Getting Started

Welcome to MoneyWell! An Envelope Budgeting app for Mac and iPhone.

We have a few articles that go into more depth on how to best budget with MoneyWell, but here is a brief summary to get you up and running!

But first..

Understanding MoneyWell

MoneyWell is a personal finance app that helps you budget your money using the envelope method. It's all about being proactive and not overspending. You allocate your cash into different "envelopes" (which we call Buckets) for specific expenses. You can't spend more than what's in each Bucket.

The goal is to reduce debt, save money, and have less stress. MoneyWell was designed with envelope budgeting in mind from the start, unlike other tools that just tack it on. So, stick to your budget and enjoy a stress-free financial life!

To find out more about how MoneyWell works, check out our article, Understanding MoneyWell

A New Budget

Check our article Create a New Budget for full information on creating a new Budget

Here are the main steps to creating a new Budget:

1) New Budget Wizard

Starting with version 2024.02, MoneyWell introduces the New Budget Wizard, a tool designed to help you create a Budget that suits your needs. When creating a new Budget, you now have three options:

Answer a series of questions, and MoneyWell will tailor a Budget specifically for you.
Choose a Simple Budget, which includes a curated set of Buckets to help you get started.
Opt for an Empty Budget, giving you full control to customise your Buckets from scratch.

The New Budget Wizard also helps with naming your Budget, selecting a currency, and enabling sync if desired.

2) Time To Budget

MoneyWell uses Envelope Budgeting, which is a simple way to make sure that you only spend what you earn. You assign your earnings to an income Bucket and use it to fill up your expense Buckets.

When your expense Buckets are empty, you know it's time to stop spending. There's no ambiguity about the amount of money already used from your accounts.

Before you start allocating funds to your Buckets, you need to inform MoneyWell about your typical expenses. This is achieved by assigning Events to your Buckets, which establishes a budget amount for each category.

Instead of pulling out a calculator to figure out how much you spend each month for a budget category, you can input numbers that you're already familiar with, and MoneyWell will automatically calculate your budget amounts. For instance, you might not know your exact monthly automobile expenses, but you likely know how much you spend on gas each time you fill up and how frequently you do so. MoneyWell utilises this information to help you establish your budget.

3) Import Your Bank Accounts

MoneyWell offers a few ways of importing your financial data.

Via Direct Connect (if supported by your bank)

By far the most convenient way to add your accounts and import your transactions into MoneyWell. Find out more details here: Adding Accounts

Via downloaded files from your banks website (QFX, OFX, QIF, CSV)

An excellent alternative to Direct Connect. You can easily download your transactions from your bank, via their website, often in a variety of formats, and import them right into MoneyWell. Find out more details here: Importing Transactions

From another financial/budgeting app

If you're moving to MoneyWell from another app, you can import data just like a downloaded file from your bank. Find out more details here: Importing Transactions

4) Assign Transactions

After setting up your accounts, you can begin organising your transactions by assigning them to Buckets. It's helpful to review your past spending before creating your Budget.

To save time, you can easily assign multiple transactions to a Bucket by selecting them and dragging them to the desired Bucket. You can find more information on Buckets here: Buckets

You can find out more about setting up your budget and events based budgeting here: Setting Up Your Budget, Events Based Budgeting

Helpful Articles

For more in-depth and instructions on getting started with MoneyWell, please check out the following articles:

For more information on the underlying processes of MoneyWell, please check out the following articles:

For more information on some more advanced features within MoneyWell, please check out the following articles: