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Personal Finance
Personal Finance
3 Budget Apps for Couples Who Want to Align on Money
Advertiser disclosure


YOU’RE OUR FIRST PRIORITY.
EVERY TIME.

We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.
And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available
on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we
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So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which
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partners.


3 BUDGET APPS FOR COUPLES WHO WANT TO ALIGN ON MONEY

Laura McMullen
Feb 11, 2021


Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate
us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the
product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our
opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make
money.

You and your significant other probably won’t go out for a romantic dinner this
Valentine's Day, so why not do the next best thing? Light a few candles, pour
some wine — and download a budget app.

In fact, there are specific budget apps for couples that help you learn more
about each other’s expenses, debts and investments. These tools track your
spending so you and your partner can reference the same (objective) information.

"It’s 100% truth — no hiding," says Denver-based certified financial planner
Addie McHale. "Otherwise, you're in this land of financial vagueness."

So, rather than suspecting you’ve been spending too much on takeout or that one
of you is a little click-happy with Amazon purchases, you can consult real
numbers. The two of you can see exactly how much each is spending on what, as
well as how those expenses change over time and fit in with the rest of your
financial picture.

If this sounds like something you and your partner could benefit from, consider
checking out these apps.


3 BUDGET APPS FOR COUPLES

Honeydue, Honeyfi and Zeta Money Manager are designed specifically for couples
and are available in the iOS App Store and Google Play. They’re also similar in
the following ways:

 * Both partners can sync their financial accounts and see each other’s
   transactions and balances. But each of these apps also allows users to keep
   certain finances private.

 * Users can sync their checking and savings accounts, as well as credit cards,
   loans and investments.

 * Users can track bills and get reminders of upcoming due dates.

 * The apps provide a customizable household budget or allow users to set limits
   for specific spending categories.

 * Users can communicate with each other within the app in some way, like
   commenting on an expense.

Here’s what makes each app stand out on its own and how it differs from the
others:


1. HONEYDUE

For starters, this app is free. (Honeydue asks you to "tip" them a few bucks on
a monthly basis, but you can choose not to do so.) In the App Store and Google
Play, Honeydue has the most reviews and highest ratings of the three apps, as of
this writing. Most reviews are positive, but some users point out that the app
could be more streamlined and quicker to show updated account balances. Unlike
Honeyfi and Zeta, Honeydue doesn’t provide a way for couples to collaborate on
savings goals, but it does offer a joint bank account.


2. HONEYFI

This app offers a free 30-day trial. If you choose to stick with it, you can pay
$60 per couple for an annual subscription ($5 a month) or sign up for a monthly
subscription of $9.99 per month. In the App Store and Google Play, Honeyfi had
only a few hundred reviews, but its ratings were nearly as high as Honeydue’s.
Honeyfi has the most robust goals feature among the three apps. Users can set
rules specifying a certain amount of money to be regularly transferred from a
checking account to a separate FDIC-insured account. Note that Honeyfi users
must link a financial account. Honeydue and Zeta recommend linking accounts to
get the most from the apps, but they allow you to skip that step and manually
enter transactions if you'd prefer.


3. ZETA MONEY MANAGER

Among the three apps, Zeta has the fewest reviews and lowest ratings, with some
users (mostly in Google Play) noting that the app has glitches. That said, Zeta
is free and offers features similar to Honeydue and Honeyfi. Couples who use
Zeta can also use its IOUs to track and split expenses and pay each other back
via Venmo or PayPal.

There are other apps that aren’t designed for couples but could still work for
you and your partner. For example, Goodbudget is an app based on the envelope
system that allows household budgets to be synced across multiple devices. There
are also ways to share a budget in the You Need a Budget app. Learn about these
and other tools in our best budget apps list.

Before you build a budget
NerdWallet breaks down your spending and shows you ways to save.
SEE YOUR SPENDING




HOW TO BUDGET WITH YOUR PARTNER

No matter which app you choose — or if you go the low-tech budget spreadsheet
route instead — talking about money with a loved one can feel pretty loaded.
When exploring each other’s finances in tools and conversation, certified
financial therapist Ed Coambs stresses the importance of financial empathy. Aim
to better understand each other, rather than identify if decisions are right or
wrong.

Part of being empathetic is remembering that you and your partner have had a
different set of financial experiences, says Coambs, who’s also a marriage and
family therapist based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even if you two have
similar financial backgrounds, he says, "there are still going to be subtle
micro-differences in what you prioritize or value."

Ideally, you and your partner will get to the point where you can get
"financially naked," as Coambs puts it. That means no one is worried about
criticism or judgment about their money and what they do with it, he says, and
there’s a "shared sense of future direction around finances."

Achieving that kind of transparency is a massive undertaking for many couples,
Coambs says. Before using a shared budget app and disclosing your finances,
agree to a no-judgment policy. If it turns out that you or your partner can’t
quite swing that, maybe it’s not the time to budget together.

At that point, Coambs says you may want to work on "building the relational
skills that are needed to feel safe and secure with each other." That could mean
working on communication, listening and empathy or addressing past traumas.


HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM THE APP

If you and your partner feel OK forging ahead on a shared budget app, McHale
suggests spending the first month or so connecting your accounts, learning how
to use the app and letting it track your money. After that, meet with your
partner and review the past month’s data.

"Awareness is the gateway to change and is at least half of the battle," says
McHale, who’s also the founder of the financial services business Moneyfull.
With this frame of reference, you can try to spend $50 less on takeout next
month, for example.

These kinds of changes aren’t for the sole purpose of depriving you of
late-night pizza fixes. They can help you and your partner be more intentional
with spending and put your money toward stuff you really want. For example, if
you two want to buy a house this year, maybe that $50 per month that you save on
takeout can go toward a down payment.

"The whole point of the budgeting app is to align your spending with your
priorities," McHale says. "That’s how you experience the joy of money."

About the author: Laura McMullen writes about managing money for NerdWallet. Her
work has appeared in The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington
Post, and other outlets. Read more


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