☀️Summer of Funds: Budgeting App Games 💰🥇- Try apps, get stickers or $!

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I’ve long wanted to put together a big battle between all the many, many budgeting apps out there! While I’ve tried a ton of them myself, I really want to get perspective from some of the folks in the OMD community try them, too. That way we can compare based on lifestyles, brain types, locations, etc.

For Summer of Funds 2021 I’m announcing the first annual MONEY APP OLYMPIC GAMES

I went back and forth on how to do this, and ended up deciding the best method would be to

  1. have people sign up to test budgeting apps - just comment below which apps you’d like to try and I’ll add you to this spreadsheet
  2. have them fill in a super simple google form explaining their experience with the app - HERE IS THE FORM: https://forms.gle/R9TR9NF5snaQzWFC6
  3. I’ll collate all the info into a big blog post with fun graphics for budgetober
  4. you get a forum badge as an official App Games Judge
  5. I’ll also send you a bunch of stickers as a thank you for your help (anywhere in the world)

We will award the apps a Gold :1st_place_medal: Silver :2nd_place_medal: or Bronze :3rd_place_medal:medal.

Notes

  • If you already use an app regularly and are willing to fill in a form singing its praises or complaining about it, feel free to sign up as a “tester”.
  • We can have multiple testers for different apps!
  • Did I miss an app you want to try/love? Let me know!

The App-thletes :iphone::running_shirt_with_sash:

App/Website Type of App Compatible OSes Other Notes Testers
Mvelopes Budgeting Web, iOS, Android Free 30-day Trial, Costs after that :sparkles:None Yet :sparkles:
Fortune City Budgeting RPG iOS, Android Free @anomalily @Clare-Dragonfly @kajellio
/Tab Splitting Expenses iOS, Android Free @aaronpk
Splitwise Splitting expenses Web, iOS, Android Free @beep_boop
Mint.com Budgeting Web, iOS, Android Free @kenner @galliver @beep_boop @diapasoun @iualia @Bracken_Joy
Tiller Budgeting and Investing Dashboard Web 30 Day Free Trial, Costs after that, free for students - Must have google account; Runs in Google Sheets @anomalily @iualia @Ferngully
Personal Capital Budgeting and Investing Dashboard Web, iOS, Android Free; must connect some bank accounts potentially @galliver @Cannibalsox
Honeydue Budgeting app for couples iOS, Android Only testing the free app (not the account) Must have 1 other person to test with :sparkles:None Yet :sparkles:
Pear Budget Budgeting Web 30 day free trial, costs after that @latitude
Toshl Budgeting Web, iOS, Android 30 day free trial, costs after that Heather L
Zeta Money Manager Budgeting App for Couples web, iOS, Android Only testing the free app (not the account); Must have 1 other person to test with @galliver @noodle
PocketGuard Budgeting iOS, Android Free version @mirepoix
Simplifi Budgeting web, iOS, Android 30 day free trial, costs after that @mirepoix
YNAB Budgeting web, iOS, Android 34 day free trial, , free for students, costs after that @beep_boop @Clare-Dragonfly @Ferngully @LadyDuck @wintertell @kajellio

App-thletes that Require You To Get a Bank Account :swimming_woman:t4::money_with_wings:

A few of the apps require you to sign up for their bank account, and I don’t feel comfortable asking people to do that without paying them. So for the following apps, I’ll give each tester a $30 gift card to the place of their choice (or paypal you, whichever you prefer). All the links below are referral links, which will get you and me some extra $$

Account/Bank Type of App Type of account Compatible OSes Notes Max # of Testers Tester 1 Tester 2
Chime Automatic Savings Based on Different Criteria, Credit Builder Card Checking and/or High-Yield Savings iOS, Android US Only; You also get $75 from chime if you make a direct deposit 2 @Greyweld
Digit Automatic Savings Based on Checking Account Transactions Savings iOS, Android Must connect to a US checking account; Costs $5/month after 30 day free trial, OMD will reimburse for 1 month 2 –
Acorns Automatic Investing or Savings Based on Spending Checking, Saving or Investing Account iOS, Android US only; Costs $3/month after 30 day free trial, OMD will reimburse for 1 month 2
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I use Mint regularly and can comment on that one…in the past I’ve used Personal Capital and Acorns but it’s been long enough that my accounts are probably long dead so someone with more recent experience would be better.

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I use Mint and Zeta and happy to comment! I might try Personal Capital and can comment if I do. I can also comment on Splitwise based on past usage (big group trip use case).

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I use YNAB and am happy to fill the form about it. I’ll look at the others and see if any make sense, given I won’t be linking accounts to anything.

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I’d like to try YNAB- sign me up!

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I’d try Pocket/Simplifi/Acorns and I’ll really test them because I’m going on vacation twice in August

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I will totally sing the praises of YNAB, which I’ve been using for years. I’d also like to test Fortune City!

We get a forum badge, right? I mean, stickers are great, but badge.

Also note that YNAB’s free trial is 34 days, not 30 :wink:

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I will “test” Tiller! I’ve been using it for a while but I just helped my partner set it up from scratch.

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I use Tiller and YNAB regularly, and would be happy to fill out forms. I also have Personal Capital and Mint accounts, less regularly used.

ETA: Since Tiller can show synced investment account data, maybe it’s “Budgeting and Investing Dashboard”?

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Oh, I do also use splitwise regularly- happy to review that :blush:

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@Ferngully @iualia @Clare-Dragonfly @mirepoix @beep_boop Added you to the list on the top

I’ll post the Form for feedback this weekend, but it can be filled out anytime between now and Aug 1. For most it will take just a few minutes.

@Clare-Dragonfly CANNOT Believe I forgot to mention forum badges! Hmmmm what should we call it…

@LadyDuck I considered noting which ones don’t require account linking. I’ll add it to the final blog write up!

Account data linking is optional or not supported for these apps:

  • YNAB
  • Fortune City
  • /Tab
  • Splitwise
  • Zeta
  • Toshl
  • Pearbudget

(A few other ones support manual entry but it’s quite laborious to use them without any data connections).

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I’m interested in chime.

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Follow my link to get the $75 from chime! I’ve added you to the list.

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All signed up! New goal is to move my direct deposit and make $200 in time for it to all be deposited at once.

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Their savings account has .5% APY, too, which is possibly the highest available in the US at this point.

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Niiiiice.

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What are you doing that counts as a direct deposit? I always struggle with this when I consider pursuing bank bonuses.

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There’s a list of what counts for which banks!

(For Chime, I actually used patriot payroll to send myself a direct deposit payroll from my own business, but for many cash app can work.)

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I plan to direct my mturk account to there. It should count as direct deposit and is listed as direct deposit by mturk, but I’ll do Lily’s thing if that doesn’t work.

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