Hi all. I am looking for a unicorn.
There was a budgeting app called Level Money that was bought by Capital One and shut down in 2017. I know there are more powerful budgeting apps now. The problem is: simple is the goal.
I have tried Quicken, Mint, Rocket Money, Emma, YNAB, PocketGuard, Albert, Copilot, paper envelopes, and probably half the App Store at this point.
What made Level different was that it was basically a real-time money meter.
After linking accounts, the main/front screen showed three simple numbers for how much was LEFT to spend:
Today
This week
This month
That was basically it.
No graphs. No categories. No net worth. No retirement projections.
If I over/underspent, it recalculated automatically. It used calm candy-pop colors (orange, blue, pink) instead of “good/bad” red-green shame colors. No scolding. No overwhelm.
Most importantly:
It told me how much I had LEFT to spend, not how much I had already spent.
That distinction matters more than I can explain.
I don’t need to know how much I spent on restaurants this month, that I ordered $45 more takeout than last year, or what my projected retirement looks like based on the resale value of a dusty VCR and a bent Pokémon card gifted to me by a five-year-old.
I need to know:
Can I buy mozzarella sticks and new shoes and still stay in budget?
I am fine with additional features existing behind the scenes or on secondary screens if necessary.
Preferably no apps that require a four-hour setup process involving my monthly expenses and a reamortization schedule for my dog’s refinance.
Former Level users: what sucks the least?
Simple budgeting app similar to level?
byu/NeedleworkerAway5876 inpersonalfinance
Posted by NeedleworkerAway5876
5 Comments
I have tried pretty much all of those. I loved mint though. I have settled on clear checkbook. You may like it
I never used level but did use YNAB untill the crazy price hikes. I’ve been using liquid budget recently and really like it
This sounds like an undercover ad for an app I read about in the YNAB alternatives sub.
I think Dollarewise may have similar functionality to what you’re looking for. I use Actual Budget myself, which is an envelope style but also has cash flow style which may work but I can’t say as I use it in envelope method mode.
Nudget does this. Tells you how much is left in your budget for the day, week, month, or year.
Simpler than any of the other apps though. No linking bank accounts and such. Just manually log and tag every expense and it does the rest.