Planning With Summer In Mind: My Favorite Way To Save With The EveryDollar App

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When Charlie and I were in premarital counseling the months leading up to our wedding, we received many great pieces of advice and had wonderful conversations surrounding blending families, daily habits and conflict resolution. But one tip in particular that has been a tremendous blessing to this day has been the EveryDollar App. You might wonder why an app would rank in the top things we gained from our marriage counseling, but studies show that roughly 20% of Americans say that they have financial disagreements with their significant other MONTHLY (1) and that 44% of Americans attribute finances as their primary stressor, even over relationships and work (2). Clearly financial affairs was a crucial topic to address as it can steal one’s joy for purposeful living rather quickly. Now, before you feel bored to tears or think I am going to give professional financial advice, please know that I am not a financial advisor and am in no way being paid to pitch this app. I am just a girl who enjoys finding easy ways to save money and planning for future goals, so if you’re like me, I hope you might enjoy learning about them also. That being said, I recently was reminded of how helpful it has been to Charlie and I to be on the same page as we have been reestablishing our budget for living in Germany (in Euros!), and how much we have enjoyed being able to strategically save for home projects or travel plans. So, whether you are wanting to start budgeting, become on the same financial page with your spouse, save for a home project or plan a trip, I hope that sharing my own experience with EveryDollar might help encourage you with your financial journey as well. 

Make Budgeting Easy With The EveryDollar App

Budgeting can be a scary word. For many, it can invoke feelings of stress and inadequacy and even panic. But honestly, it doesn’t have to. If it helps, call it something else entirely like a “money calendar”, “spending app” or “goal tracker”. Whatever helps break down the scary sound of “budgeting”, try it. And then, sign up for EveryDollar. 

How Does The EveryDollar App Work?

To start off, let me tell you how it works. After you download the app and make an account, you can start on the “Planned” tab at the top. In this tab, you can easily add your main categories: income, favorites, savings, housing, transportation etc. Feel free to make them as specific or general as you like as you can add or delete subcategories as needed. For example, our budget looks something like this:

You get the picture. If you love subscriptions, you could add a whole category for subscriptions and then subcategories for each individual one, or you could simply add a subcategory of “subscriptions” under housing and put them all there. Either way, once you have added your categories and subcategories, set an amount that you think you spend each month for that category. For instance, if you typically spend $100 on shopping, then add in the $100 in that planned section. Don’t feel that these numbers are set in stone, as you can change both the amounts and the category/subcategory labels over time as you feel what’s right for you. 

Is The EveryDollar App Free?

Yes! EveryDollar has both a free and premium version of this app. While we have only used the free version, the premium version does offer linking with your bank account for easy transaction monitoring and insight into your spending habits. Honestly, we have found it just as simple to put in the transactions ourselves, but if you feel that this step would help you be able to save / stick to your spending goals more thoroughly, then most definitely pursue this option. 

Can Two People Use The Same EveryDollar Account?

Yes! This honestly is my favorite part of the whole thing. Since multiple people can share the same EveryDollar account and have the app downloaded to different devices, Charlie and I are able to stay on the same page with our spending. If I am out shopping and am contemplating topping off my tank with gas, I don’t have to wonder if he has already spent the gas money. As soon as either of us inputs a transaction, both of our apps reflect the change, allowing us to be in tune with one another’s spending.  Similarly, this app has given us greater freedom for little splurges and feeling confident in our purchases, because if we are spending what is allotted in that section, we know that we have accounted for all of our needs first. Gone are the days of second guessing our purchases wondering if we really had enough to spend on that particular item. Both Charlie and I are able to have the confidence that if we can fit it in the app, we aren’t spending beyond our means. 

Establishing Your Goals

While the EveryDollar app has been wonderful at reducing confusion and getting Charlie and I in tune financially, it also has been huge at allowing us to address our financial goals. Do we really want to save for a particular home project or vacation? Is there a way to minimize and pay off debt quickly? Then let us change around our category limits to see what we can add or take away. Do we really need so many subscriptions? Or could we cancel a couple for the remainder of the year to save for that trip we have been dying to take. With spring around the corner and summer only a few months away, now is a great time to take charge of your financial goals and begin to set spending boundaries that ultimately lead to financial freedom. 

Baby Steps

Now, you might be thinking that even EveryDollar feels a bit daunting or you might want to involve your kids or grandkids in beginning this habit early. For either case, I also highly recommend the envelope system. As a child, my mom gave me 3 envelopes labeled with percentages: Spending – 50%, Saving – 40%, Giving – 10%. With each bit of money I earned from chores or early jobs, I would split my cash into each of these categories. If I earned $10 for cleaning, I soon found I could spend $5, save $4 and give $1 and would place each dollar amount in its particular envelope. For me, being able to see the money growing in the envelope over time gave me such a sense of pride and also an understanding that earning $10 did not translate to spending $10. Create envelopes from beautiful paper or label them in calligraphy and soon, budgeting becomes a fun, enjoyable process for kids and adults alike. 

Final Thoughts 

While the EveryDollar app can’t work miracles and bring extra money out of thin air, it can help to redirect focus on essential verses unnecessary spending. It certainly hasn’t solved all our financial questions or prevented all financial disagreements, but I can say that it has helped. It has helped to get us on the same page, set our goals and prioritize our spending. As we revamp our budget for this next phase of life abroad, I am so, SO glad that we implemented this change years ago to help establish a common platform to enjoy life more freely. If you are on the fence, or feel like it might be too much, just try it for a month or two and see how it works! Even the process of sitting down and looking at your monthly spending will be more beneficial than just avoiding it all together. Make this year the year to get a hold of that debt, save for that special trip or create a fund for that home project. You’ve got this!

Happy saving!

Chloe

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