Opinions on a Budgeting App

AssociatedLGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 02/06/2024 - 12:00
Last edited 03/06/2024 - 10:18 by 1 other user

We have heard from many people that they don't feel the budgeting apps available in Australia are suitable for their needs. While some help them ensure they don't spend beyond their means, they don't help them properly plan for the future. So they tend to go back to using spreadsheets instead, as it gives them the flexibility to see beyond pay cheque to pay cheque.

My brother and I have built an app that tries to address this unmet need and we'd appreciate any feedback you might have for it. It is designed around a calendar, as we generally think about our budget as money coming in and out on different days. You can set custom schedules that give you the flexibility to plan for today's and tomorrow's expenses. It also gives you the option to model different scenarios and plan for big ticket items using something we call micro budgets.

We built it as a web app so that you can access it from your phone, tablet or laptop, at www.budgetezy.app

We'd love to hear your opinions, questions or feedback.

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Comments

  • Sye on 02/06/2024 - 12:16
    +7

    OzBargainers don't need a budgeting app, we're all loaded.
    /$

  • Yoo on 02/06/2024 - 13:12
    +6

    First, you cannot find any pricing before registering. Yeah, 60 days free and then what? Once you register, you hit a paywall to subscribe ($6/month) before even trying the product. Mate, you are dreaming.

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 02/06/2024 - 13:23

      We have the price at the bottom of the homepage, so once someone has decided they like the what the app does, they can decide if they want to try it.

      We offer a 60 day free trial with no payment details needed upfront.

  • AustriaBargain on 02/06/2024 - 13:23
    +3

    Jus use Excel or Sheets/Numbers bruv.

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 02/06/2024 - 13:32
      +1

      If that works for you, that's great. We have heard that many people find it challenging to use them to plan for future expenses, ourselves included.

      • AustriaBargain on 02/06/2024 - 14:16
        +1

        I guess it is unusual to enjoy using spreadsheet software. Probably since the first spreadsheet software for personal computers like 50 years ago people probably have been not enjoying it.

  • Bruceflix on 02/06/2024 - 14:46
    +8

    Firefly III
    https://www.firefly-iii.org/

    I wouldn't want to share my budgeting information with a 3rd party

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 09:17

      Fair enough, glad that Firefly III is working for you.

  • freefall101 on 02/06/2024 - 15:02
    +17

    Spending $6 a month on budgeting would be the first thing I’d cut from my spending.

    IMO it’s something anyone with any sense would avoid, an ongoing cost with data stored in the cloud. Give me a good standalone app with a one off fee then any day.

    • Joey2scoops on 03/06/2024 - 08:07

      standalone app with a one off fee

      Yeah, not too common anymore. A hustle here and a hustle there, everybody has to pay and pay.

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 09:17

      Having a budget that is always available on any device is important to many people we have spoken to and there are features that woud not be possible if the data was only available locally on a single device.

      • chanhoz on 03/06/2024 - 09:31
        +2

        just store encrypted data file in user's google drive/onedrive/dropbox/whatever. Reduce your server cost, charging 0.99/month, 10/year, people will be more likely to pay.

  • ericb on 02/06/2024 - 16:47

    Frollo is not too bad

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 09:19

      I didn't mind Frollo, when I tried it. I am not a fan of giving all my transaction data to a third party though and I didn't find it easy to use for future planning.

      • Bruceflix on 03/06/2024 - 11:34
        +1

        You're not a fan of giving all your data to a 3rd party yet you are here asking people to give all their transaction data to a 3rd party.

        • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 11:39

          Not asking for all transaction data, not asking for any transaction data at all actually. It is entirely up to the user what data they share, what they name their incomes/expenses, how they want to model them and to what level of detail they want them represented in Budgetezy. With bank feeds, every transaction is imported, whether or not you want that particular one shared with the app.

  • ChrisLevo on 02/06/2024 - 17:06

    I have been using AceMoney Lite for years, and it's freeware.

    www.mechcad.net

    Dead easy to use and does all that a household needs.

