Tracking your spending and reaching your financial goals can be challenging for anyone, but especially if you set up a budget with a partner.
Although you can do the budget on your own, there are a number of free budgeting apps and websites that can make it easy to budget with a partner. Honeydue is worth considering.
You can download the Honeydue app for iPhone or Android. You will need to download the app, otherwise you will not be able to access Honeydue. Fortunately, the app is free to download and use.
What is Honeydue?
The company has launched a personal finance app that allows couples to easily manage their apartment together.
If you want to manage your platform with something else, Honeydue can help you organize your transactions and budgets, making it easier for you to communicate with your partner about finances.
Honeydue differentiates itself from competitors Mint, Personal Capital, YNAB, PocketGuard and Mvelopes by allowing users to choose what their partners can see by communicating financially with them in a simple way.
You can link bank accounts to the app to keep track of yourself and discuss your transactions with your partner. You will see recent transactions in the “Activity” tab, where you can comment on your reaction. You can click on the “Chat” tab to send messages to your partner.
In the app, you and your partner can see current amounts, set a spending limit for budget categories, get reminders about upcoming bills, and more.
The advantage of Honeydue is that it can help you create transparency between you and your partner on financial matters. If you have different individual accounts, you can choose what your partner sees and what not.
How does Honeydue work?
Honeydue Works You which allows you to link checks from white boned accounts, plus credit cards, savings accounts, investments and loans. It can also be entered manually following a cash budget.
According to Honeydue's website, our data is encrypted with 256-bit security, both in traffic and in storage. The app also requires multi-factor authentication to protect your front account.
In addition to linking accounts, Honeydue will prompt you to add reminders for common bills like rent, phone, and electricity. You can then invite your partner to join the app and start setting up your budget.
To get started, download the Honeydue app for iPhone or Android. You can visit the website to see screenshots and feature highlights, but you'll need to download the app to get started.
Downloaded the iPhone app to connect to set up my budget when trying out Honeydue with my partner.
To create your account, you will need to enter your number and your email address to create a password. Once logged in, you can customize your profile to add a photo and phone number for two-factor authentication.
Depending on the configured content, you can invite your partner to the app by email or SMS. They will receive a link to download the app they want to join.
Before they accept, you can start linking their bank accounts to track their transactions and create a budget. You can link cash and credit cards from popular kiosks, as well as loans and stock investments.
Add each account by selecting your financial institution and connecting with your username and password. Once your accounts are linked, you will be able to see them in the “Balances” tab.
Depending on the site, you control what you share with your partner. Once you've connected a bank account, you'll be able to choose whether your member can see balances and transactions, just balances, or nothing for that specific account.
How to set your budget
Once you have created an account, linked your bank accounts and invited your partner, you are ready to set up your budget. Click "More" and "Budget" to get started.
In this tab, you can see a breakdown of your expenses and income by month and/or by account. Below the charts, you can see individual expense categories like "House and Utilities" and "Food and Drink."
Click on one of these categories to add a monthly spending limit.
Once you've entered your monthly spending limit, choose when you'll be notified if you reach a certain percentage of the limit.
For example, I can set a monthly spending limit of $150 for entertainment and request a notification when I spend 75% of that amount during the month.
Set a spending limit on Honeydue
While Honeydue makes it easy to communicate with your partner about spending throughout the month on the app, it's important to sit down with your partner in person and budget together.
Take time to review your monthly bills, review spending categories, and decide on spending limits when you first link your accounts. It's a good way to set yourself up for success.
How to stay on budget
Once you've talked to your partner, linked your accounts, and set a budget, the hard part is over. Honeydue excels at helping you and your partner communicate clearly about finances.
If you have linked your bank accounts, Honeydue will automatically import and classify transactions throughout the month. It's important to review your budget and transaction categories regularly to make sure there are no errors.
If a transaction is misclassified, you can move it to more accurately reflect your budget.
Click on a specific transaction in the “Budget” tab and click “Edit” next to the budget category. From here, you can choose a new category or assign it to multiple categories.
You can also click "Split Expenses" to split the payment with your partner. In the “More” tab, you can click on “Invoices” to manually enter and track invoices.
You can add an invoice name, the amount to be paid, the type of invoice (rent, subscription, utilities, credit card, loan, or other), recurrence frequency, and next due date.
You can then choose who should be reminded of the bill (you, your partner, or both) and when you want the notification to be sent (up to a week in advance).
Pending invoices
It's probably a little easier to stick to your budget if you make sure your transactions are categorized correctly and set reminders for upcoming bills.
The app's home page also highlights recent financial activity for you to view, react to, and comment on.
Recent Honeydue Activity
As you and your partner follow your new budget throughout the month, you can also communicate about variances, adjustments, and other financial issues in the "Chat" tab.
Pros and cons
Budgeting is essential if you're serious about reaching your financial goals, and Honeydue has everything you and your partner need to get started. After trying out Honeydue, here are the top pros and cons I found.
Designed for partners. Honeydue is specially designed to be used by two boards. You can share balances and transactions, set goals together, and discuss finances right in the app.
Accessibility. You cannot access your Honeydue account from a desktop browser - you must download the app for iPhone or Android.
Price . Honeydue is completely free to download and use and is ad-free. Instead, you can choose to send an optional "tip" of up to $10 a month if you like the app.
Settings . Honeydue does not automatically create a budget, nor does it attempt to determine your income and accounts based on recent transactions. Instead, he should sit down with her partner to set their budget and come up with a plan that he can stick to.
Bill reminders. You can set bill reminders from the app for yourself, your partner, or both up to a week before your bill. You can also use the "Invoices" tab to view upcoming payments on the calendar.
Planning . Although the app offers an intuitive budget section, there's no clear way to set a savings goal, and Honeydue doesn't ask you to commit your money before it's spent.
Although this makes communication easier, you will need to plan your monthly budget in advance for best results.
Honeydue Conclusion
Compared to other budgeting tools like Mint, Personal Capital, YNAB, PocketGuard, and Mvelopes, Honeydue stands out for its couple-centric approach.
Initial setup is relatively easy compared to other apps, but you'll have to take more responsibility for setting your budget and planning spending and savings with your partner.
After linking my accounts, setting my budget, and inviting my partner, Honeydue wasn't difficult to use. However, with any budgeting app, there is a learning curve.
If you already have a free budgeting app or a classic spreadsheet/pen and paper budget that works for you and your partner, there's no real reason to switch to Honeydue. However, if you're having a hard time communicating with your partner about finances, Honeydue is a fantastic solution to consider.