These eight reasons to use Every Dollar demonstrate how this tool can simplify and streamline your monthly budgeting.
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I believe a budget is essential for reaching financial goals and making your money work for you. Creating a monthly budget establishes a plan based on your priorities and circumstances. Budgets are personal and should reflect your goals and values. Discovering Dave Ramsey’s approach years ago changed how we manage money; building a monthly budget has been central to the progress we’ve made on our debt-free journey.
If you’re new to budgeting, start simply: use paper and pencil for a few months. Writing your budget down makes the process tangible and helps you learn the basics. The physical act of listing income and expenses forces clarity and focus, which is especially helpful when you’re getting comfortable with budgeting.
My husband and I began with a cash-envelope system and used it for years. That foundation shaped how we handle money. You can use cash envelopes alongside either a written budget or Every Dollar.
Once you’re comfortable with a paper budget, consider switching to Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar budgeting system. (Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with Dave Ramsey or Ramsey Solutions; I’m simply a fan of the Every Dollar tool.) After years of paper budgeting, we moved to Every Dollar soon after it launched. The app and web tool have simplified our monthly planning and tracking. Below are eight reasons I recommend Every Dollar.
1. The monthly budget comes preloaded with useful categories.
Having common categories in place helps you remember expenses you might otherwise forget. You can add, edit, or remove categories to match your situation, so the budget remains flexible and personal.
2. You can easily record transactions and assign them to categories.
After you enter transactions and assign them to categories, you can immediately see how much you’ve spent and what remains in each category. Every Dollar offers a paid Plus version that links to your bank account and imports transactions automatically, which saves manual entry. The free version still works well if you prefer to enter transactions yourself.
3. Every Dollar is web-based and has a mobile app.
Because it’s available on computers and phones, the budget is accessible on the go. While shopping, you can check a category balance or enter a transaction before you leave the store. For couples, it’s especially convenient: each spouse can enter purchases and see category balances in real time. We still sit down monthly to plan, but we both refer to the budget throughout the month.
4. You can track category spending without relying on cash envelopes.
Cash envelopes are effective but can be inconvenient at times. With Every Dollar you can enter a single store transaction and split it across categories, maintaining the accountability of envelopes without carrying cash. That makes tracking easier, faster, and more practical for busy families.
5. Budgets can copy from month to month.
Copying last month’s budget saves time for categories that don’t change, like mortgage or insurance. You can then tweak variable amounts for bills that differ monthly, so you’re not recreating the entire plan each time.
6. You can track progress toward goals like debt payoff.
Every Dollar tracks how much you’ve paid toward debts and how much remains. Seeing balances drop month to month is motivating and helps maintain momentum toward becoming debt-free.
7. You can create multiple savings funds within the budget.
Every Dollar lets you create specific savings line items—such as a “New Car Fund” or “Christmas Fund”—so you can allocate money clearly toward each goal instead of lumping everything into a generic savings category. This clarity improves the odds of reaching those goals.
8. You get visual monthly financial data.
Every Dollar offers a high-level view of your finances, including visuals like pie charts showing how income is distributed across categories and summaries of spending versus remaining budget. Those visuals can be eye-opening and help you take control of your money.
If you’ve been budgeting on paper and understand the basics, try Every Dollar. The free version is robust, and the Plus option adds automatic bank syncing if you want it. Either way, Every Dollar can save time and simplify your monthly financial planning.
How do you manage your monthly budget? Have you tried Every Dollar?