For Goodbudget’s 10th anniversary

A few weeks ago, we asked you to send in stories about your budgeting journey to help us celebrate 10 years of Goodbudget. And WOW! You really delivered. The stories you shared were awe-inspiring, authentic, and vulnerable, and we can’t thank you enough for sharing them with us.

Here are just a handful of the awesome stories we received. For those of you reading, we hope you feel encouraged and inspired on your own budgeting journey!

And again, thank you for 10 awesome years.

Meet Heather. She said,

“Using Goodbudget, I’ve been able to tithe and increase my generosity, go on a cruise and a weekend trip this year, keep up an emergency fund, and increase my savings. And when my income tax bill was $1800 more than I’d expected it to be, Goodbudget helped to get it paid off (plus plan for it for next year). Now I’m using Goodbudget to help me plan a trip to England with my daughter next year. Using Goodbudget (especially after I found my “why”) has quite literally turned around my entire money story.”

Manda shared her story and said,

“We were renting and living payday to payday (and not even making it a lot of the time!). We tried a few budgeting programs that were either overwhelming or focused on monthly cash flow. Monthly was no good for us, we couldn’t even make it two weeks! Goodbudget (EEBA back when we started) introduced us to ‘envelope budgeting’ and literally changed our lives. We were able to save for a trip to India and then for our own home. We even saved enough to cover the cost of fertility treatment. We cannot thank Goodbudget (and the people behind it) enough.”

Here’s Allison, who’s enjoying being debt-free while on the beach. She said,

“Where to begin: I have always struggled to get my credit card debt in order. I’ve not totally racked them up but always carried a balance and paid waaaaay too much in interest. I was about 5k in debt! I tracked my spending for a few years before trying Good Budget to get a handle on how I spent my money — the piece I was missing was actually limiting what I spent in certain categories. Once I had the visual (by tracking and looking on the Goodbudget app), I was finally able to get my cards paid off. I saw red on a budget line and just stopped spending money on that category. Thank you so much for this awesome app! It’s simple and certainly worked for me.”

Here’s Tonya, who said,

“Prior to using Goodbudget my husband and I were not good with savings or long term goals. We were paycheck to paycheck. When we started we couldn’t allocate monthly, and didn’t even understand the concept. We started to allocate every paycheck. We eventually outgrew the habit of looking at our checking account and instead trained ourselves to look at the envelope for that item. The result of changing this behavior was us managing to create additional envelopes so we could start being specific about what we wanted to use our money for. We reached a point where we had enough money saved for a car, and then enough money for an inexpensive online college for me to complete my bachelor’s degree. The next goal is to pay down more debt (that we are now managing through the new debt feature of Goodbudget).”

Our friend Kira wrote in and shared,

“I am a single parent of two and have been using Goodbudget since my eldest was a baby. I use the app daily to track spending and set budgets for different categories. In doing this, I was able to save for a rental deposit for our first home, buy furniture, take our first family holiday, pay for driving lessons and a course to retrain in a new career. I couldn’t live without Goodbudget. I have gained new independence and financial security for myself and my children.”

Nancy shared with us,

“This software has been a lifesaver for me. I lost my husband 5 years ago which put the finances in my hands. Needless to say, I wasn’t saving money nor did I have money to put aside for certain expenses. I found this software on an Internet search in Nov. 2018 and my New Year’s resolution was to stay on budget for 2019. I am proud to say that I still use it today. ”

Patrick said,

“This tool has enabled me and my spouse to accurately track our spending, make sure money is earmarked and available for bills, AND build up our savings, track loans, etc. It’s GREAT!”

Meghan said,

“Goodbudget has been an incredible tool since the beginning. We’ve been able to keep track of our bills and pay them on time, all while sticking to strict savings plans to pay off student loans, buy homes, get married, vacation, the list goes on.”

Maria shared her awesome story. She said,

“A year ago, my financial situation changed drastically, and I had to learn to live with 2000 less a month! I lived in a very expensive country and moved 100 km further up where life is less expensive. One of my children told me about Goodbudget and how it helped him and his wife manage their budget. He made a budget for me using Goodbudget. Ever since then I’ve used it and it’s just great! I even have money for extra things and can save money! I am able to control my financial life and don’t panic anymore.”

AJ, a Goodbudget power-user, said,

“As a student who relies heavily on monthly incomings from family, I’ve been able to keep a tab on all my incomings and outgoings with Goodbudget. It’s not easy being a student, with so many social demands and some unplanned school spending. But I’ve found Goodbudget to be an amazing tool that’s enabled me to not only budget, but also to save. Thank you Goodbudget team and to Karisa especially who has been super patient and polite with my 101 questions :)”

Thank you all for sharing your awesome stories with all of the Goodbudget community!

Happy budgeting,
-The Goodbudget Team