    • Joey2scoops on 03/06/2024 - 08:11

      Wot?

      "One time low purchase fee entitles you to ALL FUTURE updates. No need to purchase over and over again every couple of years.

      With our RISK FREE 15-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE it is a no brainer.

      Create an account to also start earning 20% commission reselling AceMoney!"

      • ChrisLevo on 03/06/2024 - 10:03

        It looks like they have discontinued the Lite version, which I have been using for ever.

        I looked a bit deeper and found it at https://www.mechcad.net/downloads/ so it's still available.

        I downloaded the installer file in case mine ever gets corrupted.

  • sharkyoz on 02/06/2024 - 20:14
    +1

    I used to use my mum nagging at me, since she passed its been a bit difficult, but I can still hear her shrill voice advising me

    • tooblue on 02/06/2024 - 22:06

      You need a wife.

  • PeterSnoot on 03/06/2024 - 07:53

    Good on you for getting that together. I don't think those in Ozbargain will be the target audience but hopefully you find them.

    It looks nice (from the home page) but I am not convinced why I should sign up. Can you pose "what if" questions? e.g. Can I afford to blow $1,500 on a TV this weekend?

    Good luck.

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 09:13

      Thanks Peter, appreciate the feedback and encouragement.

      Posing "what if" questions is a great idea, we will give it a go.

    • Bruceflix on 03/06/2024 - 11:36

      Ozbargain isn't concerned on whether you can afford the TV. It's impulse buy that deal now, worry later.

  • moar bargains on 03/06/2024 - 14:11
    +3

    I've signed up and had a play. Here are my thoughts.

    The first thing I think you need to think about if you want to grow customer base and revenue is: what is your point of differentiation? You say you're easier to use than the competition, but why/how? There are half a dozen competitors listed above, and numerous others not listed. What makes your app different/better? Is it your advanced algorithms to categorise transactions (please don't use AI/ML buzzwords 🤮)? Is it your focus on actionable goals? Is it the calendar interface that helps anticipate future? Whatever it is, it needs to be front and centre. Saying it's "easier" is too subjective.

    The commitment to privacy and security is good to see, but without objective proof it's just marketing. People who actually care about privacy and security (e.g. me) are not going to add all their financial transactions to a third party app like this, they will use open source, either self-hosting or local-only (not to mention your Google Analytics). People who don't care won't know the difference between E2EE, TLS only or plaintext. If this is a marketing point, consider 1) having verifiable proof (see for example https://vericrypt.notesnook.com/) or 2) allowing users to set their own encryption credential and their own sync setup.

    Sign-up/registration/website comments
    • Verifying email during signup is odd. Just do it after registration, that's a UX pattern people are familiar with.
    • Pricing should be more visible. I suggest you put a link to it it in a header bar up the top. Put 'features' first, but it should be up there more clearly. See these examples: https://aus.youneedabudget.com/, https://quickbooks.intuit.com/, https://www.notion.so/.
    • I very rarely pay for SAAS apps, but clearly I'm not everyone. However, despite the assurances (and, to be fair, reality) of signing up without card details, it looks like people will have to pay before they get started because of the registration process (i.e. the pricing page straight after registration and then going straight to Stripe). This is an anti-pattern and I would suggest you rework it as it will put some people off. You already have their email, just email them a week before their trial ends.
    • Is this designed for singles? Couples/families? Joint incomes/Shared expenses? Individual incomes, shared expenses? Not clear, and sure to be a question people will ask.
    UX comments
    • Nice to see you've designed for cross-device with mobile as a first-class citizen. That's been a bugbear of mine on some of the other apps/platforms I've tried.
    • Nice that it's got an Australian focus, but there doesn't seem to be anything uniquely Australian about the setup. Might be worth considering scenarios where people have international income or if they move internationally after setting this up in Australia? Perhaps enable selection of currency to open up to international customers?
    • The intro JS popover is a bit "jumpy". Can you try to move from one area to somewhere close, rather than across the screen and back again? E.g. step 4 is the new button bottom right, step 5 is filters top left. You're gonna give people whiplash.
    • I suggest you make the plus button to "add additional lines" more obvious. E.g. adding a new account, income category, expense category, expense sub-category etc.
    • Reorder income sources. Most people get most of their income from working so make that the first category, then put investments and other, rather than making them look for it last.
    • Consider reordering expense categories to those that everyone has first, and others that are optional later. Or start with a few, and prompt people to add more that are common. Having a massive long list of things that people need to set up on first registration is overwhelming.
    • It's not clear what the dates are for in the income and expenses categories. Is this when the expense occurred/occurs? What do I put for groceries? I've eaten food for as long as I remember, so do I start at my date of birth? Do I start from this week? Last week? Last payment? And what does the end date mean? I plan to keep eating, so why do I have to set an end date for groceries? I can see how this might be relevant for income from subcontracting or short-term projects, but less useful for expenses I think.
    • Have you tested your db on a high number of transactions? Is this scalable for long term use for people? Will it be just as fast with 100k transactions as it is with 100?

