It’s no surprise to anyone that money is one of the main reasons couples argue. And I’m 100% sure that adding a child to the mix won’t make it any easier. With my wife busy growing our child, I’ve really been looking for something I can do that will make our lives easier. For that I’ve latched onto our personal finances.

One thing I’ve never quite nailed down is how to create and maintain a shared budget. We’ve tried a bunch of different things: Mint, Google Sheets, and betterhaves. But they’ve all had some flaws that I think contributed to their decline in usage.

I think I’ve finally found one that we’ll stick with for quite some time: Goodbudget.

Goodbudget is based on an envelope budgeting system, which means you create an envelope for each category of spending, fill it with money, then use that money for your expenses. So you focus on expenses, and don’t have to worry about tracking income, which helps a lot.

For us, a 5 envelope system makes sense right now:

Home

Things like our mortgage, tax, bills. The tough part is adding enough extra to account for any maintenance needed (replacing light bulbs) or capital expenditures (fixing a leaky roof). Owning a home is great, right??

Johnny and Lauren

We each have our own envelopes, for things like poker night, starbucks, shopping, etc. Obviously there are some gray areas in this envelope, but this should be stuff you can buy without justifying to your partner… as long as you stay under budget for the month.

Baby Sully

It’s good for us to get used to budgeting for Sully #3. And we’re starting to buy some big ticket items that Baby Sully will need. The tricky part here is that this expense will definitely increase in the future, and it’s hard to estimate just how much that will be.

Fun

Every envelope system needs an ‘Everything Else’ category. This is ours. This is for stuff like vacations, dates, bar tabs, etc. Things that are fun, but not 100% necessary. If an unanticipated expense comes along, this budget might need to get cut in order to meet budget. But I hope it doesn’t, because I love fun.

Good Budget Web

Good Budget Mobile

We’re in our first month of usage, but we really like it so far. Here’s what we love.

It’s Free!

They have a free tier, which is just enough for our needs.

  • 1 account (we share)
  • 2 devices (our cell phones)
  • 10 envelopes (we use)
  • 1 year of history

They also offer a $5/month Plus tier for users that need more.

Both Mobile and Web Options

  • The iPhone option is simple and elegant.
  • The web option is great when I’m at the office or on my laptop and don’t want to give myself a thumb cramp using my phone.

Scheduled Transactions

  • We automatically refill our envelopes on a monthly basis, but you could do this on a weekly or even daily basis if it fits your style.
  • Things like mortgages, cable bill, or Spotify subscriptions are the same each month and can be deducted automatically.

It just works!

  • We’ve run into zero issues so far.
  • We’ve had issues in the past with budgeting apps not syncing correctly.
  • Some budgeting apps can get overly complicated and things can get lost.

Overall, Goodbudget is not an app that has every single bell and whistle you’ll find in budgeting software. It has a focused purpose and does that really well. And it’s purpose just happens to fulfill exactly what our family has been looking for.