20 Best Budgeting Apps for Couples To Reach Your Goals
As adults, we all have a number of responsibilities, with budgeting required to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Juggling all of these financial responsibilities can be tough, especially if you’re a girl math offender! This is where budgeting tools come in handy, with the best budgeting apps for couples helping you reach your financial goals without any stress.
So whether you’re saving up for a house, or want to limit overspending in order to reach your savings goals, these budgeting apps will help you and your partner along the way!
What are the best ways for couples to budget?
Everyone manages their finances differently, with couples often choosing to retain their own individual accounts alongside their joint saving endeavors.
These choices are entirely up to each individual couple and their financial situation, and even if it’s a difficult conversation, it’s best to openly discuss these decisions together to prevent conflict over money imbalance or financial infidelity.
Depending on your preferences, there are a number of ways for couples to budget! Whether you prefer to track spending per month or introduce spending limits in order to ensure you meet bill due dates, budgeting preferences for couples are entirely customizable. Since managing money isn’t always easy, there are an array of financial tools to help you track spending and make informed financial decisions.
Even though budgeting is more common for couples who live together, you may also want to start a joint savings account for your next holiday!
Is there an app to save money as a couple?
There is an array of apps that can help you save money as a couple, with these personal finance apps designed to help you and your significant other reach your financial goals.
"Remember, the best way is the way that is sustainable for you both,” says Moraya Seeger DeGeare, a licensed marriage and family therapist and In-House Expert at Paired.
“Use a combination of the tools you have, seeking out ones to add, and communicating effectively with your partner. It's important not to expect one tool to solve everything. When navigating relationship areas, it's essential to know what works for one of you might not be perfect for the other."
Without the use of these tools, it can be overwhelming to try and track your spending habits, especially for two people! These apps can help you establish a household budget or organize debt payoffs without any confusion or conflict in your couple.
“Take the time to discuss what the major needs are and test and figure out what works,” says Seeger DeGeare.
“This approach can help you feel confident and be on the same page with your partner.”
Depending on your goals, there are a range of apps to choose from to make sure your finances are well in hand.
How to talk about finances with your partner
Whether we like it or not, talking about money is always tricky terrain.
From the very first date, there is the unspoken issue of who’s going to pay the bill. Are we going to split it? Does the guy have to pay? While these financial hurdles are just part of the dating process, the topic of personal finances in a relationship can be a tough one to tackle.
However, as you progress in your relationship, it’s normal to discuss the potential of a joint bank account to split expenses or raise the subject of spending when you’re saving.
If you’re having difficulty raising the subject of savings or financial planning, Paired can help start these conversations before you progress to a more formalized budgeting system!
Seeger DeGeare suggests taking some time to be honest with yourself about your relationship with money, including how it was during your childhood.
“It's important to have this conversation with your partner at the start of the process,” says Seeger DeGeare.
- What fears do I have about money?
- How do I want to communicate with my partner about our finances?
- What is my biggest financial goal currently?
- What money behavior have I outgrown and am ready to let go of?
- Was money talked about openly by the grownups around you as a child?
- What do you remember thinking about how the adults navigated finances during your childhood?
Benefits of using budgeting apps as a couple
What are the best budgeting apps for couples?
When choosing a budgeting app for couples, it’s essential to consider the app’s gestures, ease of use, security, and any costs!
Depending on your needs, there are a number of budgeting apps available to help you with your couple’s financial needs and habits.
1. Mint
As the most downloaded personal finance app, you can’t have a list of budgeting apps without mentioning the Mint app!
The Mint app is made by Intuit, which also has a suite of reputable financial tools, and has an array of features to help you on your budgeting journey. This app is available for Apple IOS users, and while there is a free version you can also upgrade to premium for a fee.
This app allows you to connect your bank account, credit score, debit card spending, bills, and subscriptions so you can gain an overall view of your financial situation. It also allows you to create a custom budget, so you can easily track your day-to-day expenses without stress.
However, unlike other budgeting apps, Mint doesn’t allow you to sync your financial accounts with your partner. Despite this, some users like to log into the same account, so they can utilize these features as a duo.
2. Honeydue
This app is often considered to be one of the best free budgeting apps for couples on the market!
Previously known as HoneyFi or Firstly, this app allows you to financial accounts syncing, bill reminders, and also allows you to connect your joint bank account! Like other apps on the market, this app is entirely customizable to suit your needs.
This app is available on both the App Store and the Google Play store, so can work on both IOS and Android devices. Since this app is entirely free, it’s good for your budgeting plan too!
3. Goodbudget
Are you a fan of the envelope-saving method? Then this app is for you!
This method involves dividing up your funds into different categories or envelopes, and when it comes time to pay a particular bill — you simply withdraw from the relevant envelope. With each transaction, it sends a notification to your partner, so you can both stay up to date with your progress.
If you choose to upgrade to Goodbudget Premium, you can use unlimited envelopes to effectively track across all spending categories as well as numerous other features.
