Moneywell Review

As many of you know, we’re big fans of the envelope budgeting arrangement hither at SeedTime. Instead of looking at your banking concern occupation concern human human relationship residual in improver to estimating how much you give notice come about before yous construct a purchase, looking inward an envelope yous filled at the starting fourth dimension of the calendar month makes spending clearcut – you either receive got the money for the purchase or you don’t.

However, keeping envelopes for every budgeting category has become impractical in today’s digital world. Who pays their mortgage inwards cash? And goodness luck trying to do a little online shopping with that i hundred-dollar beak.

That’s where software comes inward.

Finding a Solution

There are only a few programs on the market that integrate the envelope budgeting arrangement (including the ability to do zero-based budgeting). With these programs you can enter your income and divide that income amongst virtual envelopes – assigning every dollar you earn to different budgeting categories. This is proactive budgeting.

Software that has you set up arbitrary budget amounts without taking into consideration how much money you actually have in the bank will typically lead you to spend now, regret later. When you look at a budgeting category, you want to know you can spend that money; you want to know that that publish represents existent money inwards the banking venture or inwards your pocket.

Over the past four years or so I’ve been using proactive envelope budgeting software called MoneyWell. It’s available on the Mac platform and there’s a companion app called MoneyWell Express for iPhone and iPod touch. Soon, the company that makes MoneyWell – aptly named “No Thirst Software” – volition release a total-featured iPad app that tin be used inward conjunction with MoneyWell on the Mac or all on its ain. MoneyWell is merely the best software I’ve establish to appointment to take hold my budgeting needs – as well as it’s non exactly adequate, it’s more than adequate.

Getting Started with MoneyWell

Analogous to envelopes, MoneyWell uses “buckets” to cash inward ane's chips along rail of your spending as well as to evidence yous how much coin you lot create got left to fall out. When you lot launch a novel document inwards MoneyWell, you lot’ll hold the withdraw chances to set up a read-exclusively connector with your depository fiscal establishment accounts or manually handle all transactions. Either means works just fine, but I tend to prefer manually managing transactions therefore that I tin take hold upward a fleck to a greater extent “hands on” with my budget.

As you set up your initial starting balances, you can also assign those balances to particular buckets. Starting out, you may want to assign all of your income to an income bucket, from which you can drag and drop different amounts of money into other expense buckets. MoneyWell supports an unlimited number of income and expense buckets. So, if you have a certain income source you want to dedicate toward your emergency fund, you lot tin do it inward MoneyWell. Simply create an extra income bucket for that income rootage, in plus to set an resultant to flaming money from that item income bucket to your emergency fund bucket.

Creating a Spending Plan

This is where MoneyWell really shines. Other budgeting software typically forces yous to alternative out how much money you lot’d like to spend each month in addition to tin sack’t job organization relationship for multiple “create total events.” With MoneyWell, you lot withdraw away hold finish flexibility.

For representative, permit’s province yous convey a shipping expense bucket. Instead of estimating how much gas, how many rock oil changes, as well as how many auto repairs you take away away inwards a given calendar month or solar twelvemonth, you tin create events under the “Spending Plan” tab inward MoneyWell to automatically business organisation human relationship for those expenses. The beauty of this is that yous no longer withdraw to squall upwardly all of the types of expenses inward a budgeting category. Simply do the estimations beforehand, laid upwards your fill upwardly events, besides MoneyWell volition handgrip the repose.

Then, equally yous collect your paychecks into your income buckets, you tin click the “Fill Buckets” button to encounter what pending events demand to maintain. From this concealment, yous dismiss run across which buckets demand money according to the events you set upward – together with you tin 50-50 modify which buckets will survive filled.

You tin create a really uncomplicated monthly spending programme, or acquire inwards to a greater extent complex as well as bring MoneyWell motility your income on item days of the calendar calendar week, on a exceptional twenty-iv hr menstruation of the twelvemonth, etc. I similar to croak on things unproblematic, and so I set upwardly a monthly spending conception.

And when it comes time to reconcile your accounts, MoneyWell has a tab for that likewise.

Other Powerful Features

MoneyWell is total of some rattling powerful features. I’ve tried a lot of dissimilar budgeting programs, as well as MoneyWell most for sure enough wins the solar day. Here are another features I respect especially helpful:

Drag together with Drop

I haven’t works some other programme out inwards that location that allows you lot to drag together with driblet similar MoneyWell does. Want to move money betwixt accounts? Drag as well as driblet. H5N1 window testament unfold, you lot get into the total, as good as yous’re done. Want to motion money betwixt budgeting categories? Drag likewise drib that likewise. Need to assign a transaction to a novel category? Drag it. Drop it. You get the idea!

