While relationship building involves more than just money management, studies have shown that making money decisions without your spouse or partner can negatively affect your relationship. Working together as a team using money management budget apps can help you hit your money goals.
However, that’s only possible if you pick the best budget app that fits your specific needs. Let Benzinga help you choose the best budget app for couples.
1. Stash
Stash can be a great app for couples to budget and save. Although it does not allow for joint accounts, you can pay your bills, track your spending and make Goals1 to save all in a single app. You can have access to this platform starting at just $1 a month.
To get started, head over to Stash and download the app. It’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices. From there, the app asks you a few questions that will give insight into your financial goals.
Then you’ll pick a plan, add money to your Stash account and you’re well on your way to banking, budgeting and creating as many goals as you wish.
1 Stash Banking services provided by Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. The Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® is issued by Stride Bank pursuant to license from Mastercard International. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. Any earned stock rewards will be held in your Stash Invest account. Investment products and services provided by Stash Investments LLC and are Not FDIC Insured, Not Bank Guaranteed, and May Lose Value
2. Tiller Money
If you’re ready to get your money in shipshape alongside your partner, consider Tiller Money. Known for easy collaboration, Tiller Money updates spreadsheets with your daily finances so you can see what’s happening to you and your partner’s financial life — all in one place.
Link your bank, credit cards and other financial accounts from 21,000 sources to Google Sheets and get:
- Flexible monthly and yearly budgets
- Free community-supported templates and reports for tracking net worth, saving goals, debt and more.
- Free templates, utilities and reports
- Your own custom dashboard
Tiller offers other perks, too:
- Automatic categorization
- Daily account summaries
- Weekly webinars
- Privacy and security
Tiller Money is completely free for 30 days. After 30 days, Tiller Money costs $79 per year. It’s just $6.58 per month! Start your free 30-day trial.
3. Monarch Money
Monarch Money allows you to see all your finances in one place, learn about saving, investing and more. You can go through each step of the process when you log in, share the account with your spouse and ensure that both of you are handling your finances in the app, using:
- Reviewing your finances
- Securely add partners, banks and investment portfolios as needed
- Get personalized advice from an expert
- Track all your money in one place
- Customize your dashboard
- Learn how to save more money
- Watch your spending
- Create financial goals
- Always keep your information safe
Couples can use these resources to make the most of their money during all of life’s circumstances from expecting a new child to activities, vacations, college, retirement and more. Plus, it’s never too soon to start managing your finances smarter using these tools and learning more about growing your wealth instead of just paying the bills.
4. Simplifi
Simplifi by Quicken offers a simple and effective platform for building enterprise mobility applications.
Simplifi synchronizes data when internet is available and its location tracking features work with and without the mobile network availability. You get automated alerts and notifications. Some notifications are system generated and don't require internet connection for them to deliver to you. You'll pay a monthly subscription fee for the app after the 30-day free trial.
Once you create a Simplifi account, you'll need to go through each financial account you have to register it within the app. Assign categories to all your transactions so you know where your money comes from and where it goes.
Simplifi comes with a default set of categories like auto and transport, dining and drinks, entertainment, groceries and utilities. You can add, edit and delete categories on the master list and you can change the categories that the site has already assigned to transactions.
Download Simplifi on your Android or Apple devices.
What is a Budget App?
So, what exactly is a budget app? It's a piece of software that allows you to create a budget, categorize your income and expenses and then enter and track your transactions against your budget. The app then helps you see how you spend money by providing useful reports and analysis.
Typically, the budget app runs on smartphones, but you’ll also find versions supported on desktops and other mobile devices.
What Couples Should Look for in a Budget App
Unlike general purpose accounting or finance software, couples should look for some specific “shared” features in the app they choose to help them co-manage their finances.
Syncing budgeting data between devices offers a great way for both partners to know exactly what’s going on with their finances, ideally in real time. You also want to make sure you access multi-device support. That way, if both partners don’t own the same type of device (iPhone or Android), you’ll still be able to use the budgeting app effectively. You may want to look for desktop support, especially if you like sitting at a desk and analyzing your transactions at leisure on a large screen.
Look for an app that allows you to customize your income and expense categories. Many couples would like the app to link to their external bank accounts and automatically download transactions. But if you aren’t comfortable with that, the app should at a very minimum allow you to enter account, payee and institution details while capturing transactions and use that data to track account balances. It’s always nice to see your budget and spending patterns illustrated graphically, either in pie-chart or bar chart form.
Also, if your app doesn’t store your data in the cloud (some couples might prefer local storage of data on their laptop/smartphone), then look for convenient features that make it easy to back up or restore your data.
Find Your Money App Today
The apps reviewed here make co-managing money with others a breeze. By linking your checking and savings account, you can take the stress out of budgeting and tracking your expenses manually.
With the help of these apps, you’ll not only collaborate better, but you’ll make more effective money management decisions such as the most cost-effective vacation or deferring the purchase of a new car based on financial transparency.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way for couples to manage their money together?
The best avenue is to decide what things need to be done individually, jointly or as a combination. The other party needs to be informed about things that are titled individually to avoid misunderstandings and arguments.
What are good money apps for couples?
Several include Lunch Money, Tiller Money and Stash.
Disclosures:
Paid non-client endorsement. See Apple App Store and Google Play reviews. View important disclosures.
Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk and investments may lose value. Holdings and performance are hypothetical.
Nothing in this material should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. All investments are subject to risk and may lose value.
Stash offers three plans, starting at just $1/month. For more information on each plan, visit our pricing page.
Stash Subscription fee starts at $1/ month. You’ll also bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of the ETFs in your account, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash and the Custodian. Please see the Advisory Agreement for details. Other fees apply to the bank account. Please see the Deposit Account Agreement.
Bank Account Services provided by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC
Stash offers access to investment and banking accounts under each subscription plan. Each type of account is subject to different regulations and limitations. See the Advisory Agreement and the Deposit Account Agreement for more information
1 Money moved into a Goal must be moved back to the bank account available balance to be used and does not earn interest.