4. Stash
Known to be a super approachable finance app, Stash can help you to grow financially together as a couple with regular automatic transfers or even “round up” purchases you make on a linked debit card.
This allows you to easily automate your finances and easily take control of your spending.
Also, to help combat girl math, Stash also has great resources to help improve your overall financial literacy with articles on investing and more.
5. Simplifi
Simplifi is another budgeting app that is perfect for couples to get their budget in check!
This app allows you to set and work on savings goals as you can connect various financial accounts and helps you review your progress as you go.
6. Pocketguard
If you’re looking to deal with debt repayment in a productive way, this couple-friendly budget app may be the one for you!
With this app, both partners share the same username and password but can access the account on their individual devices. While the free version allows you to access most of the budgeting features, you will need to upgrade to the paid version to add more budgets or a more sophisticated debt repayment plan.
7. You Need a Budget
While this app is perfect for couples, YNAB allows you to add up to six users per account — so can also be used by larger families!
This app allows you to plan out all your expenses by securely connecting your accounts and transactions. It also allows you to set spending limits and implement savings targets in order to track your overall progress.
While this app has a free trial, you’ll need to upgrade to access all the features if this app works for you.
8. EveryDollar
Want to keep track of every single dollar — this is the app for you!
Based on Dave Ramsey’s budgeting plan, this app promises to help you save money efficiently and effectively. With a number of free features, such as bill due dates, budgeting, and savings funds, you can assign every dollar to a specific category to ensure you stay on track.
9. Monarch
This app is perfect for keeping you and your partner on the same page when it comes to money management.
With a super-friendly user interface, this app makes it easy to store all your accounts and investments in one place. This app is compatible with 11,000 banks and financial institutions, so it’s easy to sync up all your accounts without having to switch anything around!
10. Personal Capital
If you’re looking for a well-rounded financial planning app, this could be a great option for you!
With an interface designed to give you a 360-view of your finances, this app is very informative in terms of investment, retirement planning, savings, and more. Therefore, this app allows you to bring all of your financial assets into one place, so you can consider everything when setting out your financial goals.
Note: Personal Capital is now known as Empower following a recent update.
11. Tiller
If you’re an Excel lover or are nifty with a spreadsheet, this software is perfect for you.
Although Tiller isn’t an app, this software has pre-built sheets to allow a flexible foundation template that allows you to easily track your income and expenses. Don’t worry, you don’t have to manually input all your information, with tools to allow you to easily import your information.
12. Twine Savings App
As you intertwine your lives, it’s natural to want to intertwine your finances and this app makes that transition easy.
Twine allows you to work towards your common savings goals, with tools to help you track your progress along the way. There is also an investing component if you want to expand your options and feel comfortable starting your investing journey.
13. Betterment
This app is all about getting a bigger and better look at your investment picture.
While it allows you to track your spending goals, it also offers calls with a financial planning expert to help you set and track your goals effectively.
14. Oportun
If you don’t like the manual aspect of budgeting, this automated app allows you to analyze what goes in and out of your checking account.
Based on your transactions, it automatically moves funds into your savings depending on what it believes is safe. For example, if it doesn’t feel it’s right to move money into savings in a certain month — it won’t!
Therefore, this places some of your savings decisions into the hands of the app — which may not be for everyone but can help those who feel they don’t have the time to deal with savings!
15. Splitwise
If you’re not willing to commit to a fully-fledged budgeting app but want to make it easier to split bills, this is a great app to start with.
This is a great app to keep track of your shared expenses and ensure you’re both equally contributing to agreed bills. Not just for couples, this app is also super helpful if you’re living with your friends and need to split groceries or bills without any awkwardness or conflict.
16. Grocery
If you’re a lover of lists and live for the feeling of checking things off, this is the app for you!
This app allows you to both contribute to your weekly shopping list and keep track of how much you’re spending each week. Even though this app is slightly more limited in features than others on this list, it can still be helpful to ensure you both stay synced on these important household tasks.
17. HomeBudget
Expanding beyond just your couple, this app allows you to get your entire household on the same page financially!
With this app, you can sync all your bank accounts and see what you’re spending in various categories. Everyone can check in regularly, easily keeping track of any bills or due dates.
18. DollarBird
This is another app that is great for couples to keep track of their bills and payments with a primary calendar interface.
Therefore, you can see your spending broken down on a day-to-day basis and see where all you’re money is going by category. This app automatically tots up your spending per day, per person — making it easier to hold yourself accountable with spending goals and limits.
19. Qapital
This app is perfect for couples who just need someone else to take control of their savings, with this automated service allowing you to put money away while you live your life!
Instead of fretting over your budget daily, this software allows you to set a goal and work towards your savings at your own pace. Taking the fuss out of the whole thing for you!
20. Buddy
Do you just want a friend to handle your finances? We’ve found you the perfect buddy.
With this financial companion, this app hopes to bring the fun back into saving circa your piggyback as a child. Thanks to simple budgeting tools, expense tracking, and a shared budget — this app makes it easier than ever to get your finances in line.
