Buddy: Budget Planner App 4+

This is hands down by far the best and most productive app I’ve ever used on the iPhone! Just to be clear, I’ve never wrote a review for any app I’ve ever used since I got an iPhone back in 2011. My wife and I have tried saving and budgeting, I’ve tried mint ive tried rocket I’ve tried the spending app I’ve tried envelope, all of them have their own pros and cons. But when I found this app, I have yet to see any cons! I love that you can either connect you accounts to the app, or type in all the transactions manually. I personally like to type them in manually but everyone’s different, I also love how it allows you to set your budget and you can name everything individually with their own icons and with their own colors. I color coordinate all my bills and food and budget, it cost 24 dollars for the whole year and it is WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY! My wife and I have been able to save and account for every penny, our spending is under control and I love how it has changed our lives financially. If anyone is looking for an app to either track your transactions or set a budget this is hands down the best one there is!!

Update: after using this for almost a week I really don’t like it I’m taking off a star… when I upload all my current bank transactions it tells me my “updated current balance” and I go into my bank account just to double check the balance is correct on Buddy and it’s not… there’s no pending transactions these are transactions that have gone through and Buddy registers that and has all my transactions in my buddy account but for whatever reason it always tells me I have more than what I actually have in my bank…. The transactions also don’t go through on my budget categories… so I say I have $130 to use on my credit card bill… the transaction comes out and on my budget category it still says I have $130 left to spend this month. It just lags horribly and doesn’t stay up to date… I canceled and will be looking for a new app.

It’s good, better than mint because you have more options but when I linked my bank account to make seeing my transactions and just overall budget easier it has some of my transactions actions listed twice and then it mixed up my credit card with my checking account so I had to go in and list my “credit” as “checking” on each transaction and then it doesn’t have an accurate checking balance even though it’s linked to my bank so that’s strange. I went in and manually put my current balance though… I’ll try it because I paid for the month so we’ll see if I like it or it grows on me.

I LOVE the design and functionality of the app. It’s super clean and functional, and is the only app I’ve found that allows you to connect your bank accounts AND budget bi-weekly - and if your paid bi-weekly, you understand how hard it is to manage your budget using all those monthly apps out there. This combination makes this app an absolute win-win!

Now for the negative; my particular bank (Cadence) is not connecting for some reason. Until this is fixed where I can download transactions from my bank, it’s pretty useless because I simply can’t take the time to manually enter transactions. I’ve gone through the “submit feedback” button in the app, but have not gotten a response back. And with only a 7 day free trial period, I can’t afford to just sit around and wait hoping they contact me, so I had to cancel my subscription for now.

Overall - great app, just make sure your bank connection works. Buddy team, improving your responsiveness, including sending an email letting people know you’ve received their feedback and are looking into it, would help so I don’t feel like my question is just going into a black hole. I really hope the bank connection gets fixed with Cadence so I can use the app.