before you pull into a drive through or get to the check out, so it doesn’t slow you down while you’re trying to check out. Here are the few times I’ve struggled with the card. One time I was doing a little get away in a small town, and I was having trouble getting apps to work on my phone. I couldn’t open the app in order to load money on my card. I had to use a credit card in order to pay for things on that trip. And the second problem has been with gas but now that I’ve figured out the problem, it hasn’t been an issue. Essentially I couldn’t buy gas unless I have $60 in the Qube.