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 ...
Money for Life - Mvelopes - Users what do you think?
February 20th, 2008 at 02:53 pm
February 20th, 2008 at 03:07 pm 1203520060
February 20th, 2008 at 03:08 pm 1203520096
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.
February 20th, 2008 at 03:30 pm 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
February 20th, 2008 at 04:07 pm 1203523620
February 20th, 2008 at 04:48 pm 1203526111
February 20th, 2008 at 08:45 pm 1203540337
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.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:23 pm 1228047809
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.