I've received several comments recently praising Mvelopes and thought I'd share these as we're in the midst of "budgeting season." Here's the first comment, left in response to my post titled You Need a Budget Versus Mvelopes:
Mvelopes REALLY works - I have used it for about five months and it really helps with the managing of my spending. Try the online bill pay portion it makes it very nice to see how you are spending money. I gave it a try for the 30 day trial they have - you can check it out as well - it may seem a bit much to set up but their customer support rocks and can help you if you have any questions.
Hard to beat that endorsement, huh?
Here's another from the same post:
I adore Mvelopes. The envelope system just makes sense to me and makes budgeting and tracking expenses easier. I'm going to guess that any system you chose will be an improvement over doing nothing, so just pick one!!
That last point is a good one. It seems that most (not all for sure) people pick one system, use it, and seem happy with it. So whether it's Mvelopes Personal, You Need A Budget, Quicken or whatever, pick something and get going. You'll be much better off than if you did nothing!
Since I've received so many very favorable responses to Mvelopes, I've been recommending it for those who want an electronic version of the envelope budgeting system. Here are some links to help you consider their service:
I actually don't like Mvelopes that much. And for one straight forward reason: You have to pay to keep using it. I'm sorry, but when I want software to do something for me, I don't care about "have it everyone" and stuff like that. I care about having as much right to use it as possible. Quite simply, I want to pay my money for it and then do whatever I please with it for as long as I please. By having to pay for the service every month you give up a lot of freedom and security. Who's to say that Mvelopes won't disappear with all my personal info in a year? They're pretty well established and I think they have a profitable business model, but things can change quickly and if they do I'll be left in the gutter. I need more control over things than that. I'll stick with my excel spreadsheet.
Posted by: Drew | February 12, 2007 at 12:36 PM