(Visit the link to learn more on the Mvelopes.com website)
The Envelope Budgeting System
There is a small handful of varying budgeting methods out there. One of the most utilized methods is the envelope budgeting system. With it, you can use envelopes and label them whatever category you would like when it comes to your budgeting needs. Then, you divide up the cash in each envelopes. Once you spend all the cash in one envelope, that means you’ve spent your budget for that category.
Mvelopes Features
Once you register for an account, you will be asked to pick your goals. This way, Mvelopes can customize its service and help you figure out a budget that works for you.
After establishing your goals, you will be led through a four-step process before you can start tracking your expenses. The four steps include:
- Adding your accounts
- Defining your income
- Creating a budget
- Funding your envelopes
Account Integration
It doesn’t matter if you have one bank account or ten, you can integrate all your financial accounts into one convenient Mvelopes account. This will give you a real-time overview of how much money you have across all accounts and lets you budget from individual accounts while keeping track of your big total.
Custom Categories & Budgeting
Mvelopes will automatically pull all of your transactions from linked accounts into Mvelopes. You can then manually assign every payment to one of your envelopes, tracking your spending in each of the categories you have defined. This service lets you create as many virtual categories as you’d like.
Goal Setting
If there are big expenses looming in the future, Mvelopes lets you set savings goals that you can work towards over time. These biggies include emergency fund, retirement, wedding, vacation and gift savings.
Bill Pay
This is one of Mvelopes’ shining features. The service is able to pay bills from its Payment Center. It works with any company you would normally pay by check or automatic debit, even if you don’t receive bills.
Debt Reduction Center
This feature isn’t available with all plans, but it’s worth a once over if you’re trying to get rid of debt. The Debt Reduction Center is fully integrated with your accounts which lets you view all your debt in one place. It requires you to input the nitty gritty details of your accounts, like interest rates and promotion periods, so you get an extremely accurate overview of your debt.
Access to Coaching
Also for a fee, you can get personal finance coaching through Mvelopes Money4Life service. Pay down your debts, set and reach goals, and get your spending under control with the help of an expert.
Mvelopes Fees
Mvelopes comes with four different plans that have features to suit your needs. They are Basic, Premier and Plus.
| Plan | BASIC | PREMIER | PLUS |
| Monthly Pricing | $5.97 | $9.97 | $19.97 |
| Annual Pricing | $69 | $99 | $199 |
| 30-Day Free Trial | X | X | – |
| Unlimited Accounts | No | X | X |
| Access to Learning Center | – | X | X |
| Full Access of Budgeting Tools | – | X | X |
| Debt Reduction Plan | – | X | X |
| One-On-One Startup Support | – | – | X |
| Coaching Sessions | – | – | Quarterly |
Mvelopes Limitations
Before you decide to take advantage of the 30-day free trial with Mvelopes, make sure you keep these things in mind:
Time-Consuming Setup
To set up an account with this service, it takes some time for it to be fully functional. You will need to sync each of your financial accounts, such as credit cards and PayPal, so you have all your information readily available.
You will also need to input your accurate monthly income and spending information so you can set up your budget based on actual numbers. If you already have a budget set in place, then this part shouldn’t be too much trouble. Once that is done, you will need to set up your envelopes and set your budget on each.
Confusing Interface
Although they have a ton of great features, Mvelopes can have quite a bit of information to handle. When it comes time to manage your envelopes and accounts after you finish setting up, you could get confused with all the information in front of you. There aren’t any tutorials or prompts that will walk you through the process so you may miss a step or two.
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Bottom Line
Mvelopes is a great way to view your complete financials including your spending and saving behavior, while also letting your manage your financial accounts from one spot. This is a more detailed and advanced version of the classic envelope budgeting system. To help you learn, they even offer one-to-one coaching sessions to see where your money is going, find budget leaks, and give you the motivation you need to get out of debt.
If you’re interesting saving money, we’ve composed a list of other ways to Save Money that you can check out. Also if you would like to see all the latest bank deals nationwide, be sure to view our full list of Bank Bonuses and find one in your area!
