Best Budget App for Australian Couples and 7 Ways To Make a Shared Budget Work

Managing money on your own was hard enough, but as a couple it can seem impossible.

Putting aside different personality types (he loves to spend, you want to save, he just wants the big picture, you need the details and so on) the logistics of making a shared budget work can be an uphill battle.

Assuming you already share all of your accounts, have one common household budget and you own everything together, it makes sense you need to share the finances between the two of you.

But somehow it always lands on one person. The spreadsheet is a mess because if the other person touches it, it will break.

The budget apps you've tried only had one login, and sharing a password stopped working the moment your bank started sending verification codes to your phone.

And even if you could both get full access to everything, one of you is more clumsy and less financially literate than the other, so a wrong keystroke could wipe out a week's worth of your work.

The good news? It doesn't have to be this hard. You just need to find the right budget app for couples and follow some simple rules.

The secret to finding the best budget app for couples is first understanding what you need it to do.

So before we jump in and look at finding the right budget app, let's make sure we are all on the same page and understand what goes wrong, and more importantly what we need to make "shared budgets" work

Most couples' finances are spread across different banks, different apps and different accounts - with no single view of the household budget.

Some accounts are in one name, some in the other, some in joint names and getting a clear picture of where you actually stand can be a challenge.

And without a clear picture of your current finances, it is next to impossible to put in place a nice simple plan to move things forward.

What you need is everything in the one place, and not just bank accounts - everything. The house, the super, the shares, the debts, the cars, the boat, the horse trailer, the gold bullion...

Then you can start to manage and plan!

Spreadsheets are great, and with all the templates out there you can get started in minutes. But when it comes to couples, one person owns it and the other never really sees it.

Over time it becomes harder and harder to maintain, and manually takes longer and longer. And if two people try editing the same file it can quickly become a mess.

It has done its job, but you have outgrown it. The spreadsheet has to go.

Simply pick one of the Australian budget apps available and let it do the heavy lifting. Once you switch, you will wonder how you survived so long using a spreadsheet.

For example, the Australian-made MoneyFormula app is easy to set up, includes partner/family logins so you both get your own individual access, bank sync via Open Banking, and has mobile apps and desktop browser versions giving you full access to all of your finances from any device, from anywhere at any time.

You are both across the finances in theory, but if you are using an app with one login it always defaults to one person.

The shared workload never actually gets shared. You can't share a login with modern security without handing over your phone or your email account to your partner.

Or you end up using a less-than-secure app with password option only, for the convenience, which is a big no-no. Multi-factor authentication or nothing.

With your own logins, you both get access whenever you need it, so you can work around your busy lifestyles, and share the budgeting. For example:

It doesn't mean you can't still review your finances together whenever you want, it just means it doesn't all get held up if one of you is busy.

You need to be honest with each other up front: are you both financially savvy and can manage the budget? Or is one of you naturally into finances and the other needs to be in the passenger seat?

If you are both good with numbers and apps, then both of you should have full access to change anything at any time, so you can work together to keep it all working.

However, there is no point of you both having full access to the product if one of you is going to mess it up in five minutes. Make sure you pick a budget app like MoneyFormula with its built-in option to set one of you up as 'read-only' (see everything, but can't change things) while the other stays 'full access'.

You both still have full visibility so you can manage and own your finances together, but you just avoid the arguments ... "honey, did you just delete the budget again?"

So with you both logged in, managing and viewing the finances, the next trick is to automate as much as possible. After all, the less either of you has to do, the more chance it will get done.

Use bank sync to link up your banks and get your accounts updated automatically, so you have a constant stream of information you can just keep an eye on. You may need to connect up to the same bank twice if your accounts are in different names, so make sure you use an app like MoneyFormula that allows multiple connections to the same bank via Open Banking.

Double-check the bank sync isn't via the older insecure screen scraping, and that the budget app you choose only uses the modern Australian Open Banking standard, which is heavily regulated and protects your privacy and your data.

As the information flows in allocate spending categories so you get a clear picture of your spending, and make sure the app then applies your chosen categories to future transactions (and lets you set rules to help you).

Automate bill payments and direct debits so that no one forgets to pay a bill and you avoid late payments (another source of arguments you can avoid ... "I thought you said you would pay it!").

Then both of you can use the budget app to check on your progress instead of grinding away at maintaining numbers.

With the cost of living going through the roof, it is hard to control the household spending when only one person is looking.

Things blow out and the other half has no idea until it is too late.

When you both make the decisions and can check in at any time to track your progress, it is easier to pull in the same direction.

Still have fun, just without the nasty surprises.

As the day-to-day spending comes under control, you can start to plan for the future, whether that is saving for a holiday, crushing the mortgage or replacing the car.

However, if only one person sees the progress, it becomes their own project, not a shared goal. Different priorities can set in, different spending and savings habits kick in and frustration can build.

Being able to agree to the shared goals and track your progress can keep you both motivated and on the same page.

It also makes the conversation about money a lot easier to have. When you start with a common picture of your finances, you don't need to waste time trying to work out where you are at or blame each other for the current mess; instead, you can focus on the things that need fixing or changing and get on with it.

Jill has always been the financially savvy one in the family while Bob focuses on running the house. He is the first to admit that managing a budget is not his strong point.

When Bob & Jill decided to use the MoneyFormula app, Jill did the initial setup and Bob picked read-only access. He loved that he could keep an eye on the budget like a hawk and make sure the spending stayed in line, knowing that no matter what he clicked he wouldn't break anything.

Jill pretty much automated it all after syncing the banks and setting up a few rules for the category matching, so it became a breeze to monitor their spending.

They also managed to set up a holiday goal and both knew what it would take and what they had to do. Bob volunteered to make homemade pizzas on Friday night (and skip the expensive takeaway) so they could have movie night at home and save towards their holiday.

Managing money as a couple does not have to be a one-person job.

Try the MoneyFormula budget app for couples today and start with the Partner/Family login option, where you can both set up your own personal logins with full multi-factor authentication (MFA) security and get access to all your shared finances.

Decide whether to add your partner as 'Read Only' (let them view, but not break anything) or 'Full Access' (let them add, edit and delete like you).

Then follow the MoneyFormula four simple steps to help you complete your first shared budget in minutes, review your recent spending and get an accurate picture of your shared finances.

You can sync all your bank accounts using the Australian Open Banking standard, even sign in multiple times to the same bank if you and your partner have some older separate accounts, and capture everything you own and owe.

With mobile apps and the desktop web version, you both get full visibility and control of your finances, from anywhere at any time.

And that's it. You are up and running with a working shared budget and a clear picture of your finances.

Give MoneyFormula a go and see what you think!