    Anyway, that's probably enough for the moment. A lot of those are quite nit-picky, and I fully acknowledge that - sorry for the negativity. For what it's worth, I think the app overall is well designed and appears stable. You guys have clearly thought about some useful features and UX points (e.g. changing transaction type while on that screen).

    Hope that helps.

    • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 22:12
      +1

      Thank you for the incredibly thoughtful and helpful feedback. Really appreciate the thought and time you dedicated to it.

      Regarding the signup process and homepage comments, I generally agree with your points. It is something we are continuing to iterate on to refine our messaging and streamline the process to make it as easy as possible for people to decide if the app is suitable for them and then sign up to it.

      We absolutely care about security and privacy, building the app following industry standard zero trust principles and encrypting data at every step possible in transit and at rest. I like the principles behind end to end encryption, however we can’t use it as that would complicate the multi device situation and potential future use cases for family budgets and other forms of sharing. It also then relies on the user to ensure they never lose their device, otherwise they will lose the encryption key stored on it. The only tracking we use is for app performance and stability purposes, it doesn’t collect any personal information, nor does it use advertising cookie based tracking like Google Analytics does. We don’t collect any personal information that isn’t explicitly provided to us by the user and we will never share the data with advertisers.

      I agree with all your UX comments and will look for ways to address all them in upcoming updates. The app has been performance tested with a realistic production load with a decent amount of users and it handled it well.

      Thank you again for all the feedback. I didn’t find any of it at all negative and it was all very much appreciated.

      • moar bargains on 03/06/2024 - 22:30

        No worries at all. Obviously take and leave my feedback as you want - it's your app :) Honestly though, good on you for seeing an opportunity and going for it. I genuinely hope it's successful for you!

        I'm somewhat torn on the security and privacy comments. I fully endorse your approach and I'm so glad that it's becoming a more common part of the conversation. It's easy for me to say I believe you and trust you (and I genuinely do, because I trawled through the JS assets and it's so much better than most of the crap out there), but as I'm sure you're aware, unless users have a way to independently and objectively verify those claims, it's as good as Optus saying their systems are fine… ;) I'm not saying you should open source your app, but perhaps think about an independent audit, or something as verifiable proof? Honestly though, most people are not going to really care about any more than you've done, and I know that it's a personal soapbox interest of mine, so it can definitely be a backburner thing.

        Happy to provide opinions on anything else if you have specific questions, or future releases if you want, just HMU.

        • AssociatedGsadaka @ Budgetezy App on 03/06/2024 - 22:58
          +1

          Thank you for the encouragement, appreciate it :) I will address the majority of the points you raised, as I can definitely see how they can help improve the user experience.

          It’s a good idea to have an independent audit and if you are aware of any companies that do that kind of thing I would happily get in touch with them. I have personally not come across any, other than penetration testers, however in my experience they don’t provide public attestation of their work. There are a fair few websites out there that will verify TLS certificates and configuration but that barely scratches the surface of what went into making the app secure. I will do some digging to see if there are any companies in Australia that do this.

          Thanks for the offer, I will reach out :)

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