Account
Where the money actually sits — chequing, savings, cash, or credit.
The practical guide
What is the envelope method?
In the classic envelope method you take your whole paycheque and split it into envelopes for each spending category. When you need to buy something, you take the money out of the envelope it belongs to. The reason it works is visibility and planning: you see the money that is there, you see it come out, you see how much is left, and you start to understand where your money is going so you can plan better next month.
Converting all of your spending to cash is nearly impossible in the modern economy, and it has never been easier to overspend. This tool brings that same concept to your digital spending and makes planning and keeping track easier.
Build your first plan
Four things that work together
Meet Jamie. Jamie expects $4,500 this month and wants groceries, rent, fun, and savings to stop competing for the same money.
Envelope
The job you assign to part of that money, such as groceries or rent.
Transaction
What actually happened: money came in, went out, or moved between accounts.
Shared split
The part of a transaction that belongs to somebody else.
STEP 01
Start with the money coming in
Jamie enters his regular pay, sets the pay period, then allocates money to each of his envelopes. We help Jamie by showing him how much he typically spends from each envelope and keeping track of how much he has left to allocate.
See monthly planningIncome vs allocated$4,200 of $4,500
$300 left to allocate
Needs
$2,700Wants
$750Savings
$750September envelopes3 of 8
Groceries$312.40
$187.60 left
Transport$96.25
$53.75 left
Eating out$84.10
$15.90 left
STEP 02
Spend from the right envelope
A $54.28 grocery purchase belongs in Groceries. Recording it reduces what is left there without pretending the cash moved into a separate bank account. We remember the transaction descriptions so once a transaction is recorded in an envelope we will automatically group similar transactions into that envelope in the future.
See envelopes and transactionsSTEP 03
Keep shared costs honest
Jamie pays $126.40 for shared groceries. Alex’s half becomes $63.20 in the running balance. It stays there alongside every supporting transaction until they settle up. If Alex has an account, he and Jamie both see the shared transactions and the running balance.
See shared expensesWeekend groceries
Total$126.40
You paid$126.40
Alex’s 50% share$63.20
Alex owes you $63.20Added to the running balance
Review, learn, and adjust
The goal is not a perfect first plan. At month end, compare the plan with what actually happened and use that to make your money work for you next month. We never record your account information, and we delete all statements, screenshots and CSVs as soon as the transactions are recorded.
Explore every featureGive every dollar a job.
Free features for life, premium features only if you want them. Start with two accounts and eight envelopes.