Layout:
Home > Money for Life - Mvelopes - Users what do you think?

Money for Life - Mvelopes - Users what do you think?

February 20th, 2008 at 02:53 pm


I've concluded that I need to be able to work smarter, not harder - pertaining to finances. I heard on Money Matters/Crown Money Map site about Mvelopes which puts all assets/liabilities in one place and allows for funding pots and budget categories.

It sounds smart and simple, but set-up for free trial looked complicated. Does anyone use this or has anyone tried it? Also, has anyone read the book "Money for life"?

I've looked at Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and I can't seem to get past all the testimonials - I need something with more information. It seems like an infomercial to me ...

9 Responses to “Money for Life - Mvelopes - Users what do you think?”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    1203520060

    I have used plain old envelopes with cash, for the past 43 years and it works great with me. I am not a computer person at all.

  2. merch Says:
    1203520096

    I use Mvelopes. I have been using it since December. It really depends what you are trying to get out of it. I have it hooked up to all my banks, brokers, and credit cards. It probably took and hour or two. Any problem with connecting and their support guys are automatically notified and take care of it.

    It’s basically an electronic version of the envelope system. If you use debit and credit cards, it works real well. All of your electronic credits and debits automatically get fed in. You can auto route them to the correct envelope or drag and drop. You can split transactions. You can set up budgets and funding programs. Real good at tracking everything. You can easily see what the balances of envelopes are, what you spent, and what you funded at a glance.

    Mvelopes is not good at investments. It doesn’t show you your allocations or how your investments performed over time. It’s not going to help you with gains and losses for tax time.

    It is a little expensive and other people use mint.com Hope that helps.

  3. mom-sense Says:
    1203521426


    thanks, merch, for the feedback. I'm thinking that at this point it might be worth it to give Mvelopes a try. We are moving away from paycheck to paycheck and I need it to be as simple as possible. I like the idea how it is all linked together. Thanks for pointing out about the investments. I'm not ready to worry about that yet - though i do direct money to vanguard for retirement and DHs 401K

  4. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1203523620

    Mvelopes is a good program, but I would like to suggest another program for you to check into - one which I prefer. You need a budget. www.ynab.com I used Mevelopes around 4 years ago and found it to be useful, but paying a monthly fee just didn't make sense. Then I found YNAB and have never looked back.

  5. KellyB Says:
    1203526111

    I used Mvelopes for about a year as I was learning to budget. I found it very useful as it pounded into me the fact that when you overspend money from one category it has to come from somewhere else, and in the end everything has to come to 0. Once I got the hang of that I was able to devise my own excel spreadsheet and do it on my own. But I really liked allocating the money. I LOVED Money for Life, I think it is the best budget book ever. The excel sheet I use comes right from that book pretty much. I spread the income and bills out into the 4 weeks of the month (we get paid 4 times too, so that helps). It helped me see I had to change some due dates on bills so I would have the money at the proper time. I really liked the whole system, I'd say it was worth the money for the time I used it, then I grew out of it :-) Good Luck!

  6. skydivingchic Says:
    1203540337

    I've used Mvelopes for a little over a year now and will be renewing on the biannual plan. I LOVE this program - it is exactly what I needed to get my finances in order. Since starting the program I paid off approximately $4000 worth of CC debt, now pay in full every month, and built up one month's worth of expenses in my checking account so that I can fund all my envelopes once per month instead of each paycheck. My finances are now pretty well on autopilot and it only takes a few minutes every few days to assign new transactions. It has also helped me really understand where my money goes and where I can manuipulate my budget to fit extra stuff in. Now it is a bit of a challenge to me to see how much money I can save in my discretionary envelopes each month and sweep into savings. The program is a huge help with those "life happens" and irregular bills such as car repair or vehicle registrations. I just set aside a certain amount each month and the money is there when I need it. My EF is now at about 4 months expenses, which is the minimum I wanted it. I love how the program seperates things into different pots of money, so that I have to make a concious decision to move money from one envelope to another if I want to add something to the budget. It helps control urges since I can easily see that if I want to buy new luggage for instance, I will have to give up some short term savings or discretionary income. I've also felt confident enough to adjust my tax withholdings from my paycheck. Since I can set up my spending plan to include saving that extra money, it doesn't disappear into la la land.

    Mvelopes may not be for everyone, but it is absolutely the best thing to ever happen to my personal finances. I certainly recommend you give it a try.

  7. Matthew Says:
    1228047809

    If you are seriously considering Mvelopes read these blog posts. Not to turn you away from Mvelopes but so you cearly understand the charge structure.
    BTW if anyone finds a free online program that uses the envelopes system, allows you to split transactions and pulls all your banking info in let me know.
    I've used Mint.com recently but don't like that the envelope system does not exist.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]