First impressions of Mvelopes
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Facebook it! | 09/22/10
A colleague at work received a couple of 90-day trial membership cards for Mvelopes Personal, so I’m trying it out. Mvelopes.com is an online budgeting aid that mimics the envelope budgeting system. What is the envelope budgeting system, you ask? The idea behind this system involves cashing paychecks and splitting the cash into various “envelopes” — literally — and using what is allotted to each envelope only for that particular purpose. Money can be transferred from envelope to envelope, but what is taken from one is not available once it goes to the other. Budgeting that’s real, and in your face, not by using the Force and way out there.
Here’s what I’ve done thus far with my foray into Mvelopes Personal:
- Registered. This was painless, as you might expect.
- Linked my main checking account, savings account, and credit cards. This was also painless. I chose the accounts from among the ones detected, gave them nicknames, and that was it.
- Specified sources of income. Not too many to worry about at the moment: the paycheck for my main gig and rent from my previous house.
- Specified some expenses. To do a more accurate job I’ll need to crack out bills, credit card statements, etc. to get exact amounts. There weren’t a huge number of expense categories, but they were well-chosen, and it was easy to add more.
Additionally, I received a phone message from the company with some helpful information.
My next steps will be to tighten up the budgeting section, and to watch the orientation videos. Once I’ve done that I’ll post again.
5 Responses to “First impressions of Mvelopes”
By Jaime on Sep 22, 2010 | Reply
We’ve used Mvelopes for four years and LOVE it. There is the occassional issue with not being able to upload transaction, but I just log onto their chat system and they resolve it right away. Great customer service, and great program. Plan to use them for a long time
By Marie on Sep 22, 2010 | Reply
So exactly how much information do they take about your bank and credit card accounts? I’m always leery of giving out too much access to those.
By Hannah on Sep 23, 2010 | Reply
One of my friends did something similar with an ING account, and she loves it! I look forward to seeing how this works out for you.
By Rpse Stone on Sep 29, 2010 | Reply
Are you people out of your minds? You really would consider storing the username and pin/password to EVERY account you have in a single location, let alone somebody’s website!
It’s only secure until it is not
Is this another example of the dumbing-down of America?
By Tricia@EEBA on Oct 1, 2010 | Reply
If you like the idea of envelope budgeting but aren’t comfortable giving away your personal account info (like me, I don’t even like it when sites want my birthday) there’s an alternative to Mvelopes that could work for you. Check out EEBA (Easy Envelope Budget Aid). It’s an Android app/website based on the envelope budgeting method that doesn’t require your personal account info.
You can keep track of envelope balances in real time and there’s an account function that allows you to track bank balances as you spend. EEBA has a handy GPS function that pulls up stores in your location, so entering transactions is very quick. And, unique to EEBA, your account can sync between phones. So it’s a great tool for couples/households.
There’s a free version if you want to check it out, and upgrading (more envelopes) is inexpensive ($3/month). You can get more info here: https://eebacanhelp.com/getstarted
Tricia@EEBA