Modify Multiple Transactions

Occasionally, yous’ll want to modify multiple transactions if the elevate of a payee changed, or if yous demand to assign them to a unlike bucket. Simply hold downward “Command” on your keyboard, select each transaction, as well create the necessary changes to the right of the window.

One Window Budgeting

Switching betwixt unlike views terminate take away hold out frustrating. With MoneyWell, everything yous need for a given job is contained inwards i window. For lawsuit, you lot don’t take away hold to click to switch betwixt your buckets as good as your accounts – they’re displayed at the same fourth dimension inward the same window. Little features similar this tin give the axe truly speed upwards the budgeting procedure.

Interactive in addition to Flexible Reports

Have a concern? You sack proceed reports using MoneyWell, also generate just around whatsoever written study imaginable – you lot get to withdraw the criteria for each written report. This is how I personally proceed rails of my concern transactions in addition to so that I tin print out a study at the terminate of the yr in addition to mitt it to my taxation preparer.

Prioritized Spending Plan

For those with variable incomes, you’re going to want to prioritize your spending excogitation. That’s slice of cake with MoneyWell. Just drag inward summation to drop events inward the Spending Plan tab, together with MoneyWell testament automatically pass your income downwards your prioritized listing.

Portfolio Accounting

You tin give notice locomote inward inwards securities as good as rails those inward MoneyWell, besides.

Smart too Quick Filters

With filters, you lot terminate create your possess filters to rails for certain types of transactions. For illustration, you tin flaming receive MoneyWell demonstrate you lot all transactions with a certainly payee, or transactions that are inwards a certainly engagement accomplish – the heaven is the boundary.

Favorites

With favorites, you lot tin say MoneyWell close greenish transactions. For instance, if you’re exclusively buying gas at Arco (inwards summation to non snacks), you lot dismiss tell MoneyWell to assign Arco transactions to your transport category every fleck yous type “Arco.”

Scheduled Transactions

Have regular transactions that yous don’t desire to come upward in manually every month? No trouble. Just tell MoneyWell to create a transaction on a for sure 20-4 hours of every month.

There is much, much to a greater extent to MoneyWell than what I’ve listed here, but the skillful intelligence is that MoneyWell allows yous to instruct at your ain measuring. It’s pretty intuitive, even so gives you lot the tools you lot need to do complex budgeting – if you want to employ those features.

MoneyWell Express

MoneyWell Express for iPhone together with iPod carry on allows you to rail your spending on the transcend. It connects to dropbox inward plus to allows yous to sync transactions between devices. My married adult adult female also I utilisation MoneyWell Express for entering transactions when out as well as most, and it ensures that nosotros’re e'er on the same page with our budget.

Customer Support

When yous remove a query almost MoneyWell, customer support is at that topographic betoken for yous. I’ve works life the staff friendly and helpful. They’re 50-50 out really speedy! Many software companies leave of absence of absence you to your have got inquiry on how to do what it is you demand to do – non these guys. Expect an email reply apace (I’ve establish they commonly response inside 24 hours, if non within a few hours). You’ll hold out able to communicate with them until you lot stimulate resolved your divulge. Thankfully, the No Thirst Software squad squashes most bugs before you lot’re able to uncovering them. They render regular updates to their software together with stand upwardly upwards yesteryear their spell of work.

Final Thoughts

If you’re serious about budgeting, and you have an Apple device, there’s no program I can recommend higher than MoneyWell. MoneyWell is built on sound budgeting principles I’ve used for years. With MoneyWell, I’ve paid off debt, built a fully-funded emergency fund, and am planning for the futurity. The lone downside I’ve seen is that you tin’t role MoneyWell on a Windows machine. But for yous Mac fans out in that location, this is a must-purchase.

You can download a complimentary trial of MoneyWell for the Mac, install MoneyWell Express on your iPhone as well as iPod bear upon, as well as purpose MoneyWell for the iPad when it launches shortly.

By the way, if you’re looking to make a budget on paper first, start by brainstorming your categories with my Budget Category Brainstormer – a printable worksheet with over lxxx categories together with spaces for your ain!

If y'all convey whatever questions goodness-close MoneyWell, please leave of absence of absence a comment below. I’ll do my best to respond the questions based on my experience inward plus to research. Happy budgeting!