There are several budgeting apps out there but which one is the best budgeting app?
Budgeting apps are a great way to make a budget because they are easily accessible from your phone – allowing you to take a quick look at your budget any time. They are also great because the do all the math for you! No longer can you use the excuse that you’re “not good with numbers, therefore I don’t have a budget.”
I am going to share my favorite budgeting app, the features that make it the best budgeting app and how you can start using it today.
What is the Best Budgeting App?
I have used different spreadsheets and apps in the past but currently I feel that EveryDollar is the best budgeting app around. I have been using it the last few years and it keeps getting better and better.
It’s easy to use and it’s an excellent way to track your income and spending.
What is EveryDollar?
EveryDollar is budgeting software created by financial guru Dave Ramsey of Ramsey Solutions. He calls it EveryDollar because he says when you have a budget “Every dollar should have a name to it.”
Free vs. Paid Account
EveryDollar has a free version and a paid version. You can do a lot with the free version, the main difference between free vs. paid is a paid account will allow you to link all of your banking information. By linking your banking information your transactions automatically feed into EveryDollar. All you have to do is categorize them.
The paid version also has reports available under Insights. This is a budgeting nerd’s dream if you want a breakdown of your income and spending habits from past months.
Why EveryDollar is the Best Budgeting App
Here are 7 reasons why I believe EveryDollar is the best budgeting app.
1. Zero-Based Budgeting Budgeting App
As I mentioned earlier, “Every dollar should have a name to it” and that is where zero-based budgeting comes in.
Zero-based budgeting simply means that your income minus expenses each month equals 0.
EveryDollar will do the math for you when you are tracking your income and expenses! It will show you right at the top exactly how much more money you have left to budget for, if you went over, or if you reached an “EveryDollar Budget!”
2. Shared Account
I have used other budgeting apps in the past and one of the biggest annoyances was the difficulty signing in with multiple devices or users. Each time a different device was used it would ask a security question.
Security is important but that added an extra barrier when multiple people wanted to use the app. If you are married it is important that you both have access to the budget. Signing in should be secure but also simple – or you just won’t use it!
With EveryDollar you can have 1 account and use that same login for multiple devices without the added security steps (at the time of this post anyway, as long as they don’t change that).
3. App and Browser
To be the best budgeting app you have to be versatile and EveryDollar is just that! You can access it on EveryDollar.com or use the apps for Mac or Android.
I mainly use the web browser just because I like the larger screen. But the app works great too when you want to conveniently check your budget or update transactions.
4. Easy Tracking
Your budget won’t be very helpful unless you track your income and expenses throughout the month. With drag and drop or just a few clicks, you can easily categorize your transactions.
You can also split a transaction into multiple categories. I use this a lot for Target purchases, which are mainly made up of kids, personal, home, and food.
My newest favorite feature is one-click from the web browser. Instead of using the drag and drop feature, you can simply click on the category that EveryDollar suggested you use. This is great for recurring expenses as it recognizes past transactions. Just make sure they are correct before you click on it. It won’t necessarily be correct all the time for places that can be categorized for different transactions like Target and Amazon.
5. Tracks Your Savings and Debt Snowball Goals
Being able to track your savings and debt payoff goals is a great feature in EveryDollar.
For savings you can set a starting balance, end goal and how much you can add to it each month. This makes it simple to see how much you have in your emergency fund or sinking funds.
For debt payments you can include the starting balance, the minimum monthly payment and the payment amount for that month.
6. Link Accounts
The paid version gives you the ability to link all of your banking accounts, which will feed each transaction right into EveryDollar. This saves a lot of time when you’re doing your budget because you can just drag and drop to categorize your transaction instead of manually entering all the information.
7. The Best Budgeting App is Always Improving
The newest feature that is currently in beta test (I’m not sure if it’s available to all users) is Paycheck Planning. Paycheck Planning allows you to plan your expenses per paycheck so that you aren’t spending your money before you get paid. I haven’t experimented with this too much yet to share all the benefits but I plan to soon!
They love hearing from their users so they can continue to update the app to your needs. They have a Submit Idea section where they keep you up to date on new features and you can comment on a feature you would like to see added.
How To Get Started With the Best Budgeting App – EveryDollar
There are so many great features of EveryDollar that I haven’t even covered them all! I encourage you to check it out for more details and get started on your EveryDollar Budget. Here are some options to sign up for your account:
Free Version
You can sign up for an EveryDollar account for free and make your monthly budget. This is a great option to get started at no cost.
EveryDollar Premium
The premium account will provide reporting and the ability to link your bank accounts. After the 14 day free trial you have the option to be billed monthly at $12.99/month or yearly at $79.99/year.
Ramsey+
Ramsey+ is the all inclusive option that provides a library of educational content along with all the benefits of EveryDollar Premium. It also includes Financial Peace University (the 9 week program we took before we got married), Ramsey SmartTax, Group Coaching, Access to Livestream Events and many more in depth educational videos.
There are 3 different pricing options that can fit your budget.
- Billed every 3 months at $59.99
- Billed every 6 months at $99.99
- Billed every 12 months at $129.99
Sign up for EveryDollar today to get started on mastering your money management!
*Subscription prices as of August 2022. I am not affiliated with EveryDollar or Ramsey+.