How to Budget With Your Partner
A method that survives contact with two people, two incomes and one grocery run.
One budget. Everyone who spends it.
Spendy is a shared household budget app for iPhone. Partner, family or flatmates: everybody adds what they spend and everybody sees the same totals. No bank to connect, and up to 3 people share for free.
Download on the App Store
Free to use. Share with up to 3 people at no cost.
A budget tracker built for more than one person
Most budget tracker apps assume one person. The groceries are bought by whoever passed the shop, and the bills are paid by whoever set up the direct debit. Spendy is a budget tracker that several people write to, so everyone's spending lands in the same place.
The month, as the household actually sees it
Not a mockup of a dashboard. This is what the numbers look like when two people have been adding to the same budget for four weeks.
October · household2 people
Left to spend$0.50
Groceries112%
Transport78%
Eating out54%
Bills31%
Who spent whatOctober
$2,915total
Alex 58%
Sam 42%
0people free
0bank links
∞transactions
Step 1
One household, three roles
Share a code and they are in. Owner and Editor can add and change things; a Viewer sees the budget and touches nothing, which is the right level for a housemate who only needs to know the bills are paid.
Up to 3 people at no cost. Premium+ raises it to 10.
Step 2
Amount, category, save
Entry is manual and it stays manual. That removes the failure everybody in this category complains about: duplicated transactions, a week that goes missing, a login that expires and quietly stops importing.
It costs a few seconds at the till. In exchange the spending becomes a decision you make rather than a total you discover at the end of the month.
Then the month gets easier to read
A limit that warns you before it is broken, and a split that says who spent what so the review is arithmetic instead of a negotiation.
Free, with the numbers written down
The most common complaint in this app category comes from people who installed something advertised as free and hit a wall on the first day. So here are the limits.
Free
- Unlimited transactions, budgets and categories
- A household of up to 3 people
- 3 recurring items, 3 investments, 3 debts
- 2 savings goals, 1 instalment plan
Premium / Premium+
- Ad-free, PDF export, longer projections
- Household of up to 10 people
- No caps on recurring, investments or debts
- Unlimited savings goals and instalment plans
How to run a budget more than one person writes to
Budget Apps That Do Not Link Your Bank
What you gain and what you give up when the app has nothing to connect.
How to Split Household Bills With Roommates
Four people, one electricity bill, and nobody keeping a mental ledger.
Track Shared Expenses Without a Joint Account
Keep your money separate and the picture shared. They are different things.
How to Set Up a Household Budget
The first month is the one that takes effort. Here is how to spend it well.
What "Free" Actually Means in a Budget App
Four different things get called free. Only one of them is.
Questions people actually ask
Is Spendy really free?
Yes, with numbers attached. Unlimited transactions, budgets and categories cost nothing, and you can share one household with up to 3 people for free. Premium lifts extras like ad-free use and PDF export; Premium+ raises the household to 10 people.
Does it connect to my bank?
No, and that is deliberate. You enter expenses yourself, which takes a few seconds and means there is no sync to break, no credentials stored anywhere, and no aggregator between you and your bank.
How does sharing work?
One household holds one budget. Everybody in it adds expenses and sees the same totals. Roles decide who can change what: Owner, Editor, and Viewer, where Viewer is read-only.
Can I use it with a roommate rather than a partner?
Yes. The household is just a group of people sharing costs, so flatmates work exactly like couples. Roles are useful here: a housemate who only needs to see the bills can be a Viewer.
Do we need a joint bank account?
No. Spendy shares the budget, not the balance. Everyone keeps their own accounts and you both see the same picture of what the household spent.
What happens to my data?
It stays in your household and is used to run the app. Money figures can be blurred on screen by default, so opening the app on a bus does not show anyone your balance.
Can I track instalments?
Yes. A purchase paid over several months can be split into future dated transactions so the plan shows up in the months it will actually land, instead of distorting the month you bought it.
Which devices does it run on?
iPhone, iOS 16.4 or later.
Start with this week
Add the household, add today's spending, and look at it together on Sunday.
Download on the App Store
Free to use. Share with up to 3 people at no cost.