About BudgetBuilt

BudgetBuilt is a budgeting app for households that share some money and keep some of it personal. It answers one question every month: did the household come out ahead, and why?

Why it exists

BudgetBuilt was started by Michael, who shares the bills with a partner while each keeps their own spending. Every budgeting app they tried either lumped everything together or counted the same dollar twice: once when something was bought on a card, and again when the card was paid. At the end of the month they still couldn't say whether they had come out ahead.

So Michael built a system that could, ran the household on it for two years, and then turned it into the app.

What makes it different

• Lanes. Shared bills, flexible family spending and each partner's personal spending each have their own lane.
• Nothing counted twice. Card payments and transfers between your own accounts move money; they are not spending.
• Checked against your bank. At month end, the budget is compared with your real balances, to the penny, before the month is closed.

Where it stands

BudgetBuilt is in a free private pilot with a small number of households, who get the full product in exchange for honest feedback. Bank connections are read-only through Plaid, and each household's data is kept in its own database. Read more in the Privacy Policy.

Questions or feedback: hello@budgetbuilt.app.