When finances are spinning out of control, budgeting is the last thing on your mind. Nobody likes to do it. However, to maintain healthy finances and keep yourself out of debt, budgeting is necessary. There are many budgeting and personal finance tools and apps out there, but Mvelopes is one app that has gotten the hang of the perfect budgeting strategy and presents budgeting the easier way.
Ready to get a grip on your personal finance matters? Here’s a complete Mvelopes review for you to see how well this budgeting app suits your savings plans and financial control needs. It will show you how the budgeting app can help you manage your expenses and spending effectively and whether or not it’s right for you!
About Mvelopes
The first and most important goal of Mvelopes is to Give your money a purpose. Many times, the thrill of having money pushes people to squander it on meaningless expenses. All they think is I have money, and so I’ll spend it however I please. We let our money control us instead of us controlling the way we spend. Mvelopes believes that mindlessly spending money is giving your money control over you. So, the goal is to help you decide what you want to do with your money and then steer your life in that direction with your money. By giving your money a purpose, you can use it for what genuinely counts.
Mvelopes serves as your personal finance trainer. It provides you with another benefit you can call Debt Avoidance. Debt is one of the top ways to ruin your financial life if not handled well. With the app, you’re not only able to steer yourself out of debt, but the unique envelope budgeting system can also help you avoid being in debt altogether. On the website, Mvelopes says that it can help you rapidly pay off your debt, save properly to avoid getting back in debt, and still budget enough cash to get all you need.
Mvelopes frees you up from financial worries by simplifying its budgeting system. Unlike other budgeting tools, this one uses an envelope budgeting system. This helps you change the way you think about planning, spending, and saving your money. Mvelopes decreases your stress levels in financial management so that you can focus on what’s really important to your expenses.
Lastly, Mvelopes gives you so much control over your money that you can successfully plan for tomorrow. By creating a habit of saving, you can grow your money and successfully plan to cover future expenditures.
How Mvelopes Works
The envelope system of financial management with Mvelopes gives a unique twist to learning how to plan and save your money. It provides categories known as “Envelopes” to provide a cash envelope system of sectioning your money for different purposes. Here’s how to use Mvelopes:
Step 1
To access Mvelopes, you first need to download the app to your mobile device for easy access on the go. Next, sign up for free with an email address. Mvelopes offers users a free 30 day trial to set up their accounts. You don’t need to pay for anything before you give the service a test run.
Step 2
Before you can start creating Envelopes, you must first link Mvelopes to your credit card, debit cards, bank accounts, savings account, and other financial accounts that you own. This gives Mvelopes access to monitor your spending and other personal finance activity you carry out. Once all this is done and you have verified your account information, you can start to create your budget.
Step 3
Creating a budget is easy, and you can have one set up for your use in 15 minutes. You separate your budget into the different categories called Envelopes. For every transaction you carry out, you receive updated information about how you spend funds from each budget category. When you spend your income on groceries, rent, utilities, the amount is reflected in your Envelopes.
Mvelopes uses the envelope system of budgeting because this was what helped people stay out of debt back in the day. They sectioned their cash into paper envelopes and withdrew from it when needed. They knew what amount was left in each spending category and how long it would last. This innovative and brilliant means of monitoring cash flow is what Mvelopes has modernized to help each customer take back a grip on their personal finance envelope after envelope.
Mvelopes Pricing
Mvelopes is not a free-to-use app. However, it gives users a free 30 day trial before deducting charges based on any pricing plan they choose. Like other budgeting apps, you may need to input your credit card information before accessing the free trial period.
Mvelopes has three pricing plans; Basic, Premier, and Plus. Each of these plans offers you access to more features and more envelopes. See below for a more detailed description.
Basic Plan
You get the necessary features on the basic plan to make the most of your income. A Basic account gives you Unlimited envelopes and the ability to connect unlimited financial institution accounts. It also allows you to import your transactions automatically, and monitor your account balance. In addition, you get a live chat and access to a knowledge base, and lastly, interactive reports on the mobile app. You can get all this starting at a small fee of $5.97 per month.
Mvelopes Premier
Switching your account to the Premier plan helps you save $20 annually for a host of other sweet features in addition to the above. You get more for less. For this premium budget and debt payoff plan, you get all the features from the basic plan and:
- Access to the Mvelopes learning center,
- Debt reduction center,
- Initial setup assistance to make your setup process seamless and,
- High-level priority chat support
Mvelopes users can access this plan at $9.97.
Mvelopes Plus
This is the highest and most beneficial plan this budgeting app has to offer. On the Mvelopes Plus account, you get all the content that the Basic and Premier accounts provide and some more still. You are entitled to a Dedicated Personal Coach, a personalized financial plan, and quarterly coaching sessions. Mvelopes becomes your very own personal finance trainer, and you save up to $40 annually with prices starting at $19.97 monthly.
To get started on any of these options, you can visit the website or pricing page to get your bank account charged.
Mvelopes Features
Up next in this review is to check out the exciting features of Mvelopes.
Spending only gets fun and exciting with this app. With the envelope system, users find that the entire process of managing their funds became simpler and something they look forward to doing. All this is through the help of budgeting provisions on the app. See our review of the most exceptional ones below.
Budgeting App
Once you open a Mvelopes account, you get six budgeting categories, including bills, every day, giving, goals, periodic, and system. In these categories, you would find envelopes to which you can allocate a specific dollar amount and then input or remove funds at any time. Each category has its own envelope budget tagged with real-life needs like eating out, home insurance, internet/TV, and many other little envelopes. With this, you can have various budgets for everyday life with a full view of what’s been spent and what’s left.
Financial Accounts Integration
By seamlessly integrating your bank accounts and other financial accounts in the app or website, you can access automatic importing/syncing of transactions. No need for manual processes or inputting of every transaction made per budget. This feature does it for you with no problem. Mvelopes is always under security review and maintenance to ensure data from your financial institutions remains safe always.
Debt Reduction Center
Premier and Plus plans offer users the opportunity to learn how to reduce and clear off their debts. Once you log into your account, you get a debt roll-down space to input your total debt amount and check out different ways through which you can pay off your debt gradually.
Personal Financial Trainer
This works hand in hand with reducing your debts. Every quarter of the year on the plus account, you get a personal trainer to teach you how to manage your resources and do better with any income that comes into your bank accounts. Working with a trainer is great because they help you develop long-term plans to handle any monetary challenge you may face.
Knowledge Base and Online Learning Resources
The Mvelopes learning center gives users access to many short videos, courses, and financial content on the website, with topics ranging from building emergency funds to controlling your spending and financial security.
Uses for Personal Finance
- Debt Reduction: The debt roll-down plan helps you quickly clear off your debt to allow you to use your income for other necessities, pressing needs, or have some you-time.
- Simplified budgets: By imitating the cash envelope system, you can handle your budget with a firmer grip. You understand how you spend, save, and use your money, giving you control over your use of it.
- Financial training: The app helps you learn the ropes of financial freedom with the many learning resources, coaches, and guides.
Mvelopes Alternatives
Every Dollar App by Dave Ramsey is one alternative to Mvelopes that comes with a free version. On this version, you manually track and input your transactions. At $129.99/year, you get the plus feature which comes with access to online help tools, Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, and auto transaction imports.
You Need a Budget or YNAB is another great alternative to Mvelopes. With a fair price of $11.99 per month, you learn how to live comfortably on your last month’s income. It’s the premium budget app and helps you create an in-depth budget that keeps you on track. It doesn’t, however, offer you access to a personal finance trainer.
Is Mvelopes Worth the Money?
Mvelopes is a good resource for you and may be worth the money if you need extra help managing your finances. If you find that guidance such as a finance trainer and regular sessions help to put you on track in terms of spending, then you may consider purchasing a Mvelopes subscription.
However, if you only need a simple budgeting tool to help you keep track of your resources without external help or influence, then you may consider other alternatives.
Pros
- You can use Mvelopes without any links to your financial accounts or financial institutions if you’re worried about keeping your account information safe.
- Unlimited envelopes come with every plan
- Knowledge database for financial management courses
- Available for use on website and mobile app
- Good customer support representative
Cons
- No free plan compensation
- The debt reduction calculator is not very thorough
- You may have difficulty syncing your bank account or credit unions
- It doesn’t offer support for brokerage